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Clayton Hanley Insurance Blog

All You Ever Wanted to Know About Insurance

Is an Umbrella Policy Right for Me?


If you’ve been on the fence about purchasing umbrella insurance, it might be because you’re still not sure where it can be applied and how it works. Let’s look at some cases where umbrella insurance can save you from losing everything in a lawsuit. You may be surprised to learn that umbrella insurance can protect your assets in a wide range of scenarios, not just injuries on your property.

How Umbrella Insurance Works

Umbrella insurance is designed to pick up where another of your insurance policies leaves off. Most commonly, people buy personal umbrella insurance to supplement their home, auto, and boat policies. If they are successfully sued for an amount that exceeds the liability coverage in their insurance, the umbrella insurance kicks in to make up the difference. This is why umbrella insurance usually goes up to $1 million or more.

Umbrella insurance doesn’t just cover the person who holds the policy. It covers all the members of their household, including children. It also protects them when they’re away from home, such as while on vacation or even running errands around town.

Do You Need Umbrella Insurance?

You could certainly look at the litigious nature of the country today and think umbrella insurance is a wise idea. This is especially true if you hold a lot of assets that could be taken in a lawsuit, such as real estate, valuables, and savings.

But a better gauge of your need for umbrella insurance is to ask: how likely am I to be sued in a liability case?

All of these factors increase your risk of a liability lawsuit:

  • Having a swimming pool, hot tub, or trampoline on your property
  • Owning dogs, especially breeds deemed more aggressive, even if your pet doesn’t have aggression issues
  • Being a public figure or high-net-worth individual
  • Renting out part of your property frequently, such as through homeshare apps
  • Employing household or landscaping staff
  • Hosting frequent parties or entertaining often
  • Having teenagers in the household or teens who drive

Even if you don’t meet any of those criteria, you may still feel greater peace of mind having umbrella insurance to protect you. All it takes is one accident to see your years of hard work and saving go down the drain.

Did you know that floors and flooring materials are responsible for more than two million fall injuries annually? Furthermore, falls are the second leading cause of spinal cord and brain injuries, which result in some of the highest medical bills and ongoing disability costs of all injury types.

Don’t wait until an accident in your home or a pileup caused by your vehicle costs you everything. Call Clayton Hanley Insurance at 314-487-2921 today to learn more about umbrella insurance. Or simply reach out online to start a quote.