Florida Umbrella Insurance

Anyone can find themselves on the wrong end of a liability lawsuit. If you are among the many Florida residents who have a lot to lose, umbrella insurance can help you protect your assets by providing additional personal liability protection beyond the coverage limits of the policies you already have.

Local independent agents can provide you with customized quotes from some of the best umbrella insurance companies in Florida. That way, you can be sure you are getting the extra coverage you want at the most competitive price. Contact an insurance agent near you to learn more.

What Is Personal Umbrella Insurance and How Does It Work?

Umbrella insurance is secondary insurance that is designed to significantly boost the personal liability coverage provided by the insurance products you already have.

If you are responsible for someone else’s injuries, property damage, or financial losses, and your liability obligations exceed what your primary insurance policy can cover, your umbrella insurance can cover the overages up to its own coverage limits.

Most umbrella insurance policies start at $1 million of extra liability insurance, and this coverage can typically be increased in $1 million increments.

This means that if you are sued and the judgement against you is very large, an umbrella insurance policy can help to you retain your property, savings, and other assets by providing a very high amount of liability coverage.

How Much Does Personal Liability Umbrella Insurance Cost in Florida?

Because umbrella insurance doesn’t kick in until your primary liability coverage has been exhausted, these policies are surprisingly affordable. The Insurance Information Institute (III) reports that most people can purchase $1 million in extra liability coverage for just $150 to $300 a year.

Additional coverage costs even less. You can usually add another $1 million in liability protection to your umbrella policy for about $75 a year, and every additional million you purchase after that will only run you about $50 a year.

This means that if you have $5 million in property and savings, you can fully protect against losses related to liability lawsuits with a personal umbrella insurance policy for around $500 a year. That’s a very small price to pay for an extremely large amount of liability coverage.

What Does Personal Umbrella Insurance Cover?

Personal umbrella insurance is designed to cover overages if the limits of the liability coverage in your primary insurance policies are too low to meet your financial obligations. You can use your policy to boost the liability limits of your:

• Vehicle coverage: This can include enhancing the liability protections provided by your car, motorcycle, RV, or other vehicle insurance policies.
• Home coverage: This can include enhancing the liability protections provided by your homeowners, renters, condo, or townhouse insurance.
• Other coverage: This can include enhancing the liability protections offered by your boat, ATV, landlord, or other personal insurance policies you might carry.

Be aware that if you are a business owner, you will only be able to boost the liability coverage in your commercial insurance policy by purchasing a business umbrella insurance policy.

Save on Umbrella Insurance

Our independent agents shop around to find you the best coverage.

Request a quote

How Can Personal Umbrella Insurance Help Vehicle Owners in Florida?

In Florida, drivers are required to carry a minimum of $10,000 in property damage liability coverage. Unless they have previously caused a collision involving injuries or have a DUI conviction on their record, they are not required to carry bodily injury liability coverage at all.

In most cases, if you are responsible for a collision in which someone else is injured, their insurance policy will cover their medical bills through the personal injury protection (PIP) coverage in their policy. However, drivers in this state are only required to carry $10,000 in PIP coverage.

This can mean expensive trouble for you if you cause an accident in which someone is seriously injured and requires several surgeries, a long stay in the hospital, long-term care, or worse, suffers a fatality.

That is why many drivers in Florida choose to purchase high amounts of bodily injury liability coverage regardless of whether they are required to have this coverage. Car insurance providers typically max out their offered liability coverage at $500,000.

According to the CDC, the average cost of a collision-related death in Florida is around $1.375 million. Even if you have the maximum amount of liability coverage offered by your car insurance provider, a fatal accident will easily exceed what your policy can cover, and this can mean big losses for you.

An umbrella insurance policy can help you maintain your financial standing. To qualify for umbrella coverage for your car, most insurance providers will require you to carry at least $250,000 per person and $500,000 per accident worth of bodily injury liability coverage in your primary auto insurance policy.

How Can Personal Umbrella Insurance Help Homeowners and Renters in Florida?

Whether you own or rent your home, you probably already have a good bit of personal liability protection thanks to the coverage provided in homeowners, renters, and condo insurance policies.

Home policies usually provide up to $500,000 in personal liability coverage, which, in most cases, is more than enough. However, if your actions or negligence result in someone experiencing significant injuries or even a fatality, a judgement in a liability lawsuit can easily exceed this amount.

Hopefully, you will never find yourself facing an expensive lawsuit, but if you do, having umbrella insurance can let you rest assured that you will have enough insurance to cover your financial obligations.

To qualify for umbrella coverage, most insurance providers will require you to carry at least $300,000 in liability coverage in your home, renters, or condo insurance policy.

How Else Can Personal Umbrella Insurance Help Florida Residents?

If you carry any other policies like boat insurance, ATV insurance, or landlord insurance, these policies will also include liability coverage. This can pay for property damage, injuries, and other harm that you might unintentionally cause through carelessness, negligence, or accidents.

Having personal umbrella insurance can help you be certain that you will have sufficient liability coverage if the unthinkable happens.

What Isn't Covered by Florida Umbrella Insurance?

As with any insurance policy, umbrella insurance has some exclusions. You should not expect your policy to cover injuries or property damage that:

• You inflicted intentionally or with malice
• You caused while committing a crime
• Were sustained by you or members of your household

Be sure that you understand all of your umbrella insurance’s coverage exclusions before you purchase your policy so you don’t find yourself facing any unfortunate surprises later.

How Much Personal Umbrella Insurance Do I Need?

It is never a bad idea to be prepared for a worst-case scenario. Nobody ever expects to find themselves on the wrong end of a high-dollar liability lawsuit, but it happens.

If you don't have enough personal liability coverage to cover settlements or judgements against you, you can see many of your assets seized. This can include money held in brokerage accounts, valuable property, and non-retirement savings.

Umbrella insurance is optional, but the more you have to lose, the more important it can be to have a lot of coverage.

Many financial advisors recommend that you purchase umbrella insurance in an amount that is similar to your estimated net worth. This means that if you calculate your net worth at $2.7 million, you may want to purchase a $3 million umbrella insurance policy to protect yourself from financial loss.

What Is the Difference between Personal Excess Liability Insurance and Umbrella Insurance?

When insurance agents refer to excess liability insurance and umbrella insurance, they are usually referring to two different kinds of policies, though the difference is subtle.

Excess liability insurance policies work in the same way as umbrella insurance, but they are designed to boost the liability coverage of only one specific primary policy.

Umbrella insurance, on the other hand, is designed to provide you with extra liability coverage for all of your insurance policies that include personal liability protection.

How Can Independent Agents in Florida Help You Find the Best Umbrella Insurance Policy?

If you are considering buying an umbrella insurance policy, you may have some questions. A local independent agent can provide answers. Best of all, consulting an independent agent is free.

Your agent can explain the details of your coverage and can gather customized quotes from some of the best umbrella insurance companies in Florida. That way, you can be sure that you are getting the coverage you want at a competitive price. Find an independent insurance agent near you to get started.