Mech33

What is so terrible about liability umbrella policies? Could you describe the concerning situations where they aren't helpful?

Outlaw

So your out on a Saturday night and and a 96 F150 runs a red light and Tbones your 911. Cars destroyed and your in Eroom with a broken pelvis unconscious. After 75k in Eroom charges your discharged 3days later and Dr informs you you can't work for 60 days and you have multiple disc injuries.

You get home and your thankful your alive and that's when you REAllY read your policies for the first time. So you soon figure out that the F1 50 that hit you only has $50,000 worth of coverage and your auto policy is 300/500.

But you're good right?? You've got 2 million in umbrella coverage. Wrong you're not good because you have a liability only policy which means it only covers damages when you're at fault.

The point here being that you want a policy that covers you in any situation and doesn't exclude coverage when you need it most. In my 20 years of practicing I've seen countless accidents that mirror the above and I'm just one lawyer in Atlanta. This happens every day.

All insurance companies will gladly sell you that umbrella but will not offer a full umbrella policy. Why? Because it doesn't make financial sense to them.

NateOZ

Very Happy with Chubb, discount on excess cars is something like 40% or 60%.

Just in time

Have you tried connecting your auto policy with your homeowners? Packages do help in pricing.

I ask my agent to bid out all my policies each year. Some of these companies quietly engage in what is known as loyalty premiums. The more they think you are unlikely to change providers the more they increase their rates. I have now been successful in keeping my policy costs basically level for the last five years. Also beware of low cost providers. Sometimes when you need them you get very little.

LexVan

Also make sure your current carrier, State Farm, knows that the other 4 cars are not used for school or work.

If you're not married, get married.
If you're young, and have/had a "B" average, ask for a good student discount.
Make sure they are seeing an accurate credit score.

fskof

Give Chubb a call

https://www2.chubb.com/us-en/find-ag...FUVGXgodKRkPaQ

Seth Thomas

Try Cincinnati Mutual. I have 4 cars insured with them currently. They were cheaper than State Farm with a stated value policy on my two RS cars. My wife's BMW X3 daily driver is about the same per year as one of the RS even though it is worth significantly less. Total auto policy is about $3500 per year in Georgia

Outlaw

Good call.

You might spend a bit more but Your good neighbor and good hands companies I.e. State Farm and Allstate are just bad.

evilfij

Ok, but my car insurance covers the damage to my car, my heath insurance covers the excess on my hospital stay, and I have disability insurance at work.

If you really want that type of coverage, you can get uninsured/under insured coverage which (depending on the state) will kick in for costs caused by another at fault, but without adequate insurance.

The point of an umbrella is to protect your assets from others' claims when you are at fault. Not pay you for your losses. A full umbrella policy as you describe may be largely redundant.

I should add that this stuff gets state specific especially with fault/no fault, what uninsured/underinsured covers etc.

evilfij

Chubb is great, they are just obscenely expensive. They wanted $14k for homeowners insurance for me. All in they were a multiple of State Farm.

Outlaw

Actually State Farm is not so bad on the homeowner side I was referring to the auto side. They actually have their own law firm that defends claims on the auto side

evilfij

I have them for both. Not ideal and customer service is not good, but in one state I have a house due to some serious idiocy by the insurance commissioner they and Chubb are the only two companies that would write my house. The bottom line is that if you are making a claim against someone, you don't get to choose their insurance company so most of this is out of your hands.

JSA

I'm not an idiot. I was quoted $900 per month. Not per year.

Archimedes

I have GEICO and I insure multiple cars as the primary driver, with the mileage allocated by car. The premium is lower the less mileage allocated to a car. It's not as cheap as insuring a single car, but it's nowhere close to paying a full premium on all the cars.

Archimedes

Nothing you've said above indicates umbrella policies are bad; they're awesome. You're just complaining because they're not providing the type of coverage you want. Like buying a car and then complaining that its not an RV.

If you want protection for the accident above, max out your uninsured/underinsured premiums to the highest level possible, and maintain good personal health insurance. The loss above has nothing to do with umbrella liability policies.