Ensuring Your Success: What is an Insurance Umbrella?

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Ensuring Your Success: What is an Insurance Umbrella?

Just like a rain umbrella is intended to cover you and protect you from the elements, an Insurance Coverage Umbrella protects you from many inherent risks. The “umbrella” provides additional limits of protection over existing liability coverages. You may also hear this called “excess”, “excess limits” or an “excess policy”.

Excess Policy Insurance

In true insurance terms, the two achieve the same objective for limits, but in a slightly different design of coverage. Either will still offer the total limits required or desired by you. This is important because an increasing number of shippers are requiring higher limits from Freight Brokers and Freight Forwarders. Often, they reference that you will need to provide an “umbrella” or an “excess policy” for a specific number of dollars, typically $1 million to $4 million. When this arises, it’s important to talk about what works for your particular situation or circumstances. Sometimes, the needed limits are obtained with a second policy; the umbrella or excess policy. However, some of our insurance providers can make the liability policy limits match the total required by the contract. This might help you avoid additional policy fees and reduce the number of policies issued. Our Insurance Team here at PFA Transportation Insurance & Surety Services is ready to discuss your concerns, your needs, and the contractual demands you face.

We are here to help you with what you need and finding the limits and coverage when you need it!