When buying umbrella insurance, should I max out my auto?

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Topic Author
moolman
Posts: 125
Joined: Sat Jan 30, 2010 4:50 pm

When buying umbrella insurance, should I max out my auto?

Post by moolman »

Finally finished school and in the real world, getting paid money.

Already bought $1 million in professional liability insurance.

I just switched to Geico, they had the cheapest rate by far. Been with Wawanessa for the last 2 years but they raised their rates again. This is my second time with Wawanesa, went back when they dropped their rate and now it goes up. I don't know what is up with them, it's yo-yo pricing.

So my question is, I'm getting the umbrella policy through Geico which makes a $1 million dollar policy less than $50 because they give you a discount on the auto. So instead of $180 or so for the $1 million, you end up paying a net $50.

I can either make my
auto liability 300k/500k with $1 million umbrella
Or
auto liability 500k/750k with $1 million umbrella

Because of the discounts etc, the price becomes exactly the same, ie. price of auto goes up but umbrella goes down. Does anybody know if there is an advantage one way or another to have a higher auto or lower auto etc.

Someone mentioned the plus side of the higher auto liability is that I can get a higher Uninsured motorist, I'm currently at 100/300k, not sure if I really want more but I do live in CA, land of uninsured drivers.

Thanks for the advice.
ResNullius
Posts: 2091
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:22 pm

Re: When buying umbrella insurance, should I max out my auto

Post by ResNullius »

Regarding the umbrella issue, the carrier will dictate how much underlying liability coverage you need on your car and house insurance. Be sure to comply with their dictates in this regard.
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Quasimodo
Posts: 1357
Joined: Thu May 03, 2007 1:58 pm

Re: When buying umbrella insurance, should I max out my auto

Post by Quasimodo »

If you need professional liability, you could be a target for large lawsuits, so I'd say go for the higher auto limits for the same price.

At least get a quote for uninsured motorists coverage for the same limits as your auto liability limits. This is worthwhile coverage.

Congratulations and good luck!

John
Many wealthy people are little more than janitors of their possessions. | | Frank Lloyd Wright, architect (1867-1959)
Tom_T
Posts: 4836
Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2007 2:33 pm

Re: When buying umbrella insurance, should I max out my auto

Post by Tom_T »

ResNullius wrote:Regarding the umbrella issue, the carrier will dictate how much underlying liability coverage you need on your car and house insurance. Be sure to comply with their dictates in this regard.
I have both my auto and my umbrella with the same insurer, and they didn't even ask me. When I got the umbrella policy, they increased my auto coverage as per their rules. Maybe Geico does the same?
Topic Author
moolman
Posts: 125
Joined: Sat Jan 30, 2010 4:50 pm

Re: When buying umbrella insurance, should I max out my auto

Post by moolman »

For the benefit of those who might have the same question, I'm posting what I found out.

It's better to max out the auto especially since it becomes the same price. It allows you to get higher uninsured motorist. It also, in the event that you're umbrella and auto is not the same company, means you won't have a second claim on your record with a different company. It's a small thing but never the less.

I ended up calling Geico back and changed my auto to 500/750, increased my UM to 500/500, the max at Geico. My auto went up a couple of dollars and my umbrella went down a couple, so it was a small change in premium since I got the higher UM.

I'm searching for Renter's Insurance now, Geico requires 300K of liability for the umbrella, so that everyone knows.

Adding the umbrella and renter's will cost me about $200 a year extra combined because of the discount to the auto for getting the umbrella. Normally, it seems umbrella is around $200 and so is renters insurance.
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