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Colorado Insurance Blog

Category: Umbrella Insurance

4 Facts You Must Know About Umbrella Insurance

Posted on by admin

If you want to invest in umbrella insurance, you need to get your facts right to make an informed decision. Given that umbrella insurance is one of the most misaligned insurance policies, bumping into myths and misconceptions isn’t uncommon.

Here are the facts you need to know about umbrella insurance, courtesy of Integrity First Insurance, serving many locations in Colorado.

4 Facts You Must Know About Umbrella Insurance

Fact #1: Almost everyone needs umbrella insurance

You will hear some people say that umbrella insurance is for the super-wealthy only. The fact is that umbrella insurance is suitable for anyone earning a livelihood. Since everyone is at risk of lawsuits in America, umbrella insurance is a worthwhile investment to protect your assets.

Fact #2: Umbrella insurance is affordable

You are likely to hear that umbrella insurance is expensive coverage. People usually assume umbrella insurance is a costly affair, perhaps because of the high coverage it gives. The reality is that umbrella insurance is a super-affordable policy because it takes over after the underlying policy has been exhausted. If you still don’t believe it, please get in touch with us for a quote.

Fact #3: Umbrella insurance is liability coverage

Because of the name umbrella, most people assume that umbrella insurance covers all risks. That’s not entirely true. Umbrella insurance is liability coverage — it covers you when accused of bodily injury and property damage by other people. Umbrella insurance won’t cover damage to your property or injuries to yourself.

Fact #4: Umbrella insurance has no geographical limitation

Unlike insurance policies like car or home insurance limited within American borders, umbrella insurance has no geographical limitation. This policy can cover you anywhere and anytime, as long as your policy is updated.

Want more information about umbrella insurance? Of course, there is a lot more you can learn about umbrella insurance. Call us today for more insights on umbrella insurance.

Types of Coverage From Umbrella Insurance

Posted on by admin

When you get an umbrella insurance policy, it protects you in many different ways. It adds extra liability insurance to your existing insurance policies so that you’re far better protected.

If you want to know more about umbrella insurance, call us at Integrity First Insurance in Colorado to discuss your insurance needs, or Request a Quote today. 

Coverage for Your Home

When you have an umbrella insurance policy, it offers more liability protection on top of the liability coverage from your home insurance policy. If someone were to get injured on your property, your home insurance policy would pay first.

However, the maximum payouts for home insurance are generally lower than what you can get on an umbrella policy. That would mean that you have to come up with the rest out of pocket if your home insurance didn’t cover all of the injuries.

With umbrella insurance, it kicks in after your home insurance has paid to its maximum. That way, you are well-covered for your home liability. 

Coverage for Your Vehicle

Your umbrella insurance also adds the same liability coverage to your auto insurance. It works the same way- first, the auto policy responds, then after it maxes out, your umbrella policy comes in to pay the overage.

This is an important protection for serious auto accidents that can cost a fortune in medical and damaged property bills. Personal Injury attorneys are constantly seeking cases in Colorado and if you cause an accident there’s a good chance you could get sued beyond your auto liability limits.

The maximum payout of an umbrella policy is quite high, keeping you well-protected if the worst should happen. 

Read more about how to protect yourself from Personal Injury attorneys in our blog 3 Ways You Can Protect Yourself From Personal Injury Attorneys.

Coverage for Other Policies

An umbrella policy can also extend over other policies you might have. If you own a boat, RV, motorcycle or snowmobile and have insurance on it, your umbrella can provide extra liability protection for those as well. 

Umbrella coverage is especially important if you own rental properties. The more property (or risks) you own, the higher the likelihood is that you will be involved in a liability claim. Additional liability protection can go a long way to protect your financial future. 

If you don’t want to come up with the overage due after your other policies max out, you need umbrella insurance to give you more liability protection. If you have a home and auto policy and want more coverage, give us a call at Integrity First Insurance in Colorado to talk to an agent about your liability needs.

