Personal Umbrella Policy

Most people buy a personal umbrella policy for its excess coverage, including defense costs. It also has significant value as a risk management tool.


Often there are liability coverage gaps that fall outside the scope of underlying auto, homeowners, and other personal policies. An Independent agent can assist you in recommending an umbrella policy that provides step-down primary coverage for those uninsured exposures.

There is a lack of consistency among umbrella policies. Most personal auto and homeowners policies, are fairly comparable, umbrella policies vary dramatically in their coverage.

For the next few blogs we are going to explore how the right umbrella policy can help an individual obtain coverage for which is normally excluded. For today we are going to discuss automobile exposures.


For individuals who have no personal auto policy of their own and thus have no automatic coverage to drive non-owned cars (they either have no automobiles at all or only have a vehicle furnished by their employer) the purchase of the right umbrella policy may be the way to go. Underlying drive other car or named non-owner coverage is very expensive or unavailable, thus it may be most economical to choose an umbrella policy that will provide step-down coverage.

Certain individuals neither own nor drive their own car and are elderly or disabled. However they may receive rides through the generosity of their friends or family members to shop, see doctors, etc. Under many states principal-agency law, these passengers can be sued and held liable for accidents caused by their drivers because the car that caused the accident was on the road for the sole benefit of the passenger. Again, these individuals can avoid this exposure with an umbrella policy that does not require underlying insurance for this exposure.

Those individuals who are either furnished or have access to a company vehicle and occasionally have coworkers as passengers, umbrella coverage is desirable. If the driver’s negligence injures a coworker, the business auto policy usually excludes coverage for “fellow employee” lawsuits. The driver’s personal auto policy excludes coverage for vehicles “furnished or available for regular use.”

Under most personal auto policies, your collision coverage will transfer on an excess basis to a rental car, but only if you have collision coverage on at least one car. There is no coverage outside the United States and Canada. The right umbrella policy will cover collision damage you cause to a rented or borrowed car on a primary basis and worldwide.

Sometimes an individual signs a fine print contract to defend and pay any judgment against the rental car company, even if you weren’t personally driving the vehicle! (An example would be renting a vehicle on a business trip with a co-worker where you sign the rental contract solely, and the coworker causes the accident with injuries. The obligation is to defend and pay judgments against the rental company even though the signer had nothing to do directly with the accident. This is another instance where the right umbrella policy will protect an individual from an exposure the person doesn’t know exists.

Again, the right umbrella is something an individual should discuss with the person’s Independent Insurance Agent.