The significance of this will be demonstrated later. The final area of automobile liability insurance which may be encountered by a professional law enforcement officer is an umbrella policy. The primary purpose of umbrella policy is to provide coverage in excess of other valid and collectable insurance. An umbrella policy may provide uninsured motorist's coverage. As a consequence, most automobile umbrella policies do not include uninsured motorists or underinsured motor vehicle coverage.
Umbrella policies are very popular with major trucking companies as well as self-insurers.
The law of automobile liability insurance is simply too complex and lengthy a topic to discuss in an article such as this. It should be painfully obvious from a brief review of what is required in the Commonwealth of Virginia that full coverage which most people believe they have is simply not enough protection to insure you for your own mistakes or the mistakes of others. It becomes even more painfully obvious that the modern law enforcement officer is at particular risk due to the large number of hours involved in the operation of a motor vehicle or subject to the dangers of other inattentive drivers. As a general rule, you should carry liability limits, along with uninsured motorist's coverage, for limits no less than that which is adequate to protect your own personal assets as well as retirement savings. That should provide sufficient and adequate protection for most of the dangers which might be encountered on the road.