I was recently consulted on a case in which a 45-year-old man was killed while riding on a motorcycle when a 21-year-old young woman ran a red traffic light and struck his motorcycle. At the time of this crash, the young woman only had $100,000 in liability insurance, and the motorcyclist only had $100,000 in Underinsured Motorists coverage.
As mentioned in my recent blog on the topic of Underinsured Motorists coverage, unfortunately the amount of Underinsured coverage that the man had was “set-off” or reduced by the amount of liability insurance which this young woman had, thus resulting in no additional coverage for the man and his family. However, if the man had purchased a Liability Umbrella policy prior to this crash, then there would have been an additional $1,000,000 in coverage to compensate his surviving family.
A liability umbrella insurance policy is a policy that provides additional liability coverage in an amount not less than $1,000,000. When a Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists rider is added to the policy, $1,000,000 of Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists coverage is also included. The typical cost of such a policy is usually between $300-$400 per year, or only approximately $29 per month.
Despite the relatively small cost of such a policy, for some unknown reason many insurance agents do not strongly recommend such a policy, even when their insured has assets and/or a family to protect. However, if tragedy strikes, these additional monies can make all the difference in the financial well being of the surviving family.
If you have questions regarding what insurance coverage should be included with your auto policy, feel free to give my office a call for a free consultation. As an Indianapolis personal injury attorney, I provide a free initial consultations to help people understand their legal rights when injured in accidents.
