<p>Same thing happened to me. It will gradually go down but it is quite a shock. I talked to my insurer about dropping mine after it went up. However, I am able to carry much lower liability levels on the underlying insurance while I have the umbrella. I would pay almost as much if I raised those levels to where I would want them sans umbrella policy. Also, the particular policy I have is no longer offered by the company and I am grandfathered in. If I drop it, I can’t get it back at a later date.</p>
<p>Interestingly, our automobile insurance rose only about 30% for adding a teen driver and a senior driver.</p>
<p>Our insurance didn’t go up that much when we added sons to it. Of course, S1 was 25 when S2 got his license at 18, so that helped. What hit us was when S2 took his car back to NY, and the DIFFERENCE in the insurance premium on his car alone was over $1000 for the year. The agent called us and said they were required to get approval in writing from the customer before making that change.</p>
<p>I think it is very important to have an umbrella policy. That said, we are just getting our first one. If you have cleaning help or other “independent” workers on your property, or have guests over for church supper group, etc., you never know what might happen. It’s all sort of confusing, but worth the money.</p>
<p>My fil had an umbrella policy. His assets way outstripped the policy limits on his house/car insurance. He also had an accident with a motorcyclist: the umbrella policy paid off to full limits.</p>
<p>We have an umbrella policy. If you have assets you need to protect them.</p>
<p>Coming into this thread late - we have had an umbrella policy for more than a decade now. </p>
<p>We got it when our attorney, in the process of helping us with our will, asked us if we had it. Turns out his kid was on a camping trip, banked the fire when they went to bed - and then had a dead tree fall into the buried embers during a wind storm that night. </p>
<p>Burned several hundred acres and he (the father - our attorney) got presented with a bill for $3.5M. He was able to negotiate down to 50% but still had a multi million dollar bill. </p>
<p>We got a policy the next day…</p>
<p>What would be a reasonable rate? I read somewhere it’s a few hundred dollars for $1M coverage. Our rate seems much higher. We live an average life, pretty risk free, not even a sports car.</p>
<p>Mine is ~$400 for 2 million coverage. It requires underlying limits of $250000/500000 for auto, $100000 for property damage and $300000 for homeowners. It covers all kids, didn’t increase when they became licensed, etc, covers ATV/boats, etc. and rental homes. Is from nationwide professional association. I think the rate is reasonable; I’d guess part of that is because accountants in general are a rather risk adverse than risk seeking group.</p>
<p>Wow, our insurance is asking us $1,800 for $2M coverage. We have maximum coverages for auto and homeowners. We don’t own a boat, ATV, or a rental. We have two modest cars. We live in a house we own and I own a condo nearby that I use for guests and in the future to retire to. We had the same insurance more than a decade. Never had any claim. Time to shop around? Any recommendations?</p>
<p>Wow, my premium for $1m is $600 and it did almost double when I added my D to the policy. However, I am able to carry 125/300 on the vehicles since I have the umbrella. That is the part that I am grandfathered in on. If I got the policy today, I’d have to carry higher liability limits on the two cars.</p>
<p>I have a $5M umbrella (with $1M UM/UIM) with Chubb that costs $1,187 a year. I recently increased it from $3M and the price difference was only $130. The first 1-2M cost is the most expensive. </p>
<p>However, the underlying Chubb policies are likely to be much more expensive than insurers since they provide coverage other companies don’t. (No “knock-off” auto parts, no “betterment deductions”, agreed value for all cars, unlimited guaranteed replacement, unlimited ordinance & law coverage, etc.)</p>
<p>We are paying about $1700 for $2 mil in coverage, and the cost has almost doubled in the last 3 years. Not sure if this is because of teen drivers or not.</p>
<p>We have to have very high limits on property ($300K) and auto ($250K/$500K) in order to get this policy though, which makes other insurance more expensive as well.</p>
<p>Our company is very linear in price when going from $2 mil to 3 mil to 4 mil to 5 mil. If I could get an extra $2 mill in coverage for only $130, I would do it in a heartbeat.</p>
<p>We paid about $325 for $1 million in coverage with 2 teen drivers, two rental properties and auto coverage of $300K/$500K. We just recently increased coverage to $2 million and our boys are now in their 20s and have their own policies. Our premium increased to about $483. Our insurer is USAA.</p>
<p>Also joining this thread late. Thanks for prompting me to re-examine our GEICO umbrella policy. We got it years ago when our boys were in Boy Scouts & we were adult leaders on backpacking trips, etc. Umbrella policy expanded coverage for transportation to/from Boy Scout activities as well other liabilities (teen drivers, homeowner liabilities, etc.)</p>
<p>Wow, Scualum, that’s a scary story!</p>
<p>How does Geico compare to others? How much do they charge?</p>
<p>Iglooo - In the U.S, insurance is regulated by each state. In most states insurance companies are free to charge whatever they want, as long as they file their rates with the state insurance department. </p>
<p>Insurance companies assess their risk on numerous factors including your personal data and claims history, the company’s previous loss history in the area, the quality of the local fire department, as well as the legal environment within a state (runaway jury verdicts vs. limits/caps on awards). Even within a single state rates vary significantly. What I pay in a Chicago suburb has no relation to what I would pay if I lived in the city of Chicago or in rural downstate Illinois. If you want a quote, give them a call. </p>
<p>Everyone should periodically check to make sure their premiums are competative. Companies raise and lower rates all the time. I use an independent agent who represents 9-10 companies - they do the comparison shopping for you. Independent agents represent companies such as Travelers, Liberty Mutual, Chubb, Fireman’s Fund, Safeco as well as numerous regional carriers. Other companies use “captive” agents - State Farm, Allstate, Nationwide. Their agents can only sell their product -if you want to comparison shop, you need to make multiple calls. Then there are the call center/on-line carriers like GEICO. They of course only sell their products. </p>
<p>While insurance products are very often similar, many companies modify their policies. The modifications can either be a positive or negative for you. The benefit of an agent who represents multiple companies is they know which companies will provide you with the policy with the broadest coverage for a reasonable price. They also know how various companies handle their claims and will avoid placing policies with companies that mishandle their clients. Remember, sometimes the “best” coverage isn’t the cheapest. The risk with captives and online providers is “if the only tool in your belt is a hammer, then everything is a nail.”</p>
<p>I just called my agent. This is the only company they deal with. So no price comparison. I am dropping them.</p>