My 1 Million Dollar Umbrella

The one I am speaking of will not protect me from the rain but it will protect me from a major financial storm. I had been meaning to look into purchasing an Umbrella policy for a long time. An Umbrella policy protects you above and beyond your homeowners and auto insurance policies if your are sued.

For example, you are involved in a major auto accident and seriously injury or kill someone. You get sued and the case goes to court. The judgement is for $800,000. You only have $300,000 liability coverage on your auto policy. Where does the other $500,000 come from? Guess what, anything you own could be taken away to settle the debt.

I thought I did not need an Umbrella policy because I did not have significant assets and I thought the policy would be really expensive. I did a little research online and learned that I should have the extra coverage; especially since I own a rental property. I called my insurance agent and he provided me a quick quote based on my existing policy relationships. The extra coverage would only cost about $200 a year. I did not need to think too long to make my decision. $200 for an extra One Million in coverage? I'll take it....