Personal Umbrella Insurance

Serving Baton Rouge, New Orleans and surrounding areas since 1929

Everyone expects their liability insurance policies to cover them in cases where they accidentally cause harm to others. However, like all insurance, liability coverage has its limitations. Should a claim fall outside those limits, you don’t want to be on the hook to cough up additional compensation yourself. To receive extra help, consider buying a personal umbrella liability policy. The team of dedicated agents at McInnis Insurance Services, Inc. will make sure you get the right coverage.

What is umbrella insurance?

Think of umbrella insurance like an actual umbrella. You open yours when you want to receive extra protection from the elements. An umbrella insurance policy works much in the same way.

Umbrella policies provide you with extra liability protection when a claim exceeds the limits set by a standard liability policy. All in all, you’ll be able to spread this coverage over your other personal liability policies to provide more monetary help with costly problems.

How does this coverage work?

If you are at-fault for a car wreck, and you injure another driver, then your auto liability insurance might help you pay for the damage to that person’s car, along with their injury costs. However, what happens if the injured driver’s losses are worth more than the maximum your liability policy will provide? That’s a job for your umbrella coverage.

If someone’s claim exceeds the value of your liability coverage, then you can make a claim on your umbrella policy for the outstanding costs. With one umbrella liability policy, you can add this extra coverage to multiple personal liability policies—like your homeowners, auto, boat and renters policies.

What does a personal umbrella policy cover?

Your umbrella liability policy can help you in two ways:

• The policy can help you cover the remaining costs of liability claims made against your standard policies after that policy pays up to its maximum limits.
• Some umbrella policies cover additional losses that are not insured under your standard policy.

So, consider that car wreck you cause that injures another driver. Your auto insurance’s liability policy is supposed to step in to help you cover the other driver’s losses.

But, suppose that suddenly, that driver sues you for $1 million, and your standard liability policy limits are only $500,000. There’s a $500,000 difference between what the auto liability policy will pay, and what the other driver requests. In this case, you might be able to make a claim for the additional $500,000 on your umbrella policy.

Other Frequently-Asked Questions

What is not covered under an umbrella insurance policy?

Umbrella policies only apply to liability claims. They won’t insure property damage to your own belongings. Additionally, if you want to insure business liabilities, you’ll need a commercial umbrella policy, not personal umbrella insurance.

How much umbrella insurance do you need?

Most umbrella liability policies include at least $1 million in coverage at their minimum limits. Individuals who want more coverage (such as to protect their full net worth) can increase coverage.

Is there a deductible?

Some umbrella insurance policies include deductibles. However, you can often choose as low a deductible as you can afford to pay in case of a claim. That way, you can minimize your out-of-pocket losses following significant claims.

Contact us today

If you’re worried about significant liability claims in your life, don’t fret. Instead, contact McInnis Insurance Services, Inc. for help getting an umbrella policy. We offer policies that offer unrivaled protection and cost benefits for any enrollee. Whether you live in Baton Rouge, St. Amant, Metairie or anywhere else in Louisiana, we can help you get covered.