You may have substantial liability limits on your homeowners and automobile insurance policy. However, it is not uncommon for a jury to award damages that exceed those limits. An umbrella policy will provide coverage when your automobile or homeowners liability limits have been exhausted.
Many insurance companies require that you purchase both your automobile and homeowners insurance through them in order to buy an umbrella policy. Coverage amounts are written in increments of $1 million. Since the majority of risk is paid by your primary automobile or home policies, a personal umbrella policy is relatively inexpensive.