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Do You Need Umbrella Insurance?

Posted on by Alexa Steffes

To really feel secure about protecting your assets and your future, you may need the extra level of protection provided by a personal umbrella liability insurance policy.

In today’s society you can get sued for just about anything. An umbrella offers an extra level of protection from lawsuits.

What is an umbrella policy?

An umbrella policy provides additional layers of liability protection. If the liability limits are exhausted on your home, auto, or other underlying insurance policy, your umbrella insurance policy takes over and provides you with additional protection. The cost is minimal compared to the comfort of knowing you’re covered.

Once the liability limits are exhausted on your home, auto, or other policy, your umbrella policy takes over and provides a second layer of protection of at least $1,000,000.  Higher limits may also be available.

See 5 Real-Life Insurance Claims that demonstrate the value of an umbrella policy.

Do you have enough liability insurance?

Imagine what would happen if your dog was to bite a neighbor’s child, or if there was an accident on your rental property. What would happen if a fire in your condo spread to other units?  If any of these things happened to you, there’s a good chance your current liability limits wouldn’t be adequate to protect your assets, or your future earnings.

An umbrella insurance policy also pays some claims not covered by your home, auto, or other underlying insurance. The policy covers not just you, but your spouse and all family members living in your household, anywhere in the world. Legal defense fees are also paid.

Read more about the importance of liability coverage in our blog 3 Ways You Can Protect Yourself From Personal Injury Attorneys.

The right coverage for you is unique. Talk to one of our agents today to find out how to protect yourself, your family and your future with the right personal umbrella insurance for you.

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What You Need to Know About Landlord Insurance

Posted on by Alexa Steffes

As a landlord, you want insurance that’s tailored specifically to protect your rental properties. A Landlord Protection policy, also called a Dwelling Fire policy, gives you choices when purchasing the insurance coverage you need.

Rental properties can be a great investment, especially if you protect your assets with excellent coverage. Make sure that you and your property are covered when choosing a landlord protection insurance policy.

For starters, make sure your property is on the correct type of coverage form. In many instances, landlords will purchase a property, spend a little time fixing it up, then will rent it out after the repairs are complete. This is perfectly fine; however, it’s in your best interest to fully disclose the extent of the anticipated renovations with your agent because a special form dwelling fire policy (which is commonly used to insure residential rental properties) has a couple of key conditions in it:

  • While freezing is indeed a covered peril, coverage only applies if you have maintained heat in the building or shut off the water supply and drained all systems and appliances of water. This is obviously a huge problem during the colder months, so pay a little extra to your utility company to keep the heat on in the house. Otherwise, you run the risk of having a large water-related claim go uncovered due to frozen pipes.
  • Vandalism, malicious mischief, and theft are all covered as long as the house isn’t vacant. If the dwelling has been vacant for more than 60 days prior to a loss caused by one of these perils, coverage is excluded.

If you plan on taking several months to renovate a property, your property may need to be written with a specialty insurance company until renovations are complete. In many cases, vacant properties are only eligible for basic form coverage (which means you are only covered for a small list of specified perils); however, there are some options in the marketplace to expand the list of covered perils for vacant properties. Once the renovations are complete and a tenant is about to move in, you can put the property back on a standard rental dwelling insurance policy.

In addition, keep in mind that water-related losses such as flood and water backup of sewers and drains are not covered in any type of rental property policy (vacant or occupied), so additional coverage will need to be purchased to properly address these perils.

Lastly, it’s important to protect yourself with liability insurance. Landlord Protection liability insurance options protect you and your spouse or domestic partner against personal injury, wrongful eviction, or wrongful entry as well as other non-bodily injury claims such as libel and slander.

The more assets and exposures you have, like rental units, the more important it is to have adequate liability insurance. I recommend getting an umbrella policy to go above and beyond all of your underlying policies, including your auto, home, landlord, and any recreational vehicles. With an umbrella policy, you can get an extra million dollars or more of liability coverage for only a few hundred dollars a year.

