Hello and

welcome to Moneygirls quick and dirty tips for a richer life.

Today's topic,

Protecting your money from lawsuits.

I wish it weren't so, but we live in a world where a person can sue and win

for tripping over a crack in the sidewalk, falling off a roof,

burning themselves with hot coffee, and countless other things.

Given this reality, it's wise to take precautions to protect your money from lawsuits.

One easy to overlook but relatively inexpensive precaution is umbrella insurance.

You likely already have some level of liability protection through your

auto and homeowners insurance policies.

Auto and homeowners policies typically include 100,000 to 500500,000 in liability protection.

And although it may seem like a lot, the liability coverage you get through your home or

auto policy isn't enough because one, you can be sued for reasons unrelated to your

house in your car and two you can be sued for amounts that are much much

greater than the liability limits of your home and auto policies.

Let's say, for example, that a worker falls off the roof of your house while cleaning out

the rain gutters and breaks her leg.

And let's say your homeowner's liability coverage is $300,000. To your

surprise and dismay, the worker sues you for $400,000, which means you're on your own when it comes to that $100,000 difference.

Unless of course you have an umbrella policy.

Umbrella policies pick up where your other coverages leave off by providing you extra liability

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