*Photo by Naypong. Published on 10 February 2013 on freedigitalphotos.net
You may have said “We have auto and home insurance coverage. That should be sufficient, right?” In today’s society,if you are just protecting your home and auto, it might not be. The question you need to be asking yourself is, “Am I protecting my family’s assets, income, investments, and net worth? If you aren’t, then you could find yourself in a big financial nightmare. Let me explain.
There was a man this past year who was traveling in his small car on 1-94 near Rotunda Drive in Dearborn. A larger truck was traveling directly in front of the man. To avoid a tire that was rolling on the freeway, the trucker slammed on his brakes. As a result, the man collided into the back of the truck and sustained severe injuries. The man, who had marijuana and opiates in his system at the time of the crash, filed a lawsuit against the trucker and was awarded $715,000.*(http://injury-and-social-security-lawyers.blogspot.com/2014/03/715000-settlement-trucker-slammed-on.html)
That’s crazy! But unfortunately, that’s the world that we are currently living in.
Lawsuits are occurring at an alarming rate. It seems like everyday I hear about another one. This person is suing that person or vice versa. Everytime I drive on the freeways I see billboard after billboard advertising a lawyer that will sue you for this and that. But what is unbelievable is the amount of money that people are winning today!
You likely have liability coverage on your home and auto policy. The average person person has a $100,000 limit. In the event of an accident, your policy will provide protection for bodily injury and property damage or both- but only up to that policy liability limit. Beyond that, you would be responsible for paying the excess amounts for which you are liable. Which could be a lot of money!
Would $100,000 be enough coverage? That’s what you need to think about. You need to think about your net worth; your home, vacation homes, rentals, belongings, income, investments, etc. If you were sued, what could you lose. Chances are, it’s more than $100,000. If you go to www.ewsmith.com/calculators we have a tool that will give you an idea of what your net worth is.
The good news is that personal umbrella policies are available to provide liability coverage over and above your current insurance policies limits. These policies are inexpensive and are able to provide you with $1 million in additional liability with higher limits are available.
Some additional features of an umbrella policy are:
-Your policy will cover the cost of a legal defense if a suit is filed against you.
-It will provide important protection against libel, slander, invasion of privacy, malicious prosecution, defamation of character and discrimination suits that your homeowners policy wouldn’t protect you against.
-You and resident relatives will be covered for an incident worldwide, whereas your homeowners policy will only protect you in the Us.
-It will coverage Liquor liability. This is especially important around the holidays if you are serving alcohol at your house party..
-You will have liability for property rented to, used by, or in your care, custody or control.
-If you have rental properties, this policy will cover the liability or anything above and beyond the rental property policy. It will also covers a suit that might be filed due to wrongful eviction.
Don’t leave yourself at a financial risk. If you slammed on your brakes to avoid hitting a rolling tire, would you be protected. If you were sued, would your home or auto liability limits be enough. If you don’t believe so, make sure to talk to your agent as soon as possible or request an umbrella quote here.