Umbrellla Insurance Policy

[dale farley]

I started a thread about this subject a year ago, but the reason for this one is a little different.

Does anyone know of a source for an umbrella policy that is not tied directly to your auto insurance where I can get at least $1mil of coverage for less than $500? Paul said last year that he had a $1mil policy for $262, but I don't know if it was tied to his automobile policy.

I just received notice from my brokers (Umbrella.Com) that they are switching to a different company for their umbrella policies. It appears that Navigators Ins. Company no longer writes these policies in the state of Florida, so they are recommending I switch to AAIC.

The problem I have with this is that I was paying Navigators $549 for a $2mil policy, and AAIC is $730 for the same coverage. I called my car insurance company (GEICO) and they want $571 for a $1mil policy.

[pwf252]

Dale,
Don't know if my info will help but I buy mine through my Allstate Agent. Although it is thru my auto ins. agent it is not tied to auto ins. it is a one million dollar coverage policy that cost me $200.00 a year and its thru an Allstate subsidiary.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

My umbrella is independent of my home and auto policies. It does however specify my underlying coverage, and in the case of my vehicles for example it requires $500,000 limits.

I found it was less expensive to just shop for umbrella coverage and make sure the underlying limits for my auto and homeowner's policies met the requirements.

[phorner]

My umbrella coverage is through RLI and, as Jon noted, it does have requirements for minimum auto coverage.

[dale farley]

The two different umbrella policies I've had before required that I have $300K on my vehicles and houses. I'll call Allstate and see what they say, but I suspect they will tell me I have to have my autos insured with them.

[Orren Zook]

I was also with Umbrella.com. They canceled my policy effective on my 1/16/10 renewal date and wanted to renew at close to $800. I went with Selective Insurance for $579 with $2 million in coverage.

[HarborBus]

I also have RLI, 2M for $490. No problems and fortunately have not had to use it.

[JIM KELLER]

Dale, I looked up my Umbrella policy to report for comparison. It is with our homeowners which is Fireman's Fund. It is 3m for a premium of 1100. Doesn't look to competitive based on what I'm seeing in this Thread.

The benefits of POG never end.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I suspect the premium for an umbrella is related to the requirements for underlying coverage.

If the umbrella requires $500,000 coverage on underlying policies instead of $250,000 for example it may be less expensive.

I think it is best to see quotes on various combinations of coverage. What you save on an umbrella you may end up paying for to a greater extent on auto and homeowner's policies. I think it is a matter of looking at the various combinations and it may turn out an expensive umbrella may be cheaper due to much lower limits on the other policies.

[dale farley]

Jim,

I called GEICO again to see what a $2mil policy would be, and it was $943, so the highest quote I have received from anyone was from my auto insurer. I also checked with Farm Bureau (who insures my houses) and they wanted to raise my auto insurance by over 50% before they would write me an umbrella policy.

I have excellent coverage and great rates from GEICO (cars) and Farm Bureau (house), but every time I consider combining all my insurance with one company, it is much more expensive. I feel sure the moral of this story is to "shop" every few years. I have been with GEICO for over 30 years, and they have paid several legitimate claims and never raised my premium as a result of the claim. In 2007, my Honda Accord was totaled, and in 08, my PT Cruiser sustained $4600 in damage while being towed. I currently pay them $826 every six months for full coverage on 4 vehicles.

[JIM KELLER]

Sounds like the lizard has been good for you. Now what is this about PT Cruiser damage while towing. Should we know more ?

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Maybe we were a little too hasty giving Dale a pass on the damage to the bottom of the bus door. I'm going to see if Mango wants to relinquish the wide turn award.

[JIM KELLER]

I agree ! I'm hearing stories from the grapevine that his Cruiser flipped upside down and he towed it on the roof.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

So now Dale has a convertible Cruiser? Or did he just get far enough to make a sunroof?

[rfoster]

I heard the Cruiser had a gender change in Kansas. Something about going from a 5 speed to wide open automatic. The faster you go the quicker it changes. Dale will have to elaborate as to the convertible part.

[JIM KELLER]

Roger, I think the right side of your Bus looks good without slides.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Since I used to have tires that were flat on the bottom, this might be the place where I step away from this discussion.

