Also known as personal liability insurance, personal umbrella insurance is a type of insurance plan that provides coverage for a wide range of needs, often to an extent that is not possible with individual plans for homeowners, auto, and other types of insurance. With this approach, you secure coverage that takes up when the benefits associated with your other policies have been exhausted. In order to make sure you choose the right personal umbrella insurance, it is important to consider just how much additional coverage you need, how the umbrella policy will work in tandem with your other plans, and ultimately what you will pay for this additional coverage.
Before attempting to identify the best personal umbrella insurance plan for your needs, spend some time assessing the benefits found in your existing policies. This helps you have a better idea of how much coverage you want from the umbrella plan in order to enjoy what amounts to adequate benefits for your situation. In a sense, this inventory of your existing plans sets the stage for securing the right personal umbrella insurance by providing a basis for determining the amount and type of additional benefits you need in the umbrella plan.
Be sure to consider different scenarios as you assess existing coverage levels and determine how much is needed in terms of additional benefits. For example, look closely at how quickly those medical provisions in your homeowner’s policy would be exhausted if someone were injured on your property. In like manner, think in terms of just how far your major medical insurance would go if passengers in your car were injured as the result of a serious accident. Since the idea of personal umbrella insurance is to pick up where your other policies leave off, making this type of assessment is very important.
One you have a firm grasp of what type of coverage you already have and how much additional coverage is needed, you can begin to evaluate different companies that offer personal umbrella insurance. In some cases, one or more of your current insurance providers may have a plan that is worth considering. This is always a good place to start, since it allows you to utilize those plans as a boilerplate for any other umbrella plans that you want to investigate further.
Consider both the scope of coverage and the reputation of the issuer when looking at any personal umbrella insurance plan. Simply put, if the company receives a lot of complaints about slow processing of claims or dubious business practices, it doesn’t matter how wonderful those terms and provisions appear to be. Focus your attention on providers who are known to process claims in a timely manner, are supportive and accessible to their customers, and are generally considered ethical in their business dealings.
Since price is always a factor when purchasing insurance, you want to make sure the premiums for the personal umbrella insurance plan selected are affordable. The goal is to secure the greatest benefits for the lowest premium possible while still avoiding getting involved with an insurance provider who is somewhat questionable. This may require some give and take on your part, but with a little thought to balancing the need for additional coverage with the demands of your budget, you can soon narrow the options to a couple of potential providers, and ultimately choose the one that suits your needs.
