Commercial Umbrella & Excess Markets

Excess limits, quoted off
the primary you placed.

An umbrella sits on top of the general liability, commercial auto and employer’s liability already on the account — and a contract usually says how much. Send that underlying schedule, with carriers, limits and effective dates, and a licensed broker works the layer.

Cennairus is a licensed wholesale insurance broker: retail agents send us the accounts their own markets cannot place, stay the agent of record, and we take each account to the markets on our panel of 145 carriers that write it. A commercial umbrella sits only on top of the primary policies. Following-form excess copies the underlying wording; a true umbrella can be broader and answer a claim the underlying does not cover, above a self-insured retention the business pays first. Cennairus can place one over another carrier’s primary, which is underwritten harder, through our appointed markets.

On topof general liability, auto and employer’s liability

The contractusually names the limit to carry

Supportedor over another carrier’s primary

Peoplea licensed broker works the layer

What you get

One file, two layers

The primary and the excess come out of the same account, so the layer is a review of what you already sent, not a second data entry.

The underlying is read, not assumed

Carriers, limits and effective dates come off the declarations pages and the umbrella application, then get checked against what each market needs before it will attach.

Supported or unsupported

Over a primary we placed, or over another carrier’s. The second is underwritten harder, and the submission says so rather than letting it surface late.

You keep the client

The account, the renewal and the relationship stay yours. We are the broker behind you, not in front of you.

You keep your commission

Settled monthly.

We say when a limit is short

A thin underlying limit is the most common reason a layer comes back declined. You hear it before the file goes out, not after.

How do I quote a commercial umbrella through Cennairus?

Send what you have

The umbrella application, the primary declarations pages, or the file you already built. If a contract sets the limit, send that page too.

We read the underlying

Carriers, limits and effective dates come off your documents. Nothing is retyped and nothing is assumed.

We work the layer

A licensed broker takes it to the markets with appetite for the class, the fleet and the loss history.

Terms come back

A quote, an underwriting review or a decline — each named for what it is. The account stays yours and your commission is settled monthly.

The underlying schedule, first

Every policy the layer will sit over — general liability, commercial auto and employer’s liability — with its carrier, its limits and its effective dates. Without that schedule there is nothing to attach to, so there is nothing to quote.

The limit you want, and the attachment point. If a landlord, a general contractor, a municipality or a customer named the total limit, send that page of the contract too.

The exposure already gathered for the primary — payroll, revenue, the vehicle schedule and what the operations actually are.

Loss runs, where they exist. A completed umbrella application carries most of this; a prior declarations page carries the rest.

What does a commercial umbrella not cover?

Professional liability. The umbrella reaches only what is scheduled beneath it, so a firm paid for its advice has no excess over that advice unless the professional liability policy is scheduled and the form says so.

Employment practices. Wrongful termination, harassment and discrimination sit outside a standard umbrella entirely. That is an employment practices policy.

Data breach. Excluded by most liability and umbrella forms alike, so a cyber policy has to exist underneath before a cyber loss can reach any excess limit.

Workers’ compensation benefits. The umbrella