High-value personal · by appointment
High-limit umbrella.
$5M to $50M+ excess liability above coordinated home, auto, and watercraft policies. Necessary at certain net worth and exposure levels — and surprisingly affordable per dollar of coverage.
What it is.
$5M to $50M+ excess liability above coordinated home, auto, and watercraft. Per-million pricing drops dramatically at higher limits — the second $5M typically costs much less than the first $5M, and the gap between $5M and $25M is often $1,500-$3,000/yr. Worth thinking in terms of total exposure, not minimum required.
The lines in your policy.
Each one is its own knob. The carrier's default rarely fits a real life.
What a claim looks like.
Three anonymized files. Numbers are illustrative.
Driver causes a multi-car accident. Three plaintiffs, total awards reach $8M. Underlying auto pays $500K. Standard $1M umbrella exhausts. HV $10M umbrella covers the remaining $6.5M plus $1.4M of defense costs (outside the limit).
Board member's public comment triggers a defamation claim. Standard umbrellas often exclude or sublimit personal injury. HV paper covers in full — defense plus a $2.2M settlement.
Former housekeeper files a wrongful-termination claim alleging discrimination. Underlying staff EPLI pays $250K (the policy limit). Umbrella picks up the $400K legal fees and final settlement.
How to read a high-value umbrella policy.
The four things worth looking for on the dec page, in the order we read them.
The first page tells you who's actually covered, on what address, and under whose legal entity. A surprising number of policies have the wrong name, the wrong address, or a missing additional insured, and you don't find out until you file a claim. Cross-check it against your driver's license, your title or lease, and any contract that requires you to be insured.
Policy limits are abstract until you stack them against the assets they protect. A $300k liability limit feels generous in isolation; against a $1.2M home and a college fund, it isn't. Walk down each numbered line on your dec page and ask: if this were the cap on the worst day, would I be okay?
Page one shows you the base form. Pages four through twelve show you what the endorsements added, and, more importantly, what they took away. Water-damage exclusions, roof-payment schedules, named-storm deductibles, scheduled-valuables caps. These small numbered forms decide more claims than the headline limits do.
Carriers re-rate, re-form, and re-endorse policies at every renewal. If you keep last year's dec page, a side-by-side read takes ten minutes and tells you which limits drifted, which sublimits got cut, and which endorsements quietly disappeared. It's the single most useful habit in personal insurance.
Frequently asked questions.
How much umbrella is enough?
Common rule: at least equal to net worth, often more. Past $10M-$25M, the analysis shifts to claim severity and exposure profile rather than balance sheet — public profile, board roles, and household staff drive higher limits.
Does the per-million cost go down at higher limits?
Yes, significantly. The first $5M is the most expensive; each additional $5M-$10M layer is cheaper than the prior. Going from $5M to $10M typically adds 30-60% premium for 100% more limit.
What's the difference between umbrella and excess liability?
Umbrella may broaden coverage; excess sits 'follow form' (matches whatever the underlying says). HV paper is almost always umbrella with broadening — defense outside the limit, personal injury, worldwide territory.
Can I have an HV umbrella with non-HV underlying policies?
Yes, but most HV carriers prefer to write the underlying themselves — they want to underwrite the package. We can still place the umbrella stand-alone if you want to keep your auto/home where they are.
Want a second read on your high-value umbrella policy?
Send us your declarations page. You'll get it back marked up, in plain language, with the gaps and the over-coverage flagged, yours to keep, no obligation to switch.
or phone (913) 408-7280
We're an independent broker. We represent you, not the carrier , paid by the carrier we ultimately place with, but accountable only to the person whose name is on the policy. Read more about how we work.