Umbrella · For contractors and owners
A claim bigger than your limits. Covered above them.
An umbrella adds limits above your general liability, auto and employer’s liability policies, and pays once a covered claim has used theirs up.
Light RFP Risk Management Services LLC · NY DFS License # PC-1978982
What an umbrella covers.
Typically covered
- Claims above your general liability limits
- Claims above your commercial auto limits
- Claims above your employer’s liability limits
- Some claims the policies beneath it don’t cover, after a retention you pay first (on many forms)
- Defense costs: many umbrella forms pay them in addition to the limits; others count them against the limits
Where another policy answers
- Claims within your primary limits: General liability
- Damage to your own building: Commercial property
- Professional errors, on most umbrellas: Professional liability
- Cyber and data breach claims: Cyber
Usually not covered
- Anything the umbrella’s own exclusions remove, even where the GL beneath it covers it
Who on the block needs it.
Contractors and trades
Larger jobs ask for higher limits than a primary policy usually carries. An umbrella is the usual way to meet them.
Owners and operators
A serious injury in a lobby or a parking lot can produce a claim above any single primary limit. Lenders and management agreements often require one, and larger portfolios usually carry one.
How the RFP asks for it
RFPs often state a total limit that GL alone doesn’t reach (for example $5M), and expect an umbrella or excess policy that follows form over the GL, auto and employer’s liability, with the same additional insureds. Read the wording. ‘$5M in total’ can be met with $1M of general liability and a $4M umbrella; ‘a $5M umbrella’ means the umbrella itself must be $5M.
- Follows form
- The umbrella or excess applies the same terms as the policies beneath it, except where its own exclusions differ.
- Additional insureds
- The owner and GC, covered under the umbrella the way they are under your GL.
How we quote it.
Light RFP’s brokerage quotes an umbrella alongside the rest of your program: you fill in the application, and our team takes it to market.
Tell us about the business
Each policy the umbrella sits over, the limit you need, your vehicles, and your work or your properties.
We take it to market
A Light RFP broker reads your application, contacts you about anything missing, and takes it to the insurers that write umbrella for businesses like yours.
Compare the quotes
Limits, deductibles and exclusions side by side, matched to what your contracts, RFPs and lender require. Applying commits you to nothing; you choose whether to buy.
We place it
Our brokerage puts the policy you choose in force and issues the certificates your projects and lenders ask for.
Our application
5 sheets. Plan on 20 to 30 minutes for a contractor or an owner, with your declarations pages to hand.
- A contractor with two vehicles
- about 73 answers, 67 required
- An owner with one property
- about 70 answers, 62 required
Follow-up questions appear only when an answer calls for them.
What it asks
Open a sheet for a few of its questions.
UMB-01Business
- What are the business’s revenue, payroll and headcount?
- Should other companies be named on the umbrella, such as an affiliate or a company for each building?
UMB-02Your work or your properties
- Contractors: what was your largest single contract in the last three years?
- Owners: how many properties, units and square feet should it sit over?
UMB-03Vehicles and other exposures
- How many vehicles do you own or lease, and how many are heavy trucks?
- Does the business make, sell or serve alcohol?
UMB-04Underlying policies
- Who writes your general liability, auto and employer’s liability, and at what limits?
- Does the auto policy include hired and non-owned autos?
UMB-05The umbrella and your history
- Which umbrella limit do your contracts, leases or lender ask for?
- Any liability claims in the last five years?
Have these ready
- Your declarations pagesFor your general liability, auto and workers’ comp policies: each insurer, the policy dates and the limits.
- The limit you needWhat your contracts, leases or lender ask for, and any wording they require.
- Contractors: your workYour trade, the states you work in, what you pay subcontractors and your largest recent contract.
- Owners: your propertiesEach property’s address, use, units, stories and year built. The form lists ten properties. With more, send the full list to insurance@lightrfp.com (a spreadsheet is fine).
- Your vehiclesHow many, how many are heavy trucks, and how many people drive them.
- Loss runs, if you have themFive years of claims for each policy the umbrella sits over. You can send them after by replying to your confirmation email.
Umbrella questions.
What’s the difference between umbrella and excess?
An excess policy only adds limits above the policies beneath it, on their terms. An umbrella does that and may also cover some claims they don’t, after a retained amount you pay.
How much should I carry?
At least the highest limit any contract, lease, lender or association asks for. Above that, size it to the worst claim you can picture: a serious crash in a company vehicle, or a bad fall in a lobby.
What limits do the policies beneath it need?
The umbrella sets them. Most require minimum limits on the GL, auto and employer’s liability, and if one falls short you can be left to pay the gap yourself.
Can one umbrella sit over all my building companies?
Usually, yes. Each company is named on the umbrella, and each one’s general liability and auto must be listed beneath it at the limits the umbrella requires.
Does it sit over my professional liability?
Usually not. Most umbrellas exclude professional services and cyber, so those lines need limits of their own.
What affects the price?
The limit you add, what sits beneath it (your vehicles, payroll or properties), the limits of those policies and your claims history.
Get an umbrella quote.
Getting a quote is free. Light RFP earns a commission from the carrier on all policies.
Light RFP Risk Management Services LLC · NY DFS License # PC-1978982