[dale farley]

Believe me when I say, I thought I had made full disclosure of this incident a long time ago. While going to Yellowstone in May 08, I went through a construction zone in Southern Wyoming. Something came up under the car and knocked out the bottom of my transmission, dislodged the power steering pump and brake master cylinder and other miscellaneous items. I stopped when I saw parts flying all over the Interstate. Nine weeks and $4600 later and everything was repaired. I am thankful for good insurance.

The Honda Accord was totalled when a Mexican worker from Alabama ran into us from the rear and pushed us into a truck. Unfortunately, he had no insurance, no driver's license and didn't own the vehicle. He also got out of the vehicle and disappeared into thin air. None of the other 3 occupants knew his name or where he went. GEICO ended up paying for my car and the truck that I was pushed into. I truly thank God, that neither Paulette nor I was injured.

Jim, You can appreciate this one. A few days ago, I started out my front gate. It was raining and the wind was blowing. Just as I started through the gate, the wind resistance stopped the gate, it reversed directions, and caught my fender just in front of my driver's door. Did a bang up job on the fender, and I couldn't open the door. I got it out of the shop yesterday, and after $400, there is no sign of the damage. I didn't check with GEICO on this one. See what could have happened to your bus bus when the gate closed on it?

Although none of these things were directly my fault, I am considering not driving any more. If I had your or Jon's money, I would just hire a chauffeur.

I just noticed in the picture, it looks like a weird "Indian Spirit" is observing the damage to the car.

[dale farley]

Orren,

Do you have a contact for Selective? I have searched the web for quite some time and have not been able to nail down a number or website for this company. Thanks, Dale

[JIM KELLER]

Dale, I like the words " Full Disclosure. " Great verbiage for our society. Thanks for the update on the damage. Guess I missed it during the previous Full Disclosure. Sorry to see the damage on your Cruiser. Glad to hear it all turned out ok and looking good. That gate of yours sure is active. I'm glad I saw it closing on me and I stopped before it hit the Bus. I think the fact I wasn't moving when it closed on us is the reason there was no damage. Stressful at the moment, but funny now. We have a rolling gate at our house and every time I start through it with the Bus I think of you.

[Orren Zook]

Orren,

Do you have a contact for Selective? I have searched the web for quite some time and have not been able to nail down a number or website for this company. Thanks, Dale

Dale, I went through a local agent here in Ohio for this coverage, here's the web page for Selective: http://www.selectiveinsurance.com/WebApplications/EDS/PublicSite/Main/Home.aspx

[phorner]

This is a link to my insurer:

www.rlicorp.com/products/pup/default.asp

[dale farley]

Thanks Paul and Orren. I am waiting on a reply from RLI now.

[christyhicks]

Thanks for all the good information, guys. I too, shopped for an umbrella policy, but Allstate, who insured all of our personal vehicles, including the buses (at first), wanted to raise all of our minimums to one million before they'd issue the umbrella. Now, normally this wouldn't be a problem, except, ahem, we insure eight personal vehicles (for two people, don't EVEN ask me to explain the logic behind that), plus three buses and a Class C. That's a lot of minimums.

A word of warning, when we purchased our 4107, we insured it through Allstate with "agreed upon value". About 2 years ago, when the renewal policy came, for fun I went ahead and read it, and to my suprise the words "actual cash value" jumped off the page at me. I immediately contacted my agent, who was greatly confused because she had been involved with making sure it was listed as "agreed upon value" when we initially purchased the insurance. After she contacted Allstate, it came out that they would do the agreed value only the first year, and then it would automatically revert to cash value unless we provided an acceptable appraisal. . . of course, it would have been NICE for them to inform US of the change. We were running down the road thinking we have "full coverage" when we really didn't.

We got our appraisal and then Allstate wanted to almost double the premium, so we switched all of the buses over to Progressive. I did check with Progressive on our home and cars, but it was a no-go. No one has ever been able to touch our rates on the home and personal cars yet, so we're stuck with two different companies for personal, and then yet another for our business vehicles.

I'll be checking into some of those links provided for umbrella policies, and if anyone else has a suggestion, I'm all ears.

Next, can someone tell us why we spend more insuring ourselves, our health, our vehicles, our house, our business, well, shoot, let's just say, we spend thousands of dollars a month JUST IN CASE something happens. . .just in case someone sues us because they figure there might be something to get. . . just in case someone WITHOUT insurance hits US! Crazy or what. Christy Hicks

[dale farley]

I have mine set up to switch to RLI in the next couple weeks for $397 for a $1 mil policy on 5 vehicles and 3 houses. That includes the bus and the farm.