Friday, August 9, 2013

Parents of teen drivers need to know this…

“But Dad, I only looked down for a second when I dropped my cell phone!” More than one parent has heard this excuse when their newly minted teen driver calls after plowing into the rear of another car. But all the safe driving lessons, all the lectures, and all the threats in the world aren’t always going to keep kids from crashing, nor keep lawyers from knocking on your door in the aftermath of a more serious accident.
Injuries and deaths in accidents are not only tragic and heartbreaking on a personal level, but can expose you to high-dollar lawsuits potentially affecting the rest of yours and your family’s life. Here in Franklin, Brentwood, and Nashville, we’ve all heard our share of local tragedies.
Is your auto insurance up to the task? I’m talking about your liability coverage. If you’re not one of my clients, your auto insurance liability limits may very well be way too low. I’ve seen it time and time again.
But high liability coverage limits aren’t always enough. Once you have a teen driver in your household, your risk of being sued jumps dramatically. You definitely need to consider adding an umbrella policy to your insurance plan. Umbrella policies are designed to protect your assets, and future earnings, which are at risk in a lawsuit.
An umbrella policy adds an additional layer of liability protection (you can choose $1M, $2M, $3M or more) on top of your existing liability limits of both your auto AND home insurance (think dog bites, or a trip and fall off your front steps).
So, for instance, if you currently have a $500,000 limit on your auto policy’s bodily injury liability coverage, and choose a $1M umbrella, you’ll have a total of $1,500,000 of asset protection for a high-dollar lawsuit.
Cost of an umbrella policy is around $150- $200 per year for $1M of extra liability protection here in Williamson and Davidson counties. When you have a higher potential for bad things happening, as you do with teen drivers, you need the extra protection an umbrella can provide, not to mention the peace of mind.
Give me a shout if you want to discuss umbrella policies or anything else on your mind!

David Yates Insurance Agency
1881 General George Patton Dr, Suite 103
Franklin, TN 37067
615-778-1816

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