Personal Umbrella Coverages
The Personal Umbrella Policy was designed to provide coverage
in the event of a catastrophic claim, lawsuit, or judgment.
Personal umbrella policies provide excess liability insurance
over the insured's basic primary policies, such as the
homeowners, personal auto and boaters policies. Coverage is
provided on a worldwide basis for the entire family. Umbrella
policies pay only after the limits of the underlying primary
policies are exhausted. Coverage is usually broader and
applies
to some loss exposures not covered by the primary policies. A
typical umbrella policy will provide coverage on a single limit
occurrence basis. Coverage is provided for bodily injury and
property damage liability. Defense costs are also covered,
normally in addition to the liability limit, and sometimes
included as a part of the total limit. A self insured retention
must be met when certain losses are covered under the umbrella
policy but not covered under the primary policy. The insurer
requires the insured to carry certain minimum amounts of
liability insurance on primary policies. Coverage under a
personal umbrella policy can vary depending on the insurer since
there is not a standard personal umbrella policy form.
Personal Injury Liability
Under the personal umbrella policy, the personal injury
liability coverage is usually broadly defined to include
coverage for bodily injury, sickness, disease, disability,
shock, mental anguish, and mental injury. Coverage is also
included for false arrest and imprisonment, wrongful entry or
eviction, malicious prosecution or humiliation, libel, slander,
defamation of character or invasion of privacy, and even assault
and battery, when not intentionally committed or directed by an
insured.
Property Damage Liability
Under the personal umbrella policy, property damage liability
is usually defined as injury or destruction of tangible
property, which includes the loss of use of the property.
Self Insured Retention
The self insured retention is the amount of the loss the
insured must pay before the umbrella policy would be required to
respond. The retention would only apply when a loss is excluded
from coverage under the primary policy, but not excluded under
the umbrella policy.
Required Underlying Limits
This is a requirement of the insurer, it requires the insured
to have certain minimum amounts of primary liability insurance
before the umbrella policy can be written. Usually the required
limits are $250,000 per person and $500,000 per occurrence on
bodily injury liability and $50,000 for property damage
liability under the auto policy. The personal liability
insurance limits must be at least $100,000 under the homeowners
policy. Insured's that have a watercraft liability exposure are
usually required to carry at least $300,000 in liability
coverage. However, these required underlying limits can very
among insurers.
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