Umbrella insurance is the most valuable coverage you've probably never heard of. Yet it's highly likely you need it. And it isn't just for high earners. It's for everyone, especially if you:

• Own a car
• Have regular income, assets, or retirement savings to protect
• Have children, especially a teenage driver
• Use social media or allow your children to use social media
• Have pets
• Own a home
• Host parties or entertain guests in your home
• Carpool or host other people’s children at your house
• Serve on a board or perform volunteer service
• Travel abroad
• Own a watercraft, ATV, snowmobile, golf cart, motorhome, or other recreational vehicle
• Rent a boat, snowmobile, ATV or other recreational vehicle while on vacation
• Own rental properties

And these are just some of the reasons umbrella insurance is must-have protection! How many of them apply to your life?

Life is unpredictable

Consider these common scenarios. You're driving a couple of children after a soccer game and have an accident that injures one of your guest passengers. Or your overly friendly dog frightens an elderly neighbor causing them to fall and break a hip. Or your teenager posts something offensive or potentially libelous online or in social media. Did you know you could be held liable for all these incidents, even if you didn't do anything wrong personally?

These types of situations are why you have liability coverage on your homeowners, auto, and other insurance policies.

How much coverage is enough?

Having $500,000 of liability coverage sounds like a lot of protection, but when you think about the high cost of emergency care, surgical bills, post-surgery care, rehab, pain and suffering, lost income, and more the costs can rise rapidly. Multiply that by several individuals and it's easy to exceed $500,000. You've likely seen in the news significant lawsuits in the millions of dollars being awarded by juries across the U.S. That's why having quality liability coverage is so important.

What happens if you're involved in an auto accident and we determine that it's a covered claim under your auto policy with us and the overall damages exceed the amount of coverage your policy provides? It depends upon your state, but your home, checking and savings accounts, investment accounts, and income can be seized or garnished to pay the difference.

Extra layer of protection

A personal umbrella policy would kick in- where damages for covered claims could exceed the underlying policy limits. It's also a critical part of your overall risk management plan because it provides an additional layer of protection when you need it.

Without an umbrella policy, your assets, savings, and even future income could be in danger because you could be required to pay all costs over your policy's liability limit. And umbrella covers much more than just auto accidents. That’s why it's essential in helping protect your family. It's also affordable. Quality coverage costs as little as a dollar a day. And the peace of mind is priceless.