UMBRELLA LIABILITY INSURANCE:

An umbrella serves two purposes. First, it provides excess liability limit over the scheduled underlying policies. Second, it fills some gaps in the underlying coverage. There is no standard umbrella policy. It is written for a minimum limit of liability of $1 million, subject to a self-insured retention by the insured for occurrences not covered by primary insurance. Regardless of your income, the more your earning power and assets increase, the more you have to lose. You don't have to be a millionaire to be sued like one!

Key areas of comparison are

•  Protection from liability suits resulting from things like volunteer work, non-occupational, or additional protection for professional liability suits.

•  Deductibles

•  whether a follow-form is offered over unusual underlying exposures

•  Territory limitations (covers worldwide or just in your resident state)

•  Defense costs

Professional Commercial Umbrella Insurance

Associations and Professionals should carry either an umbrella or an excess liability policy. The potential for catastrophic loss due to the number of persons in the establishment who could be affected is threatening. Too often, enormous jury awards are becoming the rule rather than the exception, even for seemingly minor accidents.

High limits are vital for professions such as:

•  Physicians

•  Accountants

•  Attorneys

•  Architects

•  Virtually all professionals