Why it matters for your company
The trigger is usually a contract demanding more than your primary carries, often $5M against a $1M general liability policy. Buying an umbrella is cheaper than raising each primary limit, and one umbrella commonly sits over general liability, auto and employer's liability together.
The difference between the two is a wording question, and the certificate will not answer it. Check that the umbrella schedules every underlying policy the contract relies on, and that its exclusions are no broader than theirs, because an AI or aircraft exclusion added only at the umbrella layer caps the claim at the primary limit.
Related terms
- Aggregate limitThe most a policy will pay for all covered claims in one policy period, however many there are. Once it is used up, the policy pays nothing more until it renews.
- Primary and non-contributoryWording that makes your policy pay first for a claim involving an additional insured, without asking the additional insured's own policy to share the loss. Customers and landlords ask for it to keep their own insurance out of claims your work causes.
- Employer's liabilityThe second part of a workers' compensation policy, which covers suits by employees or their families that fall outside the state compensation system. It carries its own limits, often asked for in customer contracts.
- Commercial autoThe policy that covers liability and physical damage for vehicles your business owns, leases or operates on public roads. General liability excludes autos, so a company vehicle needs its own form.