Home & property insurance
Personal umbrella insurance
A million dollars of liability sitting above your home and motor policies, for roughly the price of a month of car insurance. It is the best-value product on this website and the one people are offered least, and there is a reason for both.
An umbrella does not replace anything. It sits on top of the liability sections of your existing policies and starts paying where they stop. If somebody is injured and the claim is settled at $600,000 while your motor liability tops out at $300,000, the umbrella pays the rest — and, importantly, pays the legal defence, which on its own can be substantial.
It is cheap because the events that reach it are rare. It is worth having because those events do not care how rare they are once they happen to you, and because in New York a judgment above your limits reaches your equity, your savings and a share of your future earnings.
What it costs and why that number is so low
The first million dollars typically runs $250 to $600 a year in this area, with each additional million costing less than the first. It is priced against your household's exposures — drivers, young drivers, properties, pools, dogs — rather than against a flat rate.
The reason it is inexpensive is that your underlying policies absorb almost every claim before it ever touches the umbrella. That is also the reason carriers require you to carry set underlying limits first, usually something like 250/500 on the motor policy and $300,000 to $500,000 on the home. Where those limits have to rise, that increase is sometimes the larger part of the cost — and it is also, on its own, a good idea.
Who most needs one, in order
Anybody who owns a house in Queens. Home equity here is the asset a judgment reaches first, and a large share of the households we see are carrying $300,000 of liability against several hundred thousand dollars of equity.
Households with a teenage driver — you have just added your largest liability exposure, and this is the cheapest way to cover it. Landlords, whose tenants and their visitors are on the property daily. Dog owners, particularly of breeds carriers watch. Anybody with a pool, a trampoline, a boat or a rental property. And anybody with meaningful savings or future earnings to protect, which includes a lot of people who do not think of themselves as wealthy.
What it covers that surprises people
Personal injury as well as bodily injury on most forms — libel, slander and defamation, which increasingly means something posted online. False arrest and malicious prosecution. Liability arising in another country, on many forms. Defence costs, generally outside the limit, which is the part most people have never priced.
What it does not cover: your own injuries, your own property, anything arising from a business you run — that is a commercial umbrella and a different product — and intentional acts. It is a liability policy, and it responds when somebody else has a claim against you.
The uninsured motorist question
Some umbrella policies can be endorsed to extend uninsured and underinsured motorist cover above your motor policy's limits, and some cannot — it varies by carrier and it is not automatic. Given how many drivers in this borough carry minimum limits, that endorsement is worth asking about specifically.
If your carrier does not offer it, the alternative is raising the SUM limit on the motor policy itself, which is capped at your liability limit and therefore usually means raising that too. We will price both routes rather than assume the umbrella handles it.
Ask about limits, not about “full coverage”. Full coverage is a phrase, not a product, and no policy on earth is sold under that name. It usually means liability plus comprehensive plus collision, which is three of the seven things a New York motor policy can carry, and it says nothing whatever about your limits. A minimum-limits policy with comprehensive and collision on it satisfies that phrase completely and will not survive a serious injury claim. We quote limits and deductibles by their numbers, and we would rather have the conversation about what 25/50/10 actually pays for than let a slogan stand in for it.
Included as standard
How we handle this line
Underlying limits checked first
An umbrella with non-compliant underlying limits can fail exactly when it is needed. We verify them rather than assume them.
The household exposures listed
Drivers, properties, dogs, pools, boats, rentals. The rating depends on them and an undisclosed one is a coverage argument.
UM/UIM extension asked about
Not automatic, and not offered by every carrier. In this borough it is worth the specific question.
Defence costs explained
Generally outside the limit, and frequently the largest single component of a liability claim short of a settlement.
Priced at $1M, $2M and $5M
The second and third million cost less than the first. You should see all three before choosing.
Quoted with the home and motor together
Because the underlying limits, the credits and the umbrella all move together and pricing them separately hides the real answer.
When to ring us
Signs this is worth a conversation
- You own a house in Queens and carry $300,000 of liability.
- There is a newly licensed driver in the household.
- You own a rental property, a pool, a boat or a large dog.
- You have savings or retirement assets a judgment could reach.
- You serve on a co-op or non-profit board.
- Nobody has ever quoted you one.
Umbrella insurance — what it typically costs
- Typical annual premium for the first $1,000,000 of personal umbrella. It requires you to carry set underlying limits first, which is where the real cost sometimes sits.$250 – $600
This is a typical premium range for this area. It is not a quote, and it is not our price. We do not set premiums: a carrier files its rates with the Department of Financial Services and our commission is already inside the filed rate, so the same policy from the same carrier costs the same through any producer in New York. What genuinely moves your own number is which carrier writes it, the limits and deductibles you choose, and the facts on your record — which is what we would go through with you before anything is quoted.
Questions we are actually asked
Umbrella insurance — frequently asked
How much does umbrella insurance cost?
Typically $250 to $600 a year for the first $1,000,000 in this area, with additional millions costing less each. The hidden cost is sometimes raising your underlying home and motor limits to the carrier's required minimums — which is worth doing regardless.
Do I really need $1 million of extra liability?
If you own a house, have a teenage driver, or have savings worth protecting, the honest answer is usually yes. A serious injury claim in New York passes standard homeowners and motor limits without difficulty, and everything above the limit comes from you personally. For the price it is the least arguable purchase on this website.
Does an umbrella cover my business?
No. A personal umbrella excludes business activities. If you run a business, even from home, you need a commercial umbrella above your commercial liability — a different product, priced off different underlying policies. We write both and will tell you which one your situation needs.
Will it cover me if an uninsured driver injures me?
Only if it is specifically endorsed to extend uninsured and underinsured motorist cover, which not every carrier offers. It is worth asking about directly rather than assuming, and where it is not available the alternative is raising the SUM limit on your motor policy.
Related cover
Usually considered alongside this
Homeowners insurance
Rebuilding cost rather than market value, the four exclusions that matter in Queens, and why your mortgage company's number is not the right one.
$1,300 – $2,900
Car insurance
The whole New York motor policy explained by its seven parts — and what each one actually pays for when somebody hits you on Roosevelt Avenue.
$2,400 – $6,200
Uninsured motorist
The cover that pays when the driver who hit you has none, too little, or drove away. The mandatory part is smaller than most people assume.
$40 – $220
Commercial umbrella
The extra layer that contracts increasingly demand, sitting above your liability, your auto and usually your employers liability.
$900 – $4,500Bring the declarations page and we will read it with you
Ask us what it would cost
Send or bring the summary pages of what you already have — those two sheets are where most of the useful conversation is. We will tell you what we would place it with and what that would cost, what we are paid for doing it, and whether you should move at all. Quite often the answer is that your current policy is priced fairly and you should keep it, and that is an answer we give in writing like any other.