Umbrella Policy

[WanderALot]

Has anyone had their umbrella policy rates go up significantly this year? My $1mil policy is now $250, up from $170 last year. I'm in CA and my agent claims that policies were "underpriced" last year.

 

[KB]

I have a new policy for $1M that I opened this year. With a 19 year old male teen on my auto policy, I pay $505.00 anually. I'd be happy with your $250.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Yeah mine went up pretty good, but I'd have to shave out some changes to say by how much. My original policy went up by about 30%, then I got upgraded to a "higher quality product" which reduced the price slightly to about what it had been before, then I doubled the coverage and added an additional car to it, which knocked it up to almost double.

 

[WanderALot]

I have a new policy for $1M that I opened this year. With a 19 year old male teen on my auto policy, I pay $505.00 anually. I'd be happy with your $250.

Ouch, I guess I'll quit complaining. On the other hand, our household doesn't have any under 25 drivers. Also, DW and I have been driving for 15 years (we're 31 and 32) and have pretty good driving records. My agent also said that the if I was going to get a stand-alone policy, it would be almost $300. I didn't realize this, but I guess you can get an umbrella with a company other than your homeowner's/auto company.

 

[brewer12345]

Which company is this, if you don't mind me asking?

You can shop around, but insurance is going up just about everywhere. $75 billion of industry capital got flushed into the GOM last year, so the squeeze is on.

 

[REWahoo]

My $1M umbrella policy with USAA increased from $236 to $245 this year.

 

[WanderALot]

Which company is this, if you don't mind me asking?

You can shop around, but insurance is going up just about everywhere. $75 billion of industry capital got flushed into the GOM last year, so the squeeze is on.

Brewer, my umbrella policy, along with my homeowner's and auto, is with Mercury. AM Best seems rate them pretty well (I've heard that AM Best isn't the ..uhh ... best way to judge insurers though). I've filed one homeowner's claim with them about 5 years ago and they were prompt and didn't give me any grief. Mercury's auto rates were lowest that I could find.

 

[brewer12345]

Brewer,  my umbrella policy, along with my homeowner's and auto, is with Mercury.  AM Best seems rate them pretty well (I've heard that AM Best isn't the ..uhh ... best way to judge insurers though).  I've filed one homeowner's claim with them about 5 years ago and they were prompt and didn't give me any grief. Mercury's auto rates were lowest that I could find.

AM Best is OK for a rough cut when you are buying a policy that would pay out within a year or so. For life insurance, not so much. And remember, credit rating only speak to capacity to pay, not willingness or customer service.

Most states publish a list of complaint ratios on their insurance department website. You can avoid the guys with lots of complaints. If you are happy with Mercury and unwilling to shop around, they are likely just fine. Just get used to paying more...

 

[MJ]

I use Geico and in my NYC location, my $1Mil umbrella has been going up about 12% a year. When I sold my house and temporarily moved to another borough in NYC, I was shocked to find out that it dropped by over 30%. When I move to Toucson fairly soon, it should drop about another 30+%. I started out this year at $265.

 

[laurence]

$245 for 1 mil from State Farm here in Sue-Happy Southern Cal. We decided not to shop around because we like the service we recieve.

 

[uncledrz]

Ours, which is connected to auto/home policy with the same insurer, actually went down a bit. Wish I could say the same about the auto and homeowners policies (which I did price out and are competitively priced). They both seem to go up 8-10% a year.