Minutes after mentioning it in my net worth update, I got some more info on the car accident lawsuit.
Our neighbor came up to talk because he was worried--his car insurance that we're on is very basic, I think only has $100K liability, and it sounds like the victim's expenses are already more than that. Our umbrella policy has a $300K deductible, so he was worried we'd be on the hook for that big gap in there, I think. But NT printed out our policies and it turns out we have our own automotive policy as well with a $300K coverage for each incident.
So, hopefully if we're reading everything right, that insurance should cover whatever our neighbor's policy doesn't, and our umbrella should cover anything above and beyond what those two policies cover.
If this works out with only higher premiums, damn will I feel lucky, because we would have survived this only because we stumbled into a great broker who set us up with good coverage. I didn't even specifically remember getting that driver policy! And if we come out of this with our shirts on our back, we're going to be looking at all our insurance options, including making sure our rental properties and NT's side hustle get coverage, and making sure we're covered in all directions. This is the kind of experience that puts the fear in you!
July 1st, 2024 at 02:03 am 1719795826
A very good and readable book on property and casualty insurance (which I am currently reading) is "Protect Your Lifestyle" by Meaghan Dowd.
Insurance truly is the base of one's financial pyramid!
July 1st, 2024 at 08:50 pm 1719863429
And have you at least talked with a lawyer specializing in this sort of cases just in case you need to hire one? I personally think it would be well worth at least consulting with someone just in case.
July 1st, 2024 at 11:20 pm 1719872443
LAL, it's a kind of unusual situation...we don't own a car but our neighbors essentially gifted us one of theirs; it's still in their name but we're the primary drivers. So they added us to to their auto insurance and we chip in for that every month. But as it turns out, we also have our own insurance! I vaguely remember our conversations with our insurance broker but had honestly forgotten we had that policy. I was thinking we were only covered via the shared policy with our neighbors.
July 3rd, 2024 at 11:03 pm 1720044221