The Importance of Personal Umbrella Coverage

Your auto and homeowners insurance policies keep you protected, but  sometimes that isn’t enough. Unfortunately, bodily injury and damages from a bad at-fault accident can quickly exhaust the liability limits of an auto or home insurance policy.

A personal umbrella policy is an extra layer of protection that goes above the normal homeowners and auto insurance liability limits. It provides higher limits and broader coverage, and also pays legal defense costs you may incur after your basic insurance policy limits are exhausted.

Here are five key reasons why you should get a personal umbrella policy:

1. Protects your assets. Having a personal umbrella policy helps ensure your assets—your car, house, investments, retirement accounts, checking and savings accounts, and even your future income—are protected in case of an unforeseen accident that exceeds your auto or homeowners limits.
2. Better protects you. You are protected for incidents that you might not even consider, such as if you are liable for injuries while traveling abroad renting a boat or Jet Ski, or driving a car provided by your employer.
3. Offers peace of mind. An umbrella policy provides peace of mind that you, your loved ones, and your assets are protected against large lawsuits.
4. Covers legal fees. The costs of legal defense can be staggering and must be paid even if you win. A personal umbrella policy pays these fees in addition to your umbrella limit of insurance.
5. Protects your charity work. If you are an active member in your community or with a local nonprofit charitable, religious, or civic organization, most personal umbrella policies automatically cover you if anything happens while you are volunteering for the organization.

Also, on top of an umbrella policy, Acuity is one of the few companies to offer an excess uninsured/underinsured motorist endorsement. This is an additional layer of coverage that applies when the uninsured or underinsured bodily injury limits of your auto policy are exhausted.

So, talk to your Acuity independent insurance agent about adding umbrella to your current policy or, if you are not an Acuity customer, get a home and auto insurance quote online and add an umbrella.