Coverage line
Extra Limits (Umbrella)
A contract demands bigger numbers than your policies carry. This stacks extra millions on top instead of rebuying everything.
Built for moments like these.
An enterprise contract demands $5M in liability limits. Your primary carries $1M.
Covered — The contract gap
A catastrophic claim blows straight past your primary policy's limit.
Covered — The overflow
The classic mix-up
A customer's financial-loss claim. Umbrellas rarely sit over E&O.
Not this policy
→ Professional Liability (Tech E&O) answers this oneEasy to confuse. Here’s the line between them.
Extra Limits (Umbrella)
Extra millions on top.
This page
When to buy
The first contract demanding more than your primary carries, often $5M.
Typical ask: $1M–$10M stacked on top of your other policies. Your broker confirms yours.
Who requires it
Contracts demanding more than your primary carries.
How hard to get
Needs the right insurers
Follows the strength of the policies beneath it.
Common questions
When does a startup need an umbrella policy?
The usual trigger is a contract: an enterprise master service agreement or a site owner demanding liability limits above what your primary policy carries. The umbrella supplies the difference without rewriting the primary.
Which policies does an umbrella sit over?
Commonly general liability, commercial auto, and employer's liability. One umbrella limit can sit across several underlying policies, which is cheaper than raising each one individually.
Is excess insurance the same as an umbrella?
Close but not identical. Excess follows one underlying policy's terms and adds limit; an umbrella can sit over several policies and sometimes covers claims the underlying forms don't. Which one a carrier is actually offering is a wording question.
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This page describes a line of coverage in general terms. It is not an offer of insurance and not evidence of coverage. Carrier appetite, policy wording, licensing, and availability govern every quote and every claim.