Montana Umbrella Insurance
Find the right umbrella insurance policy for you.
Written by
Ann Herro has been writing about insurance and employee benefits for over 15 years. She has covered topics as easy as insuring a car, and as difficult as transparency in healthcare costs.
Residents of Montana have varying insurance needs, and in some cases, this includes the need for the extra liability coverage afforded by umbrella insurance. Whether you live an urban lifestyle in a Billings condo or prefer small town life in Belfry, you may find yourself in a situation in which you are liable for significant injuries or property damage to another. When these costs exceed the coverage offered by your regular policies, it helps to have extra liability protection. Compare umbrella insurance quotes in Montana to learn more about how affordable this important coverage can be.
Median Jury Awards in America
- Automobile accident liability awards: $220,000
- Premises liability awards: $232,000
- Slander/Libel liability awards: $229,000
- Professional malpractice liability awards: $1,057,000
We live in a litigious society. Because of this, many financial advisers recommend that their clients carry as much liability insurance as they can comfortably afford. Many liability cases never get to trail, but when they do, juries tend to issue large awards to plaintiffs. When this happens, having the extra liability insurance provided by an umbrella insurance policy can be crucial to maintaining your financial standing.
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What Is an Umbrella Insurance Policy?
Umbrella insurance, frequently referred to as excess liability coverage, increases the amount of liability coverage you have on all of your currently held policies. It picks up where your other policies leave off.
If you are liable for property damage or personal injury to another, as may happen in the event of a car crash or home accident, your appropriate insurance policy will go into effect to cover the costs. If the amount of liability coverage offered by your policy is not enough to fully cover the expenses accrued by the damaged party or your legal defense, your umbrella policy will then cover the difference.
Who Can Most Benefit from Umbrella Insurance?
Wealthy people are the most likely targets of lawsuits and large jury awards because they probably have the means to cover the damages. The more valuable you appear to the injured party, the more tenacious that party may become when it comes to filing a suit against you. Umbrella insurance can keep liability lawsuits from forcing you to pay out a large portion of the wealth you have worked so hard to build.
Even if you do not consider yourself wealthy, if you have a lot of assets such as homes and cars, you risk losing these possessions if you are liable for costs that exceed your insurance coverage limits. Umbrella insurance can prevent this.
How Much Additional Coverage Do MT Residents Need?
Montana residents must have liability insurance coverage for their vehicles. Many choose to purchase coverage that exceeds the requirement of $25,000 bodily injury per person, $50,000 bodily injury per accident and $10,000 in property damage. Car and truck insurance policies typically allow you to purchase a maximum of $300,000 in bodily injury liability coverage, although some companies offer up to $500,000. Similarly, home, condo and renters insurance usually allow a maximum of $500,000.
But are these maximum amounts high enough? Consider this: the average cost of medical treatment for injuries sustained in a vehicular accident exceeds $68,000 per injured person, and the average liability cost for fatal collisions is currently $3.2 million. With these figures in mind, the coverage offered by your auto insurance policy may not seem like so much after all.
An umbrella insurance policy can provide you with millions of dollars in extra insurance at a rate that is easily affordable. You can use this coverage to supplement all policies you currently carry that offer liability protection.
How Much Does Umbrella Insurance Cost?
As with other insurance policies, your premium quotes will depend largely upon the amount of coverage you purchase and your level of risk, as calculated by the insurance company. Rates can vary not only from one person to another but also from one insurance company to the next. This is why it is a good idea to compare quotes from at least three different companies before selecting a policy.
Umbrella insurance policies are surprisingly inexpensive given the excessively large amounts of coverage they can provide. In fact, the average cost to purchase an additional $1 million in liability coverage is only about $50 a month. If you have a substantial amount in assets that you need to protect, investing in an umbrella insurance policy may prove to be a wise decision.
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Our independent agents shop around to find you the best coverage.
Would You Like To Learn More?
The decision to purchase an umbrella policy is not right for everyone, but many people can benefit greatly from the extra liability coverage that this insurance provides. An independent agent in the Trusted Choice® network can help you review your current coverage, assess your coverage needs and determine whether umbrella insurance is a good fit for you. If you wish to purchase a policy, these agents can offer you a selection of competitively priced policies from which to choose.
Trusted Choice agents have offices throughout the state. Contact an agent in or near your neighborhood to get more information and to start reviewing umbrella insurance quotes.