If you’re a landlord or are considering purchasing a rental property, give us a call. We’ll get to know you and your unique risks so we can tailor an insurance package to fit your needs.

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3 Ways You Can Protect Yourself From Personal Injury Attorneys

Posted on by Alexa Steffes

If you watch TV or listen to the radio, chances are you’ve seen or heard a commercial from a personal injury attorney. You know the ones- “I called (name of law firm) and they got me $700,000!” The frequency of these commercials means you’re more likely to get sued if you are at-fault in an accident.

The fact of the matter is, there are people out there that see a big payday if they get in an accident. Insurance is there to pay your medical bills paid and get your vehicle fixed. When the injured party wants to pocket extra cash, it drives up rates for us all.

Read more about Colorado’s increasing rates in our blog 5 Reasons Insurance Rates Keep Increasing in Colorado.

If you’re at-fault in an accident your insurance company will only pay up to your liability limits. Anything beyond that is your responsibility. If you don’t have that money laying around, they can take your home or garnish your wages.

Here are 3 ways you can help protect your family and your financial future:

Continue reading “3 Ways You Can Protect Yourself From Personal Injury Attorneys”

What Dog Owners Need To Know About Home Insurance

Posted on by Alexa Steffes

Why do insurance companies care what breed my dog is?

Here at Integrity First, loving dogs is basically a requirement. We know that even the dog breeds that get a bad rep can be the sweetest dogs out there and would never hurt anyone. The insurance industry doesn’t hate dogs, but they use analytics to determine risks.

Many insurance carriers have restricted breed lists. If you have a dog that is on their list, you can’t get home insurance with that company. As unfair as that may seem, insurance is based on probability. Research shows that certain dog breeds inflict significant damage when they bite.

Why do certain dog breeds end up on most Aggressive or Restricted Breed lists?

Continue reading “What Dog Owners Need To Know About Home Insurance”

5 Reasons Insurance Rates Keep Increasing in Colorado

Posted on by Alexa Steffes

Those of us lucky enough to live in Colorado know that the cost of living has skyrocketed in recent years. On Forbes’ list of the cities with the most significant cost of living increase, Colorado Springs ranked #1 and Denver was #16. 

The cost of housing, insurance, and even a gallon of milk has increased year after year. While I’m no expert on housing or milk prices, I can offer some insight on the rising insurance costs.

Here are 5 key reasons insurance rates keep rising in Colorado:

Continue reading “5 Reasons Insurance Rates Keep Increasing in Colorado”

5 Real-Life Insurance Claims

Posted on by Alexa Steffes

Many agents will give you the same generic scenarios when discussing liability limits. Or worse, they won’t talk to you about the importance of liability coverage at all, or how an Umbrella Policy could really help.

It’s hard to imagine being responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages. Especially if you don’t see insurance claims on a daily basis.

We wanted to give you some actual examples of claims that have been filed through our agency in the past few years. These are just a few examples that show why it’s dangerous to have low liability limits. You may save a few dollars a month, or even a few hundred a year, but you could be on the hook for tens of thousands after a claim.

Here are 5 actual claims that have been filed through our agency:

Continue reading “5 Real-Life Insurance Claims”

Ski Accidents: Will Insurance Pay?

Posted on by Alexa Steffes

Who pays the bill if you hurt someone while skiing?

Many of us in Colorado get excited after Halloween. That means the holidays are just around the corner and it’s almost ski season!

Ski season is the best time of year for some of us. But, it’s also the time of year when the liability risk skyrockets.

The roads become more treacherous when we start to see rain and snow mixed with the cold weather. Skiing or snowboarding down the slopes also presents a very real risk.

Luckily, there are some simple steps you can take to make sure you’re prepared.

Continue reading “Ski Accidents: Will Insurance Pay?”

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