Personal Liability Insurance Coverage E: What’s Covered?

Personal liability insurance or coverage E is a part of your homeowners insurance policy that protects you and your family against liability (i.e., being legally responsible) for someone’s bodily injury or property damage.

Most of the time, it is used to cover your defense fees so that you aren’t required to pay out of your pocket for them.

You may be surprised to learn that personal liability insurance isn’t limited to incidents that happen on your insured property. You can even extend it to an umbrella policy to include accidents that happen elsewhere. Pretty convenient, huh?

Under what circumstances can you use personal liability claims, and how to ensure that you have it in your insurance policy? Learn below.

What Is Personal Liability Insurance?

Personal liability insurance provides liability coverage if you or your family members are held responsible for bodily injury or property damage to someone.

Therefore, it serves as protection in the event that an accident happens – and let’s face it – they sometimes do.

Coverage Limits

You will discuss the liability policy limits with the insurance company so that the final amount is something that will cover any possible accidents that could happen.

As a rule of thumb, homeowners policies provide limits from $100,000 to $300,000, but umbrella liability policies can be an extra layer of security with higher limits.

Deductible

Every time you file a claim (even for liability coverage), you will have to pay a predetermined deductible.

You will discuss the amount of your deductible with your insurance company, and one of our agents can also help you with that.

Generally, a higher deductible means you’ll have to pay less for your home insurance policy and vice versa.

What Does Personal Liability Coverage Include?

What will your personal liability insurance cover?

In your insurance contract, your insurance company will specify what kind of personal liability coverage you have.

Generally, you can file liability claims for some of the following reasons:

Property Damage

Personal liability insurance (by the way, it is also known as “Coverage E”) covers property damage you or your family member are found at fault.

Think: Your kids are playing in the yard, and they accidentally launch a ball through your neighbor’s windows. As Murphy’s Law has it, it will land straight on their most expensive ceramic pottery and break it. Oops!

The good thing is that your liability insurance personal umbrella policy can cover expenses like this, too.

Personal injury

When a person suffers from bodily injury as a result of an accident or negligence, you can use personal liability coverage to cover the expenses.

For instance: A guest comes over to your home, slips, and falls down the stairs because of a broken stair tread. Or: your dog bites them.

They can sue you for the damage. That’s where personal liability coverage for bodily injury kicks in.

Lawsuits

A personal liability insurance policy covers certain legal fees and defense costs for which you can file a claim.

They include attorney fees, court costs, etc. – in short, all of the additional expenses that occur when you are found legally responsible for something.

Even if you are wrongly accused, there still may be a need for you to appear in court. Yes, you will be proven innocent and the accusations false, but the expanses will remain. So, liability insurance can come in handy under those circumstances, too.

Types of Liability Insurance

One of our chosen carriers for homeowners insurance, Nationwide, offers the so-called “general liability insurance” that covers attorney cost, protection for judgments, and also medical fees for bodily injury or property damage you cause.

They allow you to add an endorsement to the general policy if you need to protect your business against lawsuits and settlements.

Their commercial options also include an add-on for auto rental, invasion of privacy by your employee, and coverage against damage caused by a poor decision by the company’s board of directors.

Moreover, you can purchase liquor liability and fire legal liability for related accidents.

Personal coverage against libel and slender is also available.

Finally, as mentioned, a personal umbrella policy is meant for high losses. If a serious accident happens, this type of coverage could save you thousands of dollars. Safeco is another carrier that offers excellent deals for umbrella policies.

However, keep in mind that no liability policy will protect employee injuries, intentional acts, and coverage for your car accidents (read the section below on car insurance for that).

Need help determining which kind of liability do you need? One of our agents – Insurance Geeks – will help you find an adequate solution for your particular situation. We won’t settle for less!

What Else Does Your Home Insurance Cover?

Homeowners insurance policies include different types of coverages in addition to personal liability coverage or Coverage E.

Homeowners Policy Structure

The coverage may vary, but most of the standard home insurance policies offer the following ones:

• Coverage A (dwelling coverage) – the actual physical structure of your home property
• Coverage B (separate structures) – a separate structure is something that’s still part of your property but is physically detached from your homes, such as a garage or a shed
• Coverage C (personal property) – protects all of your personal property items or belongings, e.g., clothing, appliances, and so on
• Coverage D (loss of use coverage) – reimburses expenses that arise when your home is temporarily unavailable, and you have to rent a place and spend extra money on food & transportation
• Coverage F (medical payments) – can cover certain medical bills that occur due to an injury to another individual

Car Insurance

You may need an auto insurance policy (also known as “car insurance policy”) because your personal liability coverage will not account for the liability due to a road accident.

This is usually covered by your car insurance.

You may not know this, but bundling policies equals discounts. So, if you want to combine your homeowners insurance and auto insurance, you may get a very good deal!

Get a Quote Today

We know – shopping for homeowners insurance with the amount of personal liability coverage you need can get quite exhausting and overwhelming at times.

That was our main motivation behind making it as simple as possible. Here’s how it goes:

We ask you to provide a couple of details, such as your ZIP code and your address, and we send it to an insurance company.

Within minutes, you’ll get a quote for the best offers for homeowners insurance policies for you.

User experience is of immense importance to us, so we promise you that all the steps are simple and quick. Finally, you decide whether you want to take action and purchase one of the deals!

Our carriers are Safeco and Nationwide for their flawless record and satisfied customers that a reputable insurance company should have.

We’ve tried to explain the most important terms to you, but if you require any additional information, Insurance Geek is there for you.

Also, we’ll assist you in choosing the appropriate homeowners policy for you. If you want to save up, consider adding your life or automobile insurance policy!

Personal Liability Insurance: FAQ

Q: Why do I need personal liability coverage?

A: To put it simply: Because accidents happen all the time. So many people file a claim for liability coverage because they have caused an injury or property damage without intention. I mean, even a tree falling on your garage could cause an injury to someone! These things are out of our control, so pretty much every homeowner needs personal liability protection.

Q: Is personal liability insurance the same as renters insurance?

A: No. Personal liability insurance is a part of your home insurance policy and can also be a part of your renters policy. So, the former is hierarchically subordinate to your renters insurance.

Q: What is the difference between personal liability and medical payments?

A: Medical payment coverage is restricted to medical payments to others as a result of damage you have caused them by accident, such as medical bills. They can also be settled without involving authorities and a lawsuit. On the other hand, personal liability is not restricted to medical expenses, and you can also file a claim for the damage you caused to someone’s property.

Final Thoughts

You are now armed with a solid understanding of what your personal liability insurance covers.

If it happens that you are found legally responsible for an accident, this type of coverage can prove to be invaluable.

Should you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to contact an Insurance Geek!