Personal umbrella insurance in New York
Your auto policy pays up to its limit. Your homeowners policy pays up to its limit. A serious injury claim in New York can run past both by a wide margin, and what's left comes from you. An umbrella policy is the inexpensive way to put a million dollars or more between a bad day and everything you've saved.
A personal umbrella adds $1 million or more of liability coverage above your auto, home and boat policies, for a few hundred dollars a year. It pays when a serious accident or injury claim exceeds those policies' limits, which is exactly when your house, savings and future wages are exposed. Anyone with assets, a teen driver, a pool, a dog or a rental property should price one.
How it works
An umbrella sits on top of your auto, home, condo or renters, boat and recreational vehicle policies. When a covered liability claim exhausts the underlying policy's limit, the umbrella pays the rest up to its own limit, and it pays the defence costs on top. Limits run from $1 million to $5 million for most households, higher for people with unusual exposures.
Why a million dollars isn't excessive
- A rear-end collision on I-87 that leaves someone with a spinal injury produces claims well beyond $500,000 once medical care, lost earnings and pain and suffering are counted.
- New York juries are not shy, and your future wages can be garnished to satisfy a judgment.
- Your auto policy's $250,000 limit is spent long before the claim is.
The umbrella exists because the difference between a $250,000 limit and a $1,250,000 limit is a few hundred dollars a year, and the difference between them in a bad claim is your house.
Same carrier, or a standalone
Umbrellas are cheapest and simplest from the carrier that writes your auto and home, and some carriers only write them that way. When the underlying policies are split, or you have exposures your carrier won't take (a rental portfolio, a large boat), a standalone umbrella from a specialty carrier fills the gap. I quote whichever fits.
What I need to quote
- Your auto and home declarations pages, so I can confirm underlying limits.
- All drivers in the household and any prior claims or violations.
- Rental properties, boats, snowmobiles, ATVs, pools and dogs.
Request an umbrella quote, or start with auto and home if those need updating first.
Common questions
Short answers to what people ask before they call.
How much does a personal umbrella cost?
A $1 million umbrella for a household with two cars and a house commonly costs a few hundred dollars a year in the Capital Region; each additional million is cheaper than the first. Teen drivers, multiple properties, boats and prior claims raise it. It's among the cheapest coverage per dollar of protection you can buy.
What underlying limits do I need?
Umbrella carriers require minimum limits on the policies underneath, typically $250,000/$500,000 bodily injury on auto (some accept $100,000/$300,000) and $300,000 liability on home. Raising your auto limits to qualify is usually inexpensive, and I quote both together.
Who actually needs one?
Anyone whose net worth or future income is worth protecting, which is most homeowners. The exposures that push people over their base limits: a teen or young adult driver, a pool or trampoline, a dog, a rental property, a boat or snowmobile, serving on a nonprofit board, and simply driving the Northway every day.
Does an umbrella cover my rental property or my business?
Rental property you own personally, yes, if it's scheduled on the umbrella and has its own underlying landlord policy. Business activities, no; that's a commercial umbrella. If you have both, I write both.
Does it cover lawsuits for things other than accidents?
Most personal umbrellas also cover personal injury claims such as libel, slander and false arrest, and some cover uninsured motorist claims above the auto policy. The exact scope varies by carrier, and I'll show you the differences.
Let's talk it through
A phone call or a message is all it takes. The first conversation is just a conversation.