All businesses need to carry commercial insurance. Coverage can help you clean up following accidents on the property. Still, how do you know you have the appropriate protection? At times, certain accidents might bring ramifications for which you don't have coverage. Let’s explore one of the ways you can get extra protection with umbrella insurance.

Expanding coverage comes in many forms, but umbrella insurance often proves useful. It can target more protection to some of the situations in your business that most warrant it.

Standardized Business Insurance

Many business owners start their coverage by enrolling in a business owner’s policy. Commonly called a BOP, this policy is actually a package of coverage. It contains many of the common elements of commercial insurance, including:

• Business property insurance
• Commercial general liability coverage
• Operations interruption coverage

The liability insurance is among the most important aspects of this coverage. It helps protect the company if a client or other party experiences harm in the business. For example, if they get hurt on your premises, this coverage can help them pay medical bills or other costs.

One thing about liability insurance, though, is you never can quite tell how much a claim will be worth. Even a seemingly simple injury might lead a customer to sue you for thousands (or millions) of dollars. Healthcare is expensive, after all. You might run the risk of exceeding your liability limits following exceptional claims.

Why You Need More Protection

Most general liability insurance contains at least $1 million in coverage. This often proves adequate. However, that’s not always the case. That’s where umbrella insurance comes into play.

Coverage provides extra liability coverage to place on top of your existing protection. Coverage can:

• Provide extra financial limits. For example, if you have $1 million in general coverage, you might be able to add $1 million or more in umbrella coverage. In this example, that creates extra limits of $2 million or more.
• Include protection for damage excluded under your standard coverage. You can add further protection in places where your original protection might lack.

Depending on your business, you might find umbrella coverage exceptionally valuable. Particularly if you work in niche or high-risk industries, extra risks might exist for third parties. Therefore, ask your insurance agents about the protection recommended for your operation. They can fill you in on some of the unique offerings of umbrella protection. That can better help you decide if you need this coverage.