Legal help from insurance company

[adjusterjack]

So if I choose to decline spousal coverage on my auto policy, I guess my Umbrella coverage would help with PIP correct in an accident?

No. Umbrellas are personal liability policies. PIP would not extend into an umbrella policy.

I suggest you read the PIP section of your policy. There is mandatory coverage and optional additional coverage. If you are concerned about contingencies beyond those amounts I suggest you look into buying life insurance and disability insurance.

Also, to qualify for Umbrella insurance with many providers, many require 300/300k on bodily injury liability on the auto policy

And some require $500,000. And keep in mind that your homeowners liability is also included in the umbrella coverage.

no such minimum coverage requirement for Uninsured Motorist.

The standard umbrella policy excludes uninsured/underinsured motorists coverage.

We do not provide:
1. Automobile no-fault or any similar coverage under this policy; or
2. Uninsured Motorists Coverage, Underinsured Motorists Coverage, or any similar coverage unless this policy is endorsed to provide such coverage.

1 refers to PIP. 2 allows you to buy an optional endorsement. My guess is that your underlying limits would have to match the auto liability limits.

You can ask your agent for a sample NY umbrella policy.

However, most brokers seem to advise matching BIL & UIM. Is that really required if I plan to get an Umbrella policy with an Uninsured Motorist add-on?

You'll have to check the requirements of whatever company writes the umbrella policy.

 

[gerard2006]

One more and I guess the answer is negative. Have you seen any Umbrella policy cover unlicensed/unbonded day laborers, for e.g. painter falling off? I found some online threads from 10 years ago stating their Umbrella policy covers them but the 2 brokers I've spoken to said Umbrella will only kick in after primary home insurance is paid out and they haven't seen any home insurance policy cover this

 

[adjusterjack]

To answer that question I would have to read YOUR homeowners policy and read a New York umbrella policy, preferably by the same company that writes your homeowners policy.

I have already seen that the NY auto policy is very different from the standard auto policy and any proprietary policies that I have seen elsewhere.

I can only assume that homeowners and umbrella policies in NY are also different.

You can probably download a pdf of your policy from your insurance company website and ask your agent to email you the umbrella policy sample as a pdf and upload them here using the green button.

 

[Tax Counsel]

You can probably download a pdf of your policy from your insurance company website and ask your agent to email you the umbrella policy sample as a pdf and upload them here using the green button.

If you do as Jack suggests, make sure no person's indentifying information is visible on the copy uploaded, including your personal information.

 

[adjusterjack]

Right. PDFs of the policy booklets, without the declaration pages, would suffice.

 

[gerard2006]

Is there any accuracy in this statement below? Also do most attorneys avoid going after the defendant's personal belongings like home, bank accounts, etc if they carry a sufficient amount of Umbrella insurance

When the plaintiff's attorney sees you have umbrella insurance, most of the times they will simply sue for the maximum amount of your coverage, and it will be settled quickly.

 

[adjusterjack]

do most attorneys avoid going after the defendant's personal belongings like home, bank accounts, etc if they carry a sufficient amount of Umbrella insurance

If a defendant carries a sufficient amount of liability insurance there would be no need to go after anything else.

Is there any accuracy in this statement below? When the plaintiff's attorney sees you have umbrella insurance, most of the times they will simply sue for the maximum amount of your coverage, and it will be settled quickly.

No, there is no accuracy to that statement. Where are you finding this stuff?

 

[Tax Counsel]

Also do most attorneys avoid going after the defendant's personal belongings like home, bank accounts, etc if they carry a sufficient amount of Umbrella insurance.

If the defendant has sufficient insurance to cover the claim, there is no need for the plaintiffs lawyer to go after those assets because the insurance carrier will pay the claim, much faster and less expensive than trying to go after other assets of the defendant.

Note that legally speaking the land you own and the permanent structures built on that land (like your house) is called real property and the rest is known as personal property.

When the plaintiff's attorney sees you have umbrella insurance, most of the times they will simply sue for the maximum amount of your coverage, and it will be settled quickly.

That statement is too general to be very useful. The way it works is that if the plaintiffs claim is within the policy limits the plaintiff will go after the full amount of the claim, which might less than policy limits. Whether that gets settled quickly or not is another matter. If the plaintiff and defendant can't agree on what they will take as a settlement it may drag out a long time.

If the plaintiff's claim exceeds the policy limits, then the plaintiffs attorney will look at the value of the defendants nonexempt assets and what type of assets the defendant has in deciding what amount is an appropriate settlement. If the debtor is "judgment proof", which means the debtor has no nonexempt assets then sure, the plaintiff will usually settle for the maximum insurance claim because there is nothing else the plaintiff can get. That assumes that there is no reason to believe that the debtor will get sufficient non exempt assets during the life of the judgment that would make going after a higher amount would be worthwhile.