Personal Liability Umbrella Insurance

The United States has seen 512,000 federal civil lawsuits, according to Statistics Brain. While only two percent of these cases went to trial, the sheer amount of lawsuits filed shows a trend toward a litigious society. Homeowners insurance and automobile insurance cover the majority of cases that would cause an individual to get sued. However, these insurance policies do not have an unlimited payout if the court rules that you're held liable for damages. After the insurance company cuts you off with a lifetime limit, your personal assets are at risk of being taken to fulfill a lawsuit judgement. A personal liability insurance policy covers the gaps that other insurance plans leave open. It's commonly called an umbrella policy, as it is an overarching coverage that fills in the protection gaps.

Personal Liability Insurance Pros
An umbrella insurance policy is available at $1,000,000 and higher in coverage. This additional coverage extends over any other policies that you hold, increasing the total liability by the amount of the umbrella policy. Your future earnings and assets are protected from civil lawsuits with this policy, as you won't have to worry about not having enough insurance coverage for any claims. You'd never want to run into a situation where you didn't have enough coverage, you got sued, and you and your family ended up homeless and without a penny to your name. This type of insurance also covers certain types of lawsuits that other insurances don't protect you against, such as those involving businesses that you run, false arrest, and slander lawsuits.

Should you Get Personal Liability Insurance?
Personal liability insurance is useful to have, but if you're running on a limited budget, you can determine whether you have enough risk factors to require this coverage. You also have to factor in the top premium on your existing insurance policies. Many umbrella insurance companies want you to maximize the amount of coverage you get from your policies before you add on additional protection.

You might not think that you are particularly at risk to be sued. Maybe you don't own a car or a home, and you don't run a business. However, that doesn't prevent you from causing an accident, such as one that makes a doctor unable to work for several years. A severe car accident could cause him to lose full function of his hands, make him unable to stand for long periods of time, or cause other injuries that make it impossible to do his job without extensive physical therapy. If he sues for lost wages, you're going to be hit with significant financial losses. Unexpected situations can happen at any moment, and in a sue-happy legal environment, it's safer to get as much protection as possible.

To learn more about the advantages of getting Oklahoma City personal liability insurance, give us a call at 405-751-8356.

Oklahoma City Home Insurance: Homeowners Insurance Post-Divorce

There are a lot of difficult decisions that must be made after a divorce. One often overlooked item that should be reevaluated is your home insurance policy. Because while you may be in the same home post-divorce that you were pre-divorce, there have probably been enough changes around the property that a home insurance overhaul is needed. 

Reduce deductibles: If you have been divorced from a wage earning spouse, then you will be adjusting to living on less income than you were before divorce. But even if you divorced a stay-at-home spouse, your expenses may be higher now that you need help filling the roles that you relied on your ex-spouse to fill. This means that you have some budget changes to make and it may also mean that the deductibles you have are no longer suitable. Finding a deductible that you can afford that also gives you a premium that works for your budget, is an important move. While high deductibles can reduce overall premiums, they leave a large liability on your shoulders that could pose a great financial risk if you can’t afford to pay them. 

Reduce contents limits: When your spouse moved out, he or she may have taken some of your joint property with them. The limits on the contents coverage for your home insurance policy likely includes the value of the items that they were awarded during the divorce, so reducing your limits to reflect the value of the items you kept is important. 

Liability limits: If your household income and savings was adversely affected by the divorce then you may want to consider raising the limits of the liability portion of your Oklahoma City home insurance policy or looking into an umbrella policy. With higher limits, you run less risk of having to pay out of pocket for liabilities because their expense exceeds your insurance benefits. 

Search for discounts: As you overhaul your coverage limits and deductibles, it’s a good time to take a look at discounts you may qualify for as well as those you don’t qualify for, but could by making some easy changes. Also, mention to your agent any risk reductions that have occurred since the divorce, such as the relocation of a dog whose breed made your home insurance more expensive. 

It’s important that you start looking out for yourself as soon as possible after a divorce. One of the ways you can do so is by working with your insurance agent to restructure all your insurance policies so that they fit your post-divorce budget, needs and risks, and not your pre-divorce life.

Make sure you have the best possible option for your Oklahoma City homeowners insurance policy with Alexander & Strunk today!