<p>In yesterdays’ mail I received a notice from my house and car insurance agent saying I needed to meet with her to discuss umbrella insurance. Aside from owning a house, which is already insured, do I need this? I have few house guests, am not involved in much that I’d be sued for, as far as I know (though neighbors pass though my back yard on occasion), am not in possession of great wealth that could be taken from me, aside from some retirement accounts. Is it overkill, or do most folks have this these days?</p>
<p>We got our first policy when D1 got her drivers license, and haven’t been without one since. It isn’t very expensive for the limits you get, and it does give you some peace of mind.</p>
<p>My in-laws had an umbrella policy which paid a motorcycle rider that they seriously injured in a car accident. It was their fault and he sued for his medical bills, lost wages, etc. His expenses went well beyond what is covered by auto insurance. Without the umbrella policy they could have lost their house.</p>
<p>I think its worthwhile to consider. As noted above, if you happen to have a future brain surgeon run in front of your car at age 7 and he doesn’t survive, or is permanently disabled, the cost of care and medical attention can quickly go through what you have.</p>
<p>If you have little enough, you don’t need it. It is a risk, however, to have such low limits in todays environment as most people have on their insurance. Your house being insured is not relevant. Its insured from casualties that happen to it. Not from someone suing you and winning a judgment that requires you to sell it and hand over the cash. </p>
<p>My umbrella policy covers me for any suits arising out of volunteer work…including coaching, etc.</p>
<p>Since we have a swimming pool, we have an umbrella policy in case of some horrific accident.</p>
<p>I thought OP meant her homeowner’s would cover a guest falling, etc. while at the home.</p>
<p>I think whether someone needs it depends on the individual circumstances, whether they have other assets, etc. As posted above, typical auto and home limits can be woefully inadequate.</p>
<p>Teenage drivers are a very good reason for umbrella insurance, as are rental houses, farmground, a business and clients in the home. Checkmark for me on all. Umbrella insurance is cheap–~2 million coverage for $400/yr. I am not a big insurance believer, but think this is good risk coverage for liability.</p>
<p>We got one when we first started driving kid carpools. Auto insurance has a limit per accident, and we figured if several children were injured at once we could lose everything to lawsuits.</p>
<p>We bought an umbrella policy after my H rear ended another car. The damage was minimal, but the woman in the other car decided to use the accident to get rich. She sued and the potential in damages would have exceeded our auto policy limits. She eventually settled for a minimal amount with our insurance company, but it unnerved us enough to re-do the insurance policies.
The delta cost is not that much, all things considered.</p>
<p>We got one when son started driving. If you don’t have many assets you need to protect, then it’s not always necessary (you can sue someone but if they have nothing, then you get nothing). We have a fair amount of assets including a business and feel like the umbrella policy is worth the expense.</p>
<p>We also have a similar situation as zeebamom - son reared a woman, going very slowly at the time. She claimed she had all sorts of neck and back injuries from it. The insurance company told us this was very common and were, fortunately, able to settle with her for a few thousand $$. It made us realize how exposed you are if someone decides to sue, whether it’s warranted or not.</p>
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Not necessarily true. Most judgments remain valid for years, so they can come after you for years, attaching wages, retirement benefits, etc. If they have nothing and never expect to have anything, then you don’t need insurance.</p>
<p>Personally, I wouldn’t go without an umbrella policy. The point of insurance of that type is to protect against the unforeseeable and the catastrophic.</p>
<p>We have always had umbrella. When my husband worked he had a job where there was a possibility of being sued and although his employer would cover it we were advised by the lawyers to protect our personal assets as a precaution. We also have rental properties so umbrella is a cheap and safe expense.</p>
<p>The downside is that all your cars have to be insured at a very high level to get the umbrella. We have 4 cars and a 1M umbrella. I am paying a ton.</p>
<p>I work for a company that sells umbrella, among other things, so you can take my stance with a grain of salt but we really recommend them to everybody for exactly the kinds of situations mentioned in post #3. You don’t need to have great wealth to lose it-- the judge doesn’t just say “oh, nevermind!” if they decide you owe more than you have. Most of the people I work with have bought coverage themselves, which I think is telling-- nobody is going to shark the sharks into buying something we don’t need. ;)</p>
<p>We’ve had umbrella coverage since before the kids were born (and we had no assets). I would get it because you never know who may sue you, in connection with something happening on your property, with your cars, or other liability. If I were in the medical field, I’d definitely have it, even if one’s employer covers your professional liability. There are plenty of would-be plaintiffs out there who will sue anything that moves. The umbrella coverage lets the insurance company field some of that nonsense for you.</p>
<p>I agree with CountingDown - people are nuts sometimes! My husband and I are engineers, and a developer threatened to sue us because he said we OVERdesigned his condos! We were just following the building code (hello, buildings at a ski resort will have to withstand a lot of SNOW), but the threat was scary. We had to pay our lawyer to put an end to the nonsense. We pay $477 / year for $1 million of coverage. It’s high because we have two teenaged sons who drive.</p>
<p>Forgot to add that umbrella coverage would protect us if one of us is on the board of a non-profit or other such group. I applied for a juried show recently, and the sponsor required proof of insurance coverage. The umbrella sufficed.</p>
<p>We own some rental properties. 6 years ago, in the middle of a raging snowstorm, a tenant’s girlfriend left the building at 4 AM. She got distracted, failed to hold the railing, didn’t watch where she was going, slipped on the snow, and fell down the steps (all three of them), and broke her ankle.</p>
<p>Three years later (2 days before the statue of limitations ran out) she sued us for $150,000.</p>
<p>Two+ years after that, we went to trial.</p>
<p>The insurance company handled everything.</p>
<p>Umbrella policy? Hell yeah.</p>
<p>We did have to raise our auto liability coverage to $250K/$500K, which cost a bit.</p>
<p>It’s kind of like a passport - once you get it, you’ll wonder how you got along without it. A railroad crosses our private street. The state of Maine owns the right-of-way and is demanding we sign a contract with them for the right to cross the RR (laws pertaining to RRs were established in the 1800s and heavily favor the RR companies since RRs were so important to the country). One of the provisions is that each landowner must carry $1 million of coverage. So we’re set, but most of our neighbors will have to go out and purchase a policy.</p>
<p>Everyone should have this policy. Unless you are homeless and jobless and will never have a job you should have it. Remember, even if you don’t have a ton of money today, judgements live on for many years - 20 years in my state. </p>
<p>For sophisticated buyers, you or your agent should compare umbrella policies. There can be substantial differences in optional coverages. For more information read Insurance for Dummies by Jack Hungelmann. Its very comprehensive but written for the average layman.</p>
<p>We have one, too, have had it for years. Until I read this thread I had no idea how many situations could come up where it could be needed. We have it with the company that insures our house and cars, and it is inexpensive.</p>
<p>I know that some people put their assets (such as houses) in trusts, I imagine to protect them from lawsuits. Is this a good idea?</p>