Umbrella Insurance Policy

[Buckeyephan]

Sorry if this is a repeat but everything I could find was at least 2 years old. We're closing on our house on May 9 and have been trying to work our way through the insurance maze. Our agent gave us a quote on umbrella liability insurance. Is this something we need? We have all of our insurance bundled in Ohio with State Farm but they don't offer homeowner's in Florida. They are working on an auto quote for us. What insurance can we check through AAA? Any suggestions would be very helpful.

Barbara

[blueash]

Your decision is based on the amount of assets you need to protect from lawsuits and your tolerance for risk. The umbrella gives you a lot of coverage for little money and it is on top of whatever other coverage you have. No right answer. And it covers things other than your umbrella

[jnieman]

Sorry if this is a repeat but everything I could find was at least 2 years old. We're closing on our house on May 9 and have been trying to work our way through the insurance maze. Our agent gave us a quote on umbrella liability insurance. Is this something we need? We have all of our insurance bundled in Ohio with State Farm but they don't offer homeowner's in Florida. They are working on an auto quote for us. What insurance can we check through AAA? Any suggestions would be very helpful.

Barbara

Check with Mike Fisette at Allstate Insurance in front of Wallmart on 466. They offer all types of insurance including umbrella policies. 753-4340

[Bill-n-Brillo]

.....We have all of our insurance bundled in Ohio with State Farm but they don't offer homeowner's in Florida. .......

Barbara, you might want to consider getting all of your other insurance with State Farm transferred to a local agent in TV. If you've been with them for a while, the discounts on your policies might be tough to beat if you switch to another company.

blueash is spot-on regarding why someone might want an umbrella policy. You can keep all your insurance with State Farm, get your homeowners insurance with a different carrier, and still get an umbrella policy through State Farm. That's what we did......to a point. Everything we have in OH is insured with S.F. through an agent here. House in TV is insured through another company. Golf cart in TV is insured through S.F. agent in TV. And we've got it all covered under our umbrella policy with our agent here in OH.

Bill :)

[cquick]

State Farm is using Citizens Property Insurance Corporation here in Florida. It's a Florida state insurance company in Jacksonville, FL. They are no longer writing property insurance in Florida, but we are still using our agent in Orlando.

[billethkid]

We were with SF for over 50 years when they doubled our home owner premiums. They suggested lowering coverage to get to a premium I was happy with. When I finally gave up on them (CD Wise) and cancelled my home owners to go with another company with better coverage for significantly less money...they had the nerve to ask if I would keep my autos with them.
Needless to say I no longer am a SF client for anything.
Florida SF is on my black list.

btk

[GatorFan]

Citizens should be the last policy you buy. There are standard markets available. If you choose the right agent they will help you evaluate your financial situation to determine what your insurance needs are and give you the coverage options that are available to protect your investments and liability exposures.

[batman911]

We were with SF for over 50 years when they doubled our home owner premiums. They suggested lowering coverage to get to a premium I was happy with. When I finally gave up on them (CD Wise) and cancelled my home owners to go with another company with better coverage for significantly less money...they had the nerve to ask if I would keep my autos with them.
Needless to say I no longer am a SF client for anything.
Florida SF is on my black list.

btk

Agree with you 100%. I had auto (3) and home insurance with State Farm since 1973 and had never submitted a claim in all those years. They would not transfer my coverage to Florida. Where is the loyalty?

[perrjojo]

We have our umbrella policy with SF here. The premium is almost 3 times as much as it was in Georgia. Wonder why. Is it because of all of us old folks driving carts?

[TrudyM]

We have our umbrella policy with SF here. The premium is almost 3 times as much as it was in Georgia. Wonder why. Is it because of all of us old folks driving carts?

We move a lot it is my experience that unless you have your home and auto with the same company the umbrella is much higher cost or not available in most cases. Sometimes you can get an umbrella with your homeowners if your auto is with someone else it depends on the rules the state has and the perceived risk the company thinks it has. But they always seem to have a minimum liability level required for both home and auto policies to write an umbrella. I dumped Allstate after 40 years because they kept raising my rates for no good reason. They were going to raise my umbrella from $159 to $375 when I switched my homeowners away from them even though my liability coverage on my new underlying policy was much higher. Gieco found me coverage at the $159 rate even though I have my auto and homeowners with different companies it takes work to find a match up.

[cquick]

Citizens should be the last policy you buy. There are standard markets available. If you choose the right agent they will help you evaluate your financial situation to determine what your insurance needs are and give you the coverage options that are available to protect your investments and liability exposures.

yes, we are going to change providers soon after we close. It was just easier for us to stay with SF for now.

[rubicon]

I am an insurance guy who spent many years in the business with a number of professional designations. I understand and agree in general when people complain about increasing premium rates or the inability to get insurance. Insurance is a mechanism for transferring risks. It would behoove people to insure their auto, homes, lives and to carry an umbrella policy should they become responsible for a tragic event.

Sink hole coverage was a concern for many residents and also for insurance companies. Articles such as Lauren Ritchie wrote in Sunday's Orlando Sentinel do not help

It would be more cost effective if you can get all your insurance with the same insurance company.

[GatorFan]

I agree with you. Find an agent who does not just sell you insurance but finds out your insurance need. One size fits all is not how insurance should be sold.

[howardandsheila]

I had the same question last month when we closed. We still have our house in MI, and also have an umbrella policy. State Farm, in MI, will include the FL address, not insured with State Farm, if we carry 100K or more of liability on the house in FL, which is a no brainer. So, in summary, my umbrella policy in MI covers my address here. We are snowbirds, NOT full time, and I am sure that impacts this.
Hope this helps

[Buckeyephan]

Thanks so much for the great suggestions. It looks like we'll get the umbrella policy. It's hard to get good info while we're in Ohio. We can always make better choices next year when we're FROGS and can shop around. Still waiting for car quotes.