How does Umbrella Insurance Work?

Umbrella insurance is also known as excess insurance. It is a type of liability insurance, and it is available for commercial or individual coverage. Liability is the equivalent of being legally responsible, and the dollar amounts for liability can be high. Umbrella insurance is there to protect you when your standard policies can no longer do so. Craig Insurance Group serving the city of Raleigh, NC is here to assist you to navigate the meaning of liability and the policies that provide cover for this.

Umbrella insurance works the same way that an umbrella would in the rain if you are already wearing a rain jacket. It helps protect you from a downpour. Umbrella insurance is not a primary policy and has to be purchased as an additional policy for when a disaster becomes a catastrophe. In simple terms, it means that you have experienced so much disaster that your standard or primary liability policies are exhausted. The umbrella insurance acts as a backup to help pay for any legal liabilities. When working with your umbrella insurance policy, it needs to tie in with your other more general liability policies and run concurrently. Furthermore, it may be that between your standard policy depleting and your umbrella insurance kicking in that you may need to pay a deductible.

Umbrella insurance policies will either offer duty to defend or indemnity coverage if there is a lawsuit. Duty to defend is when the insurer defends the insured in a lawsuit. Indemnity is when the insured pays for this defense first and may, depending on the policy wording, be reimbursed.

If you find yourself in a situation where there is a strong possibility of liability, then we recommend that you contact the Craig Insurance Group serving the city of Raleigh, NC today.