Personal Liability Coverage on Homeowners.mp3 Click here to listen to the full podcast
Phillip Washington: I appreciate you and given the demographic of most of my clients, high net worth households that have something to lose. If you have assets in incident or accident happens, because you can be really, really, really, really, really exposed.
Susana Gibb: My lawyer clients have the highest limits possible, the most that they can buy, because they know that stuff happens, and lawsuits happen and they want to be fully covered and fully protected.
Phillip Washington: What do you see from the typical, high income, high net worth client, where they’re exposed and where they are unaware of the exposure?
Susana Gibb:They need to have high limits on their homeowner’s coverage, they need to have the highest they can get and then they need to add an umbrella. Because that is your personal liability. That is not going to cover anything that has to do with criminal. A criminal act would be something that you intend to do, but it would cover you if somebody got hurt on your property, or your dog bites somebody. We see a lot of dog bites, which is kind of a huge issue. Many carriers have dog restrictions. Dobermans can be issues German Shepherds can be issues, Pitbulls can be an issue. That is covered on the personal liability, and then you raise it by having an umbrella.
Phillip Washington: Homeowners have different coverages, right, you have the dwelling part, then then there is a part where it’s like bodily injury?
Susana Gibb: There’s the medical expenses coverage, and that’s just like your basic first aid, somebody walks in your front door, and they trip and fall, and they have to go to the emergency room. So that $5,000 pays for that. The personal liability, we usually set it at 500,000. There are some carriers that will go up to a million and that is for if somebody gets hurt at your house. If you accidentally injure somebody, even outside of your home, that coverage will follow you there.
Phillip Washington: What is an umbrella policy?
Susana Gibb: A lot of people think when they get an umbrella that it raises the property limits. But it doesn’t at all. All the policies that you have sit underneath this umbrella. So, if you have a million dollar umbrella, and your home insurance has 500,000 of liability, then your umbrella raises that amount to 1.5. The umbrella also raises it for your auto insurance, too. If you have an RV, a motorcycle, a boat. So, the minute you start adding all these policies, the more need you have for an umbrella. We also do umbrellas for people that have landlord policies, which is a huge issue, because they are potentially exposed for their tenant’s dumb friend. The tenant’s friend who gets drunk, falls off the front porch, and hurts themselves. They can sue our client who owns the house. So we add an umbrella lickety split, once we hear that somebody has a property that they’re renting out to people.
Phillip Washington: I do have quite a few who own real estate on the side.
Susana Gibb :Now, the other thing where people don’t often realize is, you hire a contractor, and everybody has that contractor that they know, doesn’t have their own insurance, but they’re really good, and they’re really cheap. And so, you hire him anyway. And they tell you straight up, they assure you, no, no, if I get hurt, it’s going to be my problem. If they get hurt and fall off the ladder, and they become a paraplegic, or quadriplegic, they’re going to sue you. They’re going to have no choice, but to sue you to cover their medical expenses. It’s going to be your problem.
Phillip Washington: Pools are a huge exposure, because what if somebody gets hurt or drowns, and you can get sued for that as well.
Susana Gibb: Nobody wants to talk about that, becuase it’s really scary, but most all carriers ask if the pool has a fence.
Phillip Washington: I look at my insurance agents, my attorneys, as my coat of armor, my, my protection, so that that way, I can grow wealth and, and have peace of mind of knowing that I’ve done everything I can to protect myself and my family.
Susana Gibb: People need a lot of advisors in their corner, And I’m over here going, Hey, these are the things that can tank your dreams. This is the worst that can happen and let’s protect it.
