15 Potential Risks Covered by High Net Worth Insurance
People with large assets have unique risks. High net worth insurance is a customized policy type that protects clients from these risks – from home insurance to travel insurance and much more. Here are 15 potential risks covered by high net worth insurance:
1. Special Event Coverage
Risk Factor
Planning a wedding, bar mitzvah, bat mitzvah, family reunion, or other private event is stressful enough. The last thing you should worry about is severe weather that could cause you to postpone the event. Or, what happens if a vendor goes out of business or declares bankruptcy before your event and you lose your deposit?
Solution
No matter how carefully you plan, things outside of your control can go wrong. Purchase insurance coverage for your event. It’s typically not very expensive and helps keep you focused on all the things that go into making your event truly memorable.
2. Flood Coverage
Risk Factor
You do not have to live near a body of water to suffer loss due to flooding. With the changing weather patterns and more damaging storms occurring around the globe, flood losses are becoming more common in places that are not normally prone to flood damage. Your homeowners policy does not cover damage from flooding. Could your home be at risk?
Solution
Purchase a flood insurance policy to protect your home and covered contents from certain types of flood losses as designated by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). In the U.S., a flood policy is purchased as a separate policy through the federal program (NFIP) or through a servicing carrier known as a write-your-own carrier. Additionally, you may be able to purchase excess limits on your homeowners policy to better protect your home.
3. Travel Insurance
Risk Factor
Traveling is exciting, but there are risks associated with every trip. Whether for work or pleasure, reducing stress always improves the travel experience. If you travel to another country, the insurance policies you have may not be applicable. Other things to consider are costs associated with crime, injury, or death while traveling.
Solution
Various types of travel insurance are available that may offer protection incase of lost baggage, trip cancellation or delays, or trip interruption. You may also want to consider policies that cover accidental death and dismemberment, as well as the repatriation of remains.
4. Collector Cars
Risk Factor
Collector or classic vehicles often have significant value and require special documentation and unique insurance coverage to ensure they are adequately protected. Even if stored on your property, they are typically not covered under your homeowners insurance.
Solution
Insure your collector cars with a specialized insurance company that focuses on and understands the unique nature of collector or classic cars and other vehicles.
5. Equipment Breakdown
Risk Factor
While your homeowners policy covers a wide array of perils, such as damage caused by a fire or a falling tree, it doesn’t cover some common types of problems that can occur to the equipment in or around your home. For example, a sudden surge from the local power plan might damage appliances, HVAC systems, or your home power generator.
Solution
Add mechanical breakdown coverage to your homeowners policy. If you have multiple homes, it can be purchased for each one individually. Keep in mind that while it does protect against major events, it does not cover normal wear and tear.
6. Excess Liability Coverage
Risk Factor
You invite guests over for a pool party and one of them dives into the shallow end of the pool and is permanently injured. They hire a lawyer to represent them and after a long legal battle, you and your family are left financially responsible for their injuries.
Solution
An excess liability (or umbrella policy) increases your personal liability limits by adding protection over and above your current auto, boat, or homeowners policies. Excess liability insurance is available as separate coverage and offers additional peace-of-mind knowing that you have the protection you need.
7. Personal Liability
Risk Factor
In the unfortunate event that someone slips and falls while on your property, you and your family may be held liable for any injuries that result.
Solution
Your homeowners policy includes personal liability coverage to respond to incidents where injuries or damages occur to a third party where you may be deemed negligent. However, you should consider purchasing an excess liability policy to provide additional coverage limits to protect your assets in case a lawsuit is brought against you.
8. Workers Compensation / Employee Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI)
Risk Factor
There are risks associated with employing domestic staff in your home. Employees can become injured on the job, leaving you to pay out-of-pocket for their medical expenses. Additionally, staff can sue for wrongful termination, privacy issues, discrimination, and harassment claims.
Solution
Be sure to obtain coverage for medical expenses when your staff are hurt while on the job. Additionally, employment practices liability insurance can protect you from high legal costs associated with lawsuits and additional claims from current and past employees.
9. Additional Living Expense
Risk Factor
When there is substantial damage to your home due to unexpected events such as lightning, fire, or a storm, you may not be able to live in your home until it can be repaired or rebuilt. As a result, you could incur additional living expenses for lodging, food, and other daily needs.
Solution
Look for coverage that provides higher limits to ensure that your schedule and your standard of living is not compromised. Additional living expense coverage compensates you for the costs incurred for housing and other living expenses if a covered event makes your home temporarily uninhabitable while it’s being repaired or rebuilt.
10. Fire
Risk Factor
Most fires are devastating. Besides the emotional impact, the physical damage to your home can be significant. If you lost your home to a fire, do you have adequate insurance to replace your home and its contents? Remember, inflation rates on building materials and construction costs rarely track with real estate values. As a result, rebuilding a home can often cost significantly more than expected.
Solution
Make sure your homeowners policy contains a replacement cost coverage with no cap. This protects you if the cost to reconstruct your home is higher than your current limit of coverage. And, be sure that your insurance includes rebuilding your home to code. Very often, local ordinances and building codes change over time, which may require additional costs.
11. Valuable Possessions
Risk Factor
Typically, there is a sublimit on homeowner insurance policies for valuable possessions, such as jewelry, furs, fine arts, and other collectibles.
Solution
Obtain a personal floater or schedule your valuable possessions to ensure you’ll have the money to replace them.
12. Mold Coverage
Risk Factor
Insurance companies often limit coverage to remediate mold that arises from a covered loss.
Solution
With many homeowners unaware of this risk or the limits of their own coverage, be sure to discuss the coverage options and loss prevention solutions to help reduce this risk.
13. Water Damage
Risk Factor
Whether entering from outside your home from a flood or from within your home’s plumbing system, water damage is the most common cause of loss to a home. Many policies exclude losses caused by backup of sewers and drains, and all unendorsed homeowner policies exclude damage caused by a flood.
Solution
Careful review is essential to protect your home and belongings from all sources of water damage. We recommend coverage solutions from insurance companies that include backup of sewers and drains. Also, identify cost efficient solutions to address the risk of flood damage in the first place.
14. Cyber Risk Coverage
Risk Factor
With more smart technology in homes and technology at your fingertips, malware, hackers, and other cyber threats can jeopardize your security, finances, and reputation.
Solution
Identify theft, personal injury, and cyber risk coverage may be available as an important add-on coverage to your homeowners policy.
15. Secondary Home / Rentals
Risk Factor
Owning a secondary home or rental property has the potential of increasing your liability exposures.
Solutions
Be certain that you extend the liability coverage under your homeowners policy to include your secondary home. You should also consider including the secondary home under an excess liability policy to provide for additional liability limits.
Get Coverage Today!
The Satanoff Agency, located in Wayne, PA, is an independent insurance agency based in 41 states across the United States, working to supply our customers with quality assistance and insurance. Our independent agents offer their services to help you as the customer get the unique coverage you need.
To request a quote for high net worth insurance, click here and we will have one of our agents contact you.
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