Many Types of Insurance – Insurance 101

In this final part of our insurance overview, we’ll discuss umbrella insurance and touch on MedPay. When determining what types of insurance coverage you should have, it’s important that you do your homework. You can contact an insurance agent that you trust and call us too before making any final decisions on what policies to purchase. We all hope that we will never need our insurance policies, but as the roads become busier, it’s ever more important to be covered… just in case.

Umbrella Insurance

In a snippet, umbrella insurance is the extra liability insurance that provides coverage above the limits of your auto and/or homeowners policies and kicks in after your other policies have been exhausted. It protects your assets from a liability claim.

The advantages of an umbrella policy include additional coverage for defense costs and liability for lawsuits that may not be covered by your existing insurance.

When it comes to umbrella insurance, you need to ask yourself the following questions.

  • Do you have assets you want to protect?
  • Are you at risk? For instance, do you have a dog? A pool? A teenage driver?
  • Are your assets at risk? Do you have a home? Retirement savings? Brokerage accounts?

If your answer to any of the above questions is “yes”, then umbrella insurance is a very cost effective solution you’ll want to consider. Bottom line is that if you are concerned about being involved in a lawsuit and have assets to protect, an umbrella insurance policy is a good addition to your insurance portfolio.

MedPay

As we wrap up our overview on insurance, let’s touch briefly on medical payments (MedPay) coverage as it relates to both auto accidents and non auto-related incidents. In one auto-accident scenario MedPay is a way to enhance your protection for medical billing as it will cover the 20% of outstanding bills that your personal injury protection (PIP) doesn’t cover. However, note that MedPay is generally offered at very low amounts, which won’t go very far.

To recap, what insurance do you need in order to rest easy and know you are covered, just in case

  • At least $100,000/$300,000 bodily injury (BI)
  • Collision, including rental cars
  • MedPay
  • Uninsured/Underinsured (UM) motorist equal to your BI coverage amount
  • Homeowners (if applicable)
  • Renters Coverage (if applicable)
  • Health
  • Dental

Don’t let insurance overwhelm you. Talk to your attorney, who can help you wade through the insurance jungle and give you experienced advice that is right for you.

Call Carey Leisure Carney for Legal Services in Clearwater, FL

Contact us at (727) 799-3900 for a free no-obligation consultation and case evaluation.

Comments