Umbrella liability insurance for small businesses, also known as excess liability insurance or commercial umbrella insurance, provides additional protection when your business exceeds insurance limits on an underlying policy. For a single premium, umbrella liability or excess liability policies add another layer of protection to any of several other policies that you might hold, including General Liability, Employer’s Liability and Auto Liability.

For instance, if you have $1 million in General Liability coverage and a covered claim is settled for $1.5 million, your small business’s umbrella liability insurance policy would cover the additional $500,000.