While standard policies will cover your business in most situations, one unforeseen catastrophic event not covered by your policy could be detrimental to your company. Commercial umbrella policies are designed to protect your assets by providing coverage above and beyond the limits of your other policies. It also provides protection for accidents that may not be covered by your existing insurance policies.

Commercial umbrella coverage provides an extra layer of security, and a Commercial umbrella coverage protects the company's assets from certain types of lawsuits.

For example, let’s say you are an insured contractor repairing a building. During the course of repairs, one of your insured employees accidentally starts a fire that burns down the entire building. Your General Liability coverage will pay out to the policy limits, but without umbrella coverage, your personal and professional assets are at risk to pay off the remainder of the damages. In addition, an attorney would require tens of thousands of dollars down for a retainer if you lack commercial umbrella coverage.

There are a few requirements for a Commercial Umbrella. First, your Business Auto Liability limit (this also applies to Car Dealers) will need to be at $500,000. Second, the General Liability limit will need to be at $500,000. Then, the UMBRELLA protection will take over after the primary limits for Business Auto or General Liability have been exhausted giving a total limit of $1.5 million for Commercial Auto Liability and a total limit of $1.5 million for General Liability.

We highly recommend that anyone with a business consider a Commercial Umbrella policy. Here are a few examples:

• You serve the public
• You own a building
• Your business has a website
• You own commercial vehicles
• Customers are allowed on the premises
• You operate heavy machinery
• You are a manufacturer
• You use a subcontractor
• You are responsible for a job site
• Your business serves alcohol
• You are a distributor
• You have third party liability exposure

Commercial Umbrella Coverage is very affordable! Usually, the minimum cost of a Commercial Umbrella policy would be about $500 to $1,000. Limits of insurance are from $1 million to $5 million, with higher excess limits available.

If a commercial umbrella policy sounds like a good investment for you and your business, D. Ward Insurance would be happy to begin the process. Call us today at 770-974-0670 or visit dwardinsurance.com to request a quote. We look forward to doing business with you!

The information and claim examples given in this material are for illustrative purposes only and should not be construed to modify language of the insurance policy or in any way influence coverage analysis under the policy for any specific claim. The insurance policy contains the specific terms and conditions of coverage and supersedes any information contained in this document. Some of the coverage mentioned in this material may not be applicable in all states or may have to be modified to conform to applicable state law. Some coverages may have been eliminated or modified since the printing of this material.