One of the most certain things in life is uncertainty. Your dog could bite the neighbor’s kid. Your teen driver could hit a cyclist. A guest could fall down your stairs. A rainy morning commute on worn-out tires could result in a multi-car accident. And you could be held liable to others for the cost of damages – injuries, property destruction, emotional distress, lost wages and more. Good thing you have insurance. But, wait, your policy covers $300,000 of liability, and, in a lawsuit, you’re judged liable for $1 million. That leaves $700,000 left to pay. How will you cover it? If you have umbrella insurance and your policy covers the incident, the additional $700,000 will come from your...
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What physicians should know about umbrella insurance Asset protection is a term that gets tossed around quite a bit when we discuss how long and difficult the journey is for doctors to establish their careers. You always want to protect what you’ve worked hard for, right? The principles for asset protection apply not only to doctors but essentially anyone who wishes to have some sort of security for their assets. The key is to make sure you don’t over insure, but have enough to get your family by in case disaster strikes. If you ever get to a point where you are financially secure, it is okay to reassess whether you actually still need the coverage. Umbrella insurance can essentially be...
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Should you have umbrella insurance? If you were at fault in an auto accident and held liable for costs and damages in excess of the limits on your auto policy (typically $300,000 to $500,000), could you pay the rest without depleting all of your assets? Could you pay the cost of defending yourself and/or a judgment if you were sued for slander or libel in today’s litigious society? Umbrella insurance can help protect you from major claims and lawsuits. Some coverages may be excess insurance, which means the umbrella policy kicks in when the limits on an auto or homeowner’s policy have been reached. In other cases, such as the slander or libel example, an umbrella policy provides coverages...
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Umbrella policy coverage protects your personal assets from being taken. If you cause a serious injury car accident, it provides extra protection, often at a very low additional price. As a result of the new changes to Michigan’s auto No-Fault insurance law that took effect on July 2, 2020, all drivers now face significantly increased liability risk if they cause a serious car accident. The biggest change is that an “at-fault” driver can now be sued for “excess” medical expenses. “Excess” medical expenses are the additional car accident-related medical bills that used to be covered under Michigan’s old unlimited PIP but now will not be covered by an injured person’s No-Fault auto insurance...
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Whether it’s wishful thinking or just poor planning, most of us don’t give much thought to preparing for a possible calamity. But life happens and an incident such as an automobile accident or slip and fall by a visitor in your home can leave you vulnerable to a substantial liability claim to your personal lines policy – especially when an opportunist sees a doctor as a source of “deep pockets.” That’s when personal umbrella coverage becomes an essential part of your collective insurance protection. This must-have coverage will provide you and your family members with additional liability protection should you be faced with a lawsuit that exceeds the coverage provided under your automobile...
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Protecting your family and assets is a top priority, which is why people have insurance. Personal umbrella insurance is a type of insurance designed to add extra liability coverage over and above another insurance policy, such as auto or homeowners insurance. Umbrella insurance is meant to help protect you from large and potentially devastating liability claims or judgments. Personal umbrella coverage comes into play when your underlying liability limits (such as from a homeowners or auto insurance policy) have been reached. PERSONAL UMBRELLA INSURANCE POLICY IN ACTION To better understand how a personal umbrella policy works, here's an example: If you're at fault in a car accident...
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We took out contingent business interruption insurance for our boutique hotel. That policy includes insurance against ‘contagious or infectious notifiable disease’ and ‘imposed quarantine regulations’. We didn’t expect a battle to ensue, not least around the semantics of the word ‘quarantine’ versus ‘lockdown’. Nay – these are NOT unprecedented times. To many of us, life seems to have hit up against a massive planetary malfunction from which no amount of due diligence can release us. The time, however out of joint, is not as unprecedented as many would have us believe. The 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic may be more recent in historical memory, and more prevalent in current discourse because,...
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What is Umbrella Insurance and Why is it Important? Everyone knows that life can be very unpredictable at times. Whether you are at home, work or on the road, something unexpected will eventually happen. It is important that you are protected when it does. But the problem is that most people aren’t aware of just how many risks they face every day. Entertaining, rental properties, pets, traveling and young drivers are all examples of everyday risks. The average person only carries between $100,000 - $500,000 of liability coverage in their policies. That is a significant amount of money when you think about it. However, when you are talking about an instance that involves a serious injury,...
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Thanks to medical liability lawsuit reforms that were advocated by the Texas Medical Association in 2003, physicians today have much less to worry about from spurious or overinflated malpractice lawsuits. However, as a physician, you are still facing a potentially devastating risk from a different source. Personal liability lawsuits are commonplace, and your malpractice and business liability insurance does not protect you outside of your professional life. There are several areas where you could be at risk of a personal liability lawsuit. Auto Accident Liability Physicians often have long commutes, work long hours, and may be fatigued and/or distracted while driving. This increases the...
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You’ve put years of hard work into building your financial security. To protect your investments, you carry insurance for your home and your vehicles. If you’ve ever wondered if you should also have an umbrella insurance policy, consider the following scenario: One day on the way to work, Travis became distracted for a second, and ran into an SUV with a mom and three kids onboard. The SUV was severely damaged, and the mom and one of the children were seriously injured, requiring hospitalization. The mom, who was an executive at a large local company, was unable to work for six months, and suffered some permanent impairment. The family sued Travis for $3.5 million, well beyond the liability...
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