Commercial Umbrella Liability Explained

What’s the difference between a commercial umbrella policy and a commercial excess liability policy? Which one is better—and does your business need either (or both)? In this video, Gordon Coyle breaks down the differences, similarities, and common mistakes business owners make when it comes to umbrella and excess insurance.

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Learn how umbrella liability insurance extends coverage beyond your general liability, auto liability, and employer’s liability policies—and how it can even fill in coverage gaps. Gordon walks through real-world examples, coverage structures, and why many policies fall short due to incomplete or inaccurate schedules of underlying insurance.

If your business is growing, has exposure to lawsuits, or simply wants peace of mind, this video is a must-watch.

⏱️ Timestamps:
00:00 – What Is Commercial Umbrella Liability?
00:45 – What Is Commercial Excess Liability?
01:48 – What Is Underlying Insurance?
02:45 – Differences Between Umbrella & Excess
03:14 – Which Is Better: Excess or Umbrella?
04:00 – How Umbrella/Excess Policies Work
05:41 – Who Needs Umbrella Liability Coverage?
06:10 – Common Mistakes with Umbrella & Excess Policies
07:01 – Final Thoughts & How to Get Help

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#CommercialUmbrellaLiability #UmbrellaInsurance #BusinessLiabilityCoverage #ExcessLiability #BusinessInsurance

↪︎Clean Transcript↩︎

What is cyber insurance? What does it cover? Who needs it? And how much does it cost? These are questions I hear all the time. When I explain cyber insurance, many business owners say, “I’ve never heard of that,” which is surprising because it’s a coverage almost every small business should at least evaluate.

Hi, I’m Gordon Coyle. On this channel we talk about the risk and insurance issues on the minds of business owners.

Cyber insurance—also called cyber liability or cyber security insurance—is designed to protect a company from three major categories of loss caused by hackers and other malicious activity.

First, it can cover data breach and privacy liability (often called third-party coverage). If hackers access your network and steal private information, you may face mandated notifications, forensic investigation, system remediation, data restoration, legal compliance costs, and lawsuits alleging you failed to protect sensitive information. These events can cost from five figures to millions, and most other business policies don’t cover them.

Second, cyber insurance can cover first-party costs from cyber events—especially ransomware. Ransomware often starts when someone clicks a malicious link or opens a bad file. Malware spreads across connected systems, locks them, and demands payment. But the ransom is only part of the cost. Forensics, legal support, IT recovery, business interruption, downtime, and reputational harm can add up quickly. Without cyber insurance, you’re typically paying those costs out of pocket.

Third, cyber policies often include cyber crime coverage, such as social engineering and fraudulent funds transfer. This is when someone impersonates a decision maker and convinces a bookkeeper or CFO to wire funds to a fraudulent account. These scams are happening constantly and are getting more sophisticated.

In my opinion, the most valuable thing a cyber policy provides is an emergency response hotline and a ready team of specialists when something goes wrong. If your systems are taken hostage, your e-commerce store is compromised, or funds are transferred fraudulently, the question is: who do you call—and how do you pay the experts to fix it?

Is it worth it? For many small businesses, premiums may fall around $1,500 to $2,500. Larger firms can pay more depending on size and risk. The downside of having no cyber coverage can be catastrophic.

Four questions to ask yourself: Are you sure you have cyber insurance? Do you know what it covers? Do you know the exclusions and limits? And if an attack happened today, do you know exactly who to call to report it?

If you’re not sure, reach out and let’s review what you have and how to improve it.