Question About Insurance
Hi-
I talked to my insurance agent today. I have 1M liability on the rentals and 50K auto insurance. He says that I need to bump up the auto insurance to 300K. He says that if I caused a accident and I got sued that they will go after my properties and that 300K more auto insurance would protect me more. Is this good advice?
I think it is reasonable advice. I think there is a higher probability that you will be involved in a lawsuit steming from an auto accident than from one of your tenants.
After you increase the auto coverage to $300K, ask your insurance agent to quote you a $1 million to $2 million umbrella liability policy.
The idea here is that if the judgment from your auto accident happens to be greater than $500K, the umbrella policy will further protect your assets up to another million or two.
Thanks Newkid-
Do I need an umbrella if I already have 1M liability on the rentals? Are you saying that I need 2 or 3 million on the rentals?
d_random,
The cost per thousand for liability is cheaper on an umbrella policy than on a fire policy. Is there a particular reason you have such a high liability as part of your rental policy? And when you say you have $1M on your rentals, does this mean you have one policy covering all your rentals or do you have individual policies with $1M on each?
if you do have one blanket policy, do you find that less expensive? I tried to go blanket with my rentals but found the cost per thousand increased by over 50%. Apart from convenience, what is the benefit of the blanket policy?
JS.
smithj2-
I am not knowledgeable enough about the insurance to give you a good answer. I have a liability policy that covers three rentals (one is my personal residence). 1M for all three.
Do you cross name all the other properties as insured on the other policies?