What it covers
- Extra limits stacked above GL, auto, and employer's liability
- The catastrophic claim your primary limits can't absorb
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Umbrella, in plain English.
Extra limits stacked above your general liability, auto, and employer's liability, for the catastrophic claim your primary limits can't absorb.
When you need it
- When a single bad day could exceed $1M — fleets, jobsites, public exposure
- When contracts demand higher limits than your primaries carry
Common gaps
- Underlying limits that don't match the umbrella's requirements — a gap, not a stack
- Lines the umbrella doesn't sit over (it rarely covers everything)
Who it's for
- Often the least expensive additional millions available
- Anyone whose worst-case scenario is bigger than their primary limits
This page is general information, not advice about your specific situation, and not a quote, binder, or contract of insurance. Actual coverage is governed solely by the terms, conditions, and exclusions of the issued policy.
Who usually needs it
See Umbrella in your industry.
Related reading
Understand it before you buy it.
When a million isn't enough
Umbrella and excess liability sit above your primary policies for the claims that blow through them. How it works and when it earns its keep.
Read · 2 min →Everything is included — except what's excluded
How a general liability policy actually functions: a broad promise, narrowed by exclusions and endorsements. Read those first.
Read · 3 min →The renewal is won 90 days out
By two weeks before renewal, most of the outcome is decided. A realistic timeline for getting your program marketed properly.
Read · 3 min →