What losses do umbrella policies cover?

Question

Do they really pay out?

Answer 1

I have an insured who was hit by an underinsured motorist.  She was severely injured.  His insurance was depleated.  Then she turned the claim into her auto coverage.  Her underinsured motorist coverage was exhausted as well.  At that time, the umbrella coverage was tapped for the underinsured liability.

Yes it did pay out.  To the tune of $1million.

Answer 2

Do you mean umbrella liability policies?

Edit:  They protect you if you are sued for causing injury or damage to others.

Answer 3

OK, yes, they really pay out.  Not often, which is why it's possible to buy a million dollars of coverage for less than $200 a year.

What do they cover?  You're best off asking your agent.  Very, very few companies are offering a true "umbrella" policy these days; most of the time it's an excess liability policy.  That means, (assuming you read some of the questions here where someone has auto medical bills for $200,000) after your auto limits are exhausted, or your homeowners limits, you have an ADDITIONAL million dollars of coverage on top of that.  It's really good if you're last guy in for a mulit car pileup, or your dog bites a cute kid, infection sets in, and their face is scarred for life.  

An UMBRELLA policy will ALSO pay some claims that wouldn't be covered by either your homeowners or auto policies.  An example of that would be a suit brought against you, in your position of volunteer for your church or the boy scouts or something, or a suit brought against you if you hit someone with a golf cart on the golf course.  But you need to ask YOUR AGENT for specifics of that, as an umbrella policy is NOT standard, and EACH policy can have it's own coverages and exclusions.