While your South Carolina homeowners insurance already provides some liability protection, it may not be enough to cover you if a really big lawsuit pops up. In case of a huge disaster, you’ll want to make sure you’re equipped with all the liability coverage you need ahead of time. That’s why it’s so important to know how umbrella insurance works in South Carolina.

Even more important is to work with a South Carolina independent insurance agent. Not only can they fully explain the ins and outs of umbrella insurance, but they can also help you get set up with all the coverage you need to protect your home or business. But first, let’s take a deep dive into umbrella insurance and how coverage works in South Carolina.

What Is Umbrella Insurance in South Carolina?

Umbrella insurance in South Carolina operates the same way it does anywhere else. This coverage expands the existing liability limits included in an underlying policy, such as South Carolina homeowners insurance or business insurance. Once that policy’s liability limit has been exhausted, the umbrella policy kicks in to cover the remaining legal costs. Personal umbrella policies often come with liability coverage limits of $1 million, but you can always add more.

What Does Umbrella Insurance Cover in South Carolina?

An umbrella policy in South Carolina works to cover large liability costs that exceed an underlying policy’s limits. Personal umbrella policies are often paired with homeowners insurance, watercraft insurance, or auto insurance, but South Carolina commercial umbrella insurance policies are paired with business insurance.

Umbrella insurance in South Carolina covers the following:

• Additional coverage territory: Your homeowners and other insurance policies have what are known as “coverage territories,” or the extent of your coverage’s borders. If you go outside these areas, your insurance policy will not protect you. Many standard policies cover incidents that occur in the US, Canada, or Puerto Rico. If you add an umbrella policy, however, you can extend this coverage worldwide.
• Excess liability fees: Umbrella insurance is also known as excess liability insurance because it covers the excess liability costs not covered by your homeowners or auto insurance once the limit is met. With commercial umbrella insurance, the excess costs would stem from what’s left over after the liability limit has been met by the business insurance policy.

Umbrella insurance provides a sometimes much-needed additional layer of valuable protection on many standard policies. A South Carolina independent insurance agent can help you decide if personal or commercial umbrella coverage is right for you.

Do I Need Umbrella Insurance in South Carolina?

According to insurance expert Paul Martin, while you’re not legally required to carry umbrella insurance in South Carolina, it can be a good idea to have it if you have various potentially costly exposures. Homeowners may want to consider umbrella insurance to protect against the following expensive legal issues:

Though umbrella insurance may not be mandatory, it’s crucial protection for many different costly legal cases. Your South Carolina independent insurance agent can provide you with even more examples of when having umbrella coverage would make sense.

Does Umbrella Insurance Cover Dog Bites in South Carolina?

Yes, umbrella insurance in South Carolina covers the excess liability fees on your existing policy after a lawsuit gets filed against you for a dog bite. Dog bites are some of the most common and costly risks homeowners face. Even more disturbingly, settlement fees for dog bite injuries average $30,000. While a single incident may not exhaust your homeowners insurance’s liability limit, multiple instances easily could. If you have an overly friendly dog, you may want coverage.

How Much Umbrella Insurance Do I Need in South Carolina?

Well, that really depends on your specific risk exposures. If your homeowners insurance comes with a liability limit of $300,000 and you add a $1 million umbrella policy to it, your new liability limit is $1.3 million. While this is more than enough coverage for many folks, it may not be adequate for you if your property is especially hazardous. Fortunately you can add more increments of $1 million in umbrella coverage up to the amount that’s right for you.

What Doesn't Umbrella Insurance Cover in South Carolina?

Umbrella policies in South Carolina aren’t standard, and this also goes for umbrella insurance across the country. While policies are similar from insurance company to insurance company, your specific policy could look a lot different from your neighbor’s. There’s also a trick to umbrella coverage when it comes to liability claims that wouldn’t be covered by your underlying policy, such as your homeowners insurance.

A “self-insured” retention is included with umbrella insurance, which is the amount the policyholder must pay out of pocket if their underlying policy doesn’t cover the liability claim. These limits for personal umbrella policies are often $1,000. So, if your homeowners insurance doesn’t cover a claim that your umbrella insurance does, you’d have to pay $1,000 out of pocket before your umbrella coverage would kick in to cover the remaining amount.

Here’s How a South Carolina Independent Insurance Agent Can Help

When it comes to protecting home and business owners against costly legal expenses, no one’s better equipped to help than an independent insurance agent. South Carolina independent insurance agents search through multiple carriers to find providers who specialize in umbrella insurance, deliver quotes from a number of different sources, and help you walk through them all to find the best blend of coverage and cost.