Personal umbrella insurance acts as protection once your other policies have been exhausted. In cases where personal umbrella insurance is not purchased, causing an accident can result in your surrender of all your material goods in order to assess their value. Most often the property is assessed is the home you own, cars and boating goods.  Potentially, a portion of your salary may need to go to any successful claimants for many years, if not for the rest of your life.

Even if a lawsuit does not result in a huge reward, court costs are frequently high and exceed amounts an auto or home insurance will allow. Personal umbrella insurance will also step in to allow for repayment of court costs without your needing to sell assets to meet these costs.

Personal umbrella insurance coverage and costs vary by company. Most require that you carry a defined amount of liability on your car or home policy. If you do not meet this requirement, you will be personally liable for the difference between the liability limit you should have carried and the limit you do carry.