Today’s litigious environment has increased the importance of supplemental liability insurance. Should a business face an injury, property damage or defamation lawsuit, supplemental liability might be needed to cover the potentially expensive lawyer fees, court fees and settlement. There are two types of commercial liability insurance that businesses can get: excess liability coverage and umbrella coverage. Here’s a breakdown of these two different commercial insurance options.

What Is Excess Liability Insurance?

Excess liability insurance provides additional coverage for a specific underlying policy, such as general liability, commercial auto, or employee practices liability policy. The additional coverage only applies to the one policy that’s being supplemented, and it adopts the terms, conditions and exclusions of that policy.

This option is good if you have one liability policy that you’d like more coverage for. It’s more basic and limited in some ways, but could be a lower-cost option if that’s all your business needs.

What Is Umbrella Insurance?

Umbrella insurance can extend the limits of multiple policies, and may also cover claims not included in your primary policies. The supplemental policy comes with its own terms, conditions and exclusions. Sometimes the different terms make it possible to fill in gaps that underlying policies have.

This option is good if your business needs broad supplemental liability coverage. We at Cross Creek Insurance see many businesses in Hope Mills, NC choose umbrella over excess liability. After all, many different types of incidents could lead to an expensive lawsuit.

Which One Is Right for Your Business?

Choosing between excess liability and umbrella insurance depends on your business’s risks. While many businesses in Hope Mills, NC choose umbrella coverage, it’s possible that excess liability is better for your particular business. To get help evaluating each of these options, contact us at Cross Creek Insurance.