What Massachusetts Residents is Personal Umbrella Insurance Right For?
As liability lawsuits increase in both prevalence and potential cost, more and more people are considering personal umbrella insurance. Anyone in Massachusetts who wants some extra protection might be interested in this type of policy.
While not limited to these examples, the following are a few people who might want personal umbrella insurance:
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Residents who own high-value assets that could make them targets of opportunistic lawsuits
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Family members who own estates that they wouldn’t want to lose as a result of a liability suit
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Amateur athletes who could significantly injure another athlete during practice or competition
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Dog owners who could be responsible for injuries that their dog causes
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Landlords who could be sued by their tenants or tenants’ guests
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Boaters who would like extra protection in the event of an on-water accident
Are Personal Umbrella Insurance and Excess Liability Insurance the Same?
Personal umbrella insurance and excess liability insurance are both forms of supplemental liability protection, but their abilities to supplement primary policies are different.
Personal umbrella policies normally come with their own terms and conditions, which makes it possible for these policies to fill in coverage gaps left by underlying policies and to supplement more than one underlying policy simultaneously.
Excess liability policies usually don’t have their own terms and conditions, but instead, adopt those of the policy that they supplement. As a result, these policies frequently aren’t able to fill in gaps or supplement multiple primary policies.
What Are Underlying Policies?
Underlying policies are simply the primary insurance policies that personal umbrella coverage supplements. Many different types of personal policies, such as homeowners insurance, auto insurance and boat insurance, may function as underlying policies.
Often, personal umbrella policies will come with specific underlying coverage requirements. These requirements are usually coverages that must be in place through underlying policies, and an umbrella policy’s coverage may be voided if the underlying requirements aren’t met.
Because meeting underlying requirements can be so important, residents should work closely with an insurance agent who specializes in personal umbrella coverage when shopping for a policy. A specialized agent will know how to check for underlying coverage requirements, and they’ll be able to see whether those requirements are already met by a resident’s current primary insurance policies. If the requirements aren’t met, an agent can help make coverage adjustments so that the requirements are sufficiently met by underlying primary policies.
How Can Residents in Massachusetts Get a Personal Umbrella Policy?
For assistance finding a personal umbrella policy that’ll give you additional insurance protection, contact the independent insurance agents at Roger Keith & Sons Insurance Agency. Our Massachusetts agents are well-versed in this form of insurance, and they can help you make sure everything is in place to get you the supplemental coverage you desire.
