You could lose everything!

The fact is that if you own assets and you have a future income that exceeds your insurance liability that you could lose everything. Big lawsuits hit middle class families if their involved in a serious car accident, an injury occurs at home, or defamation of character. If you lose a lawsuit like this you can lose your home, retirement or savings accounts, and have your wages garnished until the lawsuit is satisfied.

When a situation like this occurs it is hard to figure out how to pay for damages and legal fees. Even if you win the lawsuit you still have racked up legal cost. An umbrella policy can help pay some of these cost. If you haven’t already, I would suggest talking to your independent auto and home insurance agent. Umbrella polices are additional liability policies that extend over your auto and home policies. You can buy million dollar limits for a couple hundred dollars a year.

Insurance is possibly the most important financial decisions you make. Making smart insurance decision won’t make you money but they will protect the assets and investments that you have worked hard to create. One quick moment on the road can make the rest of your work disappear if you don’t take precautionary steps like purchasing an umbrella policy. The mindset for many people when we tell them about umbrella policies is that they are only for the rich. The fact is that it is more for the middle class workers that don’t have the expendable cash to self insure their assets.

When making key decision of on your insurance coverage. Make sure your speaking with an independent agent. Independent agents work for you and at Griffin-Lantz Insurance we only give you advice that we would follow as well. Independent agents want the best for their clients.

Are you losing sleep worrying?

Two things that can cause stress in your life is worrying about your assets and your family. What if their was a way to bring you a little more peace and security? Well, there is a way, one simple policy can protect these assets and your family. When your shopping for insurance be sure to ask about an umbrella policy.

What is an umbrella policy? Here is a simple explanation from investopedia:

“Extra liability insurance coverage that goes beyond the limits of the insured’s home, auto or watercraft insurance. It provides an additional layer of security to those who are at risk for being sued for damages to other people’s property or injuries caused to others in an accident. It also protects against libel, vandalism, slander and invasion of privacy.” (http://www.investopedia.com)

Umbrella policies are sold in million dollar increments and are very affordable considering the peace of mind that you will have after purchasing one. You will most likely receive a discount on your other policies as well. The problem with just having an auto policy with the very common $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident, is that $100,000 can be exhausted very quickly if you hit someone and they have to go to the hospital.

Just the other day there was an accident where a young driver was stopped but sticking out past a stop sign. A motorcycle was passing by and hit the vehicle. The motorcyclist was injured badly and had to go the hospital. The insurance company saw the damage and wrote a check for the full limit of $100,000. This will not be enough and most likely this accident will be taken to court, meaning the young driver and his family are now responsible for any other expenses. If they had purchased an umbrella there million dollar coverage would come in after the $100,000 was exhausted. Protecting their family, home, savings, legal fees, and anything else the family has.

Things like this can happen to anybody and it’s very important you protect yourself by buying an umbrella policy.