5 Reasons You Need Excess Liability Coverage

 

What’s excess liability coverage anyway?

In this case, “liability” means legal responsibility for causing injury to people or damage to property. Excess liability or umbrella insurance protects you from the financial impact of successful claims or lawsuits made against you as a result of injuries or damage. It provides additional funds when the liability coverage provided by your auto or home policy isn’t enough to meet the amount you owe.

What excess liability protection means to you

It means that if you still owe money to the injured party after your home or auto policy’s liability coverage amount is exhausted, it would be paid (up to the policy limits) by the excess liability policy. Otherwise, you may be required to pay the amount owed out of your savings, investments, or even the sale of your assets (potentially even your home).

What’s my risk of being sued?

It’s higher than you think. Here are five common lawsuits filed against the average person.

  1. Car accident injuries – medical costs can top $1 million, far more than the amount most people have for their auto policy’s liability insurance. You can even be sued by creditors if you are hit by an uninsured or underinsured driver. That can happen when you have to pay your medical bills or car repairs out of your own pocket and don’t have enough money to cover the costs.
     
  2. Injuries to your visitors – falls send more than one million people to the hospital each year; and associated medical costs average $33,000 – $48,000. Uninvited or not, a person injured on your property can make a claim against you. That means a delivery person who tripped on your stairs, a neighbor who slipped on your icy walkway, a guest who had too much to drink and fell off your deck, or anyone else who is injured on your property under many other circumstances can sue you to recover the cost of medical treatments and even pain and suffering.
     
  3. Pools and trampolines – these “attractive nuisances” are a very common cause of major injuries and fatalities. Property owners can be held liable for injuries that happen to guests or even trespassers who use the pool or trampoline without the owner’s permission. Young children are particularly at risk for permanent injury – so associated claims and lawsuits may ask for millions of dollars in damages.
     
  4. Dog bites – about 900,000 people in the U.S. require medical treatments each year, resulting in $797 million in injury claim awards. No matter how well-socialized and trained your dog is, accidents happen. You can even be sued if your dog bites in your defense.
     
  5. Social media – innocent actions like taking a photo or video of your kids in a public place and posting it on social media can open you up to a lawsuit if people in the background are recognizable. Even posting an unfavorable review on Yelp or a personal web page has led to lawsuits.

Do you qualify for a Personal Excess Liability employee benefit?

Does your employer offer Personal Excess Liability (PEL) coverage as part of your employee benefits?

It’s usually very high-value coverage for a nominal amount. Our PEL program for employees of General Electric, Synchrony Financial, Baker Hughes, and other large employers includes $1 million in coverage for an average of 55 cents per day.*

Umbrella coverage

An umbrella policy can also provide exceptional coverage for an affordable price. With more than 40 million personal injury lawsuits filed every year in the United States, the odds are that you may be involved in one, especially if any of the five circumstances outlined above could apply to you.

Accidents happen. Contact us

Our Risk Coaches™ are licensed insurance professionals who are trained to look at coverage from your perspective. They’re glad to help you navigate the often-perplexing world of insurance coverage. Call us at  800.342.5342  Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET.

 

*Based on the average PEL policy premium for a customer who has one home and a two-vehicle auto policy that does not include youthful or inexperienced drivers.
Product, service, program, credit, and discount availability and limits vary by state. The information provided on this site is provided for informational purposes only and is not a full explanation of products, services or coverage. For more information, please contact Electric Insurance Company at 800.342.5342. If there are discrepancies between the information on this site and the policy, the terms in the policy apply.

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