Learn commercial umbrella insurance coverage basics like: What is covered? What isn’t covered? How much does it cost? Commercial liability umbrella’s main purpose is to give your business excess protection from lawsuits that exceed your underlying liability policy limits.
As a business owner, liability insurance is an absolute must. It provides coverage for you, your employees, and your business for claims related to third party injuries or property damage. But what happens when a claim exceeds the limit of your commercial liability insurance policy? You would be responsible for covering the damages beyond your policy limits, which could be financially devastating.
There is a way that you can safeguard yourself from having to pay costs that exceed your liability policy. How? – With commercial umbrella insurance. Here we will discuss commercial umbrella insurance coverage basics – from costs to coverage to exclusions and more.
A commercial umbrella policy offers coverage for any costs that exceed the limits of your commercial liability coverage. It complements your liability policy in that it takes over when the limits of your policy have been reached.
For instance, if you a customer suffers an injury on the property of your place of business, sues you for $2 million, and you are found liable for the injuries, but your liability policy only offers $1 million in coverage, a commercial umbrella policy could help to cover the remaining $2,000,000 that your liability policy won’t cover (depending on the limits of your umbrella policy).
Commercial umbrella insurance coverage basics. In other words, a commercial umbrella policy provides added security for your business and could prevent you from having to pay costly expenses in the event that you are found liable for claims that exceed your underlying liability coverages. So it picks up where your business auto liability, general liability and/or other liability policy coverage stops and providing higher limits for claims of bodily injury or property damage.
A commercial umbrella policy won’t cover everything. For instance, this type of coverage can’t be applied to any claims that are associated with property insurance or expenses that are covered by your underlying commercial liability policy.
Commercial umbrella insurance coverage basics – it’s important to understand that a commercial umbrella policy isn’t a policy on its own. In other words, you need to have an existing liability policy in order to use this type of insurance. For example, if you don’t have a general liability insurance policy, a commercial umbrella policy can’t be applied toward a general liability claim.
The Commercial Liability Umbrella Coverage Form (CU 00 01 04 13), excludes certain coverages. Following are a few of the exclusions provided in the ISO form:
The cost for this type of coverage will vary from business to business, and from provider to provider. There are a number of factors that will affect the cost of a commercial umbrella policy, such as the risks associated with your business, the limits of your existing general liability policy, and the amount of coverage you need.
We live in a very litigious society. Given the risks that are associated with running a business, there is always a chance that your business could end up facing a lawsuit. In the event that you are sued and found liable for the damages that are made in the claim, you are responsible for paying those damages.
While your commercial general liability policy will assist with covering the costs of any claims that you are found responsible for, it only offers so much coverage. Once you reach the limits of your policy, you are responsible for paying any remaining money that extends beyond your policy limits. This type of situation could be financially devastating for you and your business, and could potentially end up shuttering your company.
Accidents are unpredictable. Some accidents are very small. Others trigger catastrophic events in the lives of the injured parties. Are your policy limits sufficient to protect you if a person you injure must have multiple lifesaving surgeries or requires 24-hour care for the rest of her life? If not, your business capital could be required to make up the difference.
Commercial liability umbrella coverage begins when your other coverage ends. Umbrella protection applies over the limits of any other coverage forms. The most common underlying coverages are:
Conditions are obligations you owe the insurance company as well as obligations the insurance company owes you.
Numerous endorsements are available that broaden, limit, or exclude coverage.
