Dollar for dollar, the umbrella policy may be one of your best insurance buys. Unfortunately, just about anyone can be targeted by a lawsuit these days. It's not unusual to hear of $2 million, $10 million and even $20 million liability judgments against individuals. If someone is injured in your home, or if you cause a serious auto accident, you could be hit with such a judgment. Personal Umbrella insurance helps lessen your chances of being put in a financial bind if it happens to you.

While regular auto and homeowner insurance can protect you and your family's liability in some cases, Personal Umbrella insurance spreads over and provides protection above the limits of the existing liability policies. If you are found to be legally responsible for injuring someone or damaging their property, for example, a Personal Umbrella policy will either pay the part of the claim in excess of the limits of your basic liability coverage, or pay for certain losses not covered by your basic personal liability insurance. Without a Personal Umbrella policy, anything beyond the liability coverage limits of your Homeowner or Auto insurance policy will have to come out of your own pockets.

One of the greatest things about Personal Umbrella is that you get so much coverage for your money. Coverages start at $1 million, but you can go as high as $5 million. The total annual premium for a $1 million umbrella is very affordable.

An accident could potentially exhaust your underlying coverage limits very quickly. With insurance so affordable, it just makes sense to be safe rather than sorry.