What is the Difference between Excess Liability and an Umbrella Liability policy?
**always read your policy as coverages vary**
Excess policies provide an extra layer of protection for any of your liability policies, increasing the amount of money available for large claims and major legal action that may occur. An excess policy only comes into effect once the liability limits on the policy underneath it has been used.
Sounds a lot like an Umbrella doesn't it? We talked about Umbrella's here but what is the difference? They both provide extended limits so why pick one over the other?
Excess is over one line of coverage - Umbrella is over many.
Think of Excess like a bar graph - it goes straight up above the policy you already have. This means that it takes your current policy and increases the limits.
Umbrella goes over the top of, often, multiple policies. They also sometimes add extra coverages that are missing in the underlying policies.
Often Umbrella policies are more for personal lines coverages - your home, your car, your boat etc. While Excess policies are more for your commercial policies - the extra five million dollars on top of your current five million dollar policy for your bus company etc.
When contracts require that someone meet a liability limit for just one policy, excess is usually the answer. When you want more overall protection - the umbrella is.
It just depends on what you are trying to insure and how you want it covered.
So talk to us today! And let us see what we can do to increase your coverage in the best way possible.