Insurance -- for legal issues involved with carrying -

Hi forum,

Wondering about insurance needs for a person who carries (and I guess any gun owner) and needs to discharge their firearm and shoot someone.

I know that my insurance policies that I have do not cover any intentional acts by the insured so any civil or criminal lawyers fees would come out of my own pocket.

So, is there such insurance available and the costs associated with it.

Try this. I am not a member at this time. I have heard a little about it and I think other options are out there as well.

http://www.armedcitizensnetwork.org/

The carrier of my home owner's and auto insurance recommends an "umbrella" policy that covers all of these things. I am still exploring this and am not totally convinced this is the way to go.

Went through the site, it seems pretty legit for people who do get involved in situations. I be tempted to sign up for this, but my line of work covers me 100% in self-defense cases.

Homeowner's insurance umbrellas for personal tort* coverage may work for you. Depending on what you are looking for and how much coverage you want to carry it could cost anything from $12/year ($5M coverage when I was employed with Dept of Corrections) to way-too-much/month. A lot depends on how the risk is described to the underwriter and how they look at the odds of you needing to be paid under a claim.

The lagal defense policy programs do spell out what they do and do not cover, as well as when they will pay out for covered claims. It is your responsibility to read the policy and prospectus very carefully before signing on. It might not be a bad investment to have an independant review by an attorney knowledgable about both personal injury and insurance coverage. You also want to get detailed info on what they have and have not paid out under claims filed, as well as detailed info on claims they did not accept and why.

stay safe.

* Go look up the word. It does not mean what a lot of folks think it means.

I'm covered under my policy provided I'm in my home or on the premises. Beyond that, they offer an umbrella policy to cover liability, but even with a huge deductible (like $25k), it's still very expensive.

It's a lot cheaper for me to simply exercise a great deal of restraint until it becomes absolutely necessary to fire, and then exercise a great deal of control so that I hit what I'm aiming at and nothing else.

Holy moley! Erie covered me for up to 5M with a $100 deductable for about $12/month above basic homeowners What did your agent sell you?


stay safe.

since9, as an insurance agent, I would recommend seeking another source of insurance. I'm not licensed in Colorado, so I can't even begin to suggest where to look, but that seems excessively high.

Homeowners and Umbrellas generally do not cover any criminal acts. However, from a civil standpoint, there could be some coverage either completely, a 'reservation of rights', which means they may provide a defense until it is deemed an excluded act, then they will stop providing coverage; or no coverage period, depending on how the suit is filed.

Many plaintiff attorneys will sue as a negligent act, but not intentional...this way, most of the policies can potentially provide coverage.

**Disclosure, IANAL**