Tips on How to Get the Most Out of Your Liability Coverage
All too often, policyholders will buy only the minimum amount of liability coverage necessary, just to save a few extra dollars. What they may not realize is that liability coverage is one of the most important things offered with auto and homeowner’s insurance.
Even if policyholders do everything exactly the way they are supposed to, there is still a chance for unintentional accidents and injuries. Liability coverage helps pay the medical expenses for the injured party as well as paying any legal fees and expenses. When a policyholder increases the liability limits on their insurance policies, they are providing themselves with a way to pay these unforeseen costs without going broke.
“Liability protection is comprised of two parts: personal liability and medical payments. Personal liability covers claims or lawsuits against you arising out of bodily injury or property damage to others caused by an accident on your property, or by accidents away from your property, caused by you or family members who live with you. The coverage also pays for your legal defense should you be sued for a covered claim. However, coverage does not extend to losses caused by intentional acts, business related incidents, accidents covered by auto insurance, or claims covered by worker’s compensation insurance,” (Does homeowner’s insurance cover personal liability: 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy, October 21, 2014).
“The best thing for you to do as a policyholder is to avoid situations that would place you at fault in a given situation,” explains Frank N. Darras, America’s top disability insurance lawyer. “Medical fees and legal expenses can get very expensive if a lawsuit is drawn out. What if you only had liability coverage up to $100,000? One way to combat this is to add umbrella insurance to your policies to cover everything over your liability limit. You can buy a million dollar policy to cover all of those unexpected expenses without draining your life’s savings.”
The cost of increasing liability coverage on both homeowner’s insurance and auto insurance policiesis very manageable. However, there are always exclusions to insurance policies so knowing these in advance will help potentially save policyholders later on. There are exclusions pertaining to renting part of the home, mold problems, and most things relating to business. An insurance agent will be able to give you a detailed explanation on how these exclusions may affect you.
“I highly recommend getting in touch with your qualified insurance agent. They can advise you on how your current policy works and what you can do to make it better. Ask them about umbrella insurance while you’re at it. Don’t hesitate when it comes to your financial stability because you never know what’s coming around the next corner,” says Darras.