Umbrella Insurance

[wincrasher]

I bought new auto poilicies last week with a limit of $300,000 for each car.

The agent said they stack, so if I wreck 1 car, then all 3 kick in for a total of $900,000.

He did imply that the limits though are "true" limits - that they will not pay anymore that what's printed on the policy.

I have a friend in the insurance business (but not auto) that says that is not exactly the case - they are potentially on the hook for more, depending on the court.

I'm not so sure. The auto agent suggested an umbrella policy for $1 million can be placed on top of all my other policies for a couple hundred bucks a year. This sounds like an OK deal to me, but am unsure. As an umbrella, it would cover all my homes, auto, rv, etc. - basically personal liability anywhere. But does not cover business activity.

I've never worried about liability due to fault by me, but you never know what other people will do to you, so I've always carried high limits on unisured and underinsured coverage. I believe this policy would also kick in for damages to me as well.

[KTP]

We have a million dollar umbrella policy but I am not really sure if it is a wise thing to do or not. We have an indoor pool (well, had. It leaked and was a pain so I remodelled the room removing the pool and adding in three rooms) so I was worried about the liability issues. Plus the issues if someone gets hurt while boating with me, or anything else.

People are kind of greedy nowadays. Long ago when I was 18 I nudged a car in front of me by accident. It left a faint scratch on the bumper and didn't even spill the coffee I had sitting in the cupholder (talking less than 2mph here). The woman got out and was fine, but took down the insurance info. A few weeks later she settles with my insurance company for $8000 for pain and suffering.