What Does Umbrella Insurance Cover?
A personal Washington umbrella insurance policy will sit on top of the liability coverage up already have on your home and automobile, providing up, your family and your assets an extra level of protection. So, why would you need this extra layer of protection?
- Legal judgments for liability that exceed the underlying limits of liability insurance coverage provided by the WA policies on your home and cars. Put differently, the primary auto or home policy you have, would pay up to its limits, and the personal umbrella will pay for the overages, if any.
- It also covers if you, your child, or your pet cause another person; bodily injury, damage to property, or injury to the person in the form of slander or libel.
- Costs of defense lawyers and legal fees.
For example, what if you were driving and looked down to see a text, smashed into the vehicle in front of you and caused an accident that critically injured or killed someone? Most likely you would be sued for a higher amount than covered by your existing car insurance policy. If that were to happen, they could take your home, cars, belongings and future earnings.
So let’s say you had $100,000/$300,000 limits on your WA auto liability. But you hurt someone and were sued for $900,000. Where would the additional $800,000 come from? In this example if you had a $1,000,000 in Washington umbrella insurance – after the $100,000 of auto liability was exhausted – the umbrella excess liability would kick in and pay the extra $800,000. If you didn’t have the umbrella you would be responsible to pay the 800k out of pocket.
Many people have the misconception that umbrella insurance policies are only meant for the rich. That is not accurate at all – just about anybody who could be subject to legal action due to causing serious injury to somebody – whether the injury is caused by your child, your pet, or you. For example, say your child’s friend was seriously injured while playing in your backyard, or your dog attacked your neighbor, or if a guest drown in your pool? The umbrella policy can help you to pay for the medical and legal costs without stealing your financial future.
What Washington Umbrella Insurance Doesn’t Cover
Umbrella insurance typically does not cover:
- Judgment awarding compensation which exceeds the actual damages as a form of punishment for willful or malicious misconduct.
- Claims of liability regarding your business – that requires a business insurance policy.
How Much Does Washington Umbrella Insurance Cost?
How much does umbrella insurance cost? It has been said the personal umbrella insurance is one of the best values in all liability insurance. While price is dependent upon the underlying risks (like having teenage drivers), the costs are usually under $400 or less per year for an extra one million in liability coverage.
Should I Buy An Washington Umbrella Insurance Policy?
As you would with any kind of insurance policy, you should read the coverages and exclusions to find out if it’s the coverage you need. This will also help you to decide whether you want to simply increase the liability limits on your home and auto policies, or go for the extra liability limits of a personal umbrella policy.
The best way to do this is to compare the costs and coverage, make an assessment of your risk, and see if you think you need the extra coverage. This will help you to make an informed choice between upgrading the policies you already have or opting for the additional liability protection umbrella insurance offers you.
WA Umbrella Insurance Quotes
Request a Washington Umbrella Insurance quote in Anaheim, Bakersfield, Chula Vista, Concord, Corona, Elk Grove, Escondido, Fontana, Fremont, Fresno, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Glendale, Hayward, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Lancaster, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Modesto, Moreno Valley, Oakland, Oceanside, Ontario, Orange, Oxnard, Palmdale, Pasadena, Pomona, Rancho Cucamonga, Riverside, Roseville, Sacramento, Salinas, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Santa Clarita, Santa Rosa, Simi Valley, Stockton, Sunnyvale, Thousand Oaks, Torrance, Vallejo, Victorville, Visalia and all other cities in WA.
The Washington Department of Insurance
The WA Dept. of Insurance is the regulatory agency behind the insurance rules for the state of Washington. If you want to understand these rules, then this is definitely the agency that you need to focus on. Let’s start with limits within the state.
Washington Minimum Insurance Limits
- For auto insurance, Washington requires $15,000 per person and $30,000 per accident.
- For life insurance, there are certain regulations in place to determine how someone is able to get or offer life insurance, but there are no limits listed.
- For commercial insurance, insurance agents may offer broker or casualty insurance as well as covered property insurance, covered causes of loss, specified perils and open perils along with a number of coverage forms like builder’s risk, legal liability, building ordinance, glass, peak season, inflation guard and peak element.
WA Insurance Regulations
As for regular insurance regulations there are a lot of things that Washington provides that you can look up. For example, there are deadlines for the insurer to pay the claim or deny it, deadlines for submitting paperwork to prove a loss for insurance reimbursement, specific information your insurance company is required to give you and regulations on what information you have to provide to your insurance company.
One of the Washington regulations calls for you to be treated by your insurance company in good faith. This means that your insurer must be considered of your needs and must communicate completely and honestly with you about your policy and everything that you need to know about it in order to make a good decision. In turn, you are legally obligated to be honest and cooperative with your insurance company when it comes to your claim.
You should also be aware that your insurance company is required to offer prompt, honest and complete communications. The company and all of its representatives must respond to your communications within 15 calendar days with a complete response based upon the facts that are known.
Finally, be aware that your insurance company is required to have a fair claims process. Unless it is specified in your policy, you do not have to use the forms that are provided to you by your insurance provider in order to make a claim. You can create a list of losses on your own if you need to. In addition, insurers are not able to ask for unreasonable proof of loss. If you provide photographic evidence or video of items that you lost, insurers are not able to ask you to provide additional information.