Connect the additional limit to the actual risk
General liability severity can continue well beyond a routine slip-and-fall. Hotels, restaurants, property owners, manufacturers, contractors, venues, and other businesses may face fires, crowd incidents, defective products, or completed-work allegations involving multiple people and years of litigation. The umbrella should be reviewed alongside the primary general liability form and its aggregates.
Risks to review
- Severe guest, tenant, customer, or visitor injuries
- Fire, water, structural, security, or crowd incidents affecting multiple people
- Products distributed across many customers or jurisdictions
- Completed work causing later bodily injury or property damage
- Primary general and products-completed operations aggregates eroded by multiple claims
- Exclusions involving designated work, products, locations, residential work, abuse, assault, or pollution
Information to prepare
- Locations, occupancy, public access, capacity, life-safety, security, and loss-control information
- Products, end uses, territories, quality controls, warnings, traceability, and recall procedures
- Completed operations, project types, subcontractors, warranties, and contractual responsibilities
- Primary per-occurrence and aggregate limits, forms, exclusions, and claims
- Largest credible loss scenarios and requested umbrella structure
Frequently asked questions
Does the umbrella create products or completed-operations coverage if the primary policy excludes it?
Do not assume it does. The umbrella may follow the exclusion or contain its own restriction. Both policies and the specific operation should be reviewed.
Why do general liability aggregates matter?
An aggregate is the most the primary policy will pay for qualifying claims during the policy period under that aggregate. Multiple losses can reduce what remains before the umbrella layer is reached.
Can one event involve several liability policies?
Yes. The facts may implicate premises, products, completed work, auto, liquor, professional, or other coverage. Coordination and exclusions determine which policies may respond.
Coverage descriptions are general. Eligibility, underlying requirements, attachment points, retained limits, exclusions, defense provisions, limits, and policy terms vary. Actual policy documents control.