Personal Umbrella Coverage — What it Is and Why it Matters


If you cause an accident or someone is injured on your property, you’ll likely be held liable. If the settlement or judgment costs exceed your home or auto liability limits, how will you pay the difference?


What Is Personal Umbrella Coverage*?

A Personal Umbrella policy provides extra liability protection by extending the limits of your auto, home, or renter's insurance policies. An umbrella policy kicks in once your basic auto, home, or renter's policy limits have been met (or if the claim is excluded from your basic policy). Umbrella coverage includes:

  • Legal defense fees
  • Attorney fees
  • Monetary judgments/settlements
  • Medical bills, including therapies
  • Lost wages for the injured
  • International Coverage


What Types of Claims Fall Under Personal Umbrella Coverage?

A few examples of claims that would fall under personal umbrella coverage are bodily injury, property damage, accidents, libel, slander, defamation of character, and invasion of privacy. 70% of umbrella claims are auto-related—the result of uninsured, underinsured, and distracted drivers—with 25% of those claims stemming from drivers talking on the phone or texting while driving. 

Examples of High-Cost Personal Umbrella Claims:

  • It’s raining and your car skids into the back of another car. The passenger in the car that you hit suffers a broken neck.
  • Your dog escapes through an open gate and bites a neighbor, resulting in injury and a permanent scar.
  • A friend's child sustains a permanent injury caused by your horse. (The total cost of an accident involving lifetime care often surpasses $1 million.)
You can protect yourself against liability lawsuits—and financial ruin—by adding umbrella coverage to your existing auto, home, or renter's insurance policy. Enjoy this extra layer of protection, along with peace of mind.

Ready to Consider the AVMA Trust for Personal Umbrella Insurance?

By purchasing personal umbrella insurance from the AVMA Trust program, you will receive:
  • Enhanced coverage for AVMA members as a member benefit.
  • Significant savings — take advantage of group rates not available to individual umbrella policy purchasers.
  • No individual underwriting or rating — past or future claims will not affect your individual annual premium, now or in the future.

Visit the AVMA Trust personal umbrella insurance page to secure coverage today.


Personal Excess Liability Insurance Limits & Premiums (2/1/2021 – 2/1/2022) for the AVMA Trust Program

Limit / Annual Premium
  • $1,000,000 limit / $649 premium
  • $2,000,000 limit / $985 premium
  • $3,000,000 limit / $1,039 premium
  • $5,000,000 limit / $1,267 premium
  • $10,000,000 limit / $2,600 premium
All policies automatically include the benefit of $1M in excess uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.** You may also purchase the higher limits of excess uninsured motorist protection at the following rates:
  • $2,000,000 limit / $126 premium
  • $3,000,000 limit / $255 premium
  • $5,000,000 limit / $505 premium
Required Primary Limits
All participants must maintain the following underlying limits of liability to avoid a gap in coverage:

Coverage / Required Underlying Limit
  • Homeowner's liability (for all property owned or rented) / $300,000
  • Recreational vehicles not subject to registration / $300,000
  • Automobile liability and uninsured/underinsured motorist protection (including recreational vehicles subject to registration) / $250,000; $500,000 bodily injury; $100,000 property damage OR $300,000 combined single limit
  • Watercraft liability (under 26ft and under 50hp) / $300,000
  • Watercraft liability (26ft+ or 50hp+) / $500,000
Visit the AVMA Trust personal umbrella insurance page to secure coverage today.

*Personal Umbrella Insurance is an optional policy that extends coverage to losses related to personal lines (i.e., home, auto, renter’s, and other personal policies). It does not offer excess coverage to claims related to business lines of insurance.

**The uninsured/underinsured motorist limit cannot exceed your personal excess liability limit.


View the full suite of AVMA Trust program offerings at avmaplit.com and avmalife.org. To contact us directly, email info@avmaplit.com or call 800-228-PLIT (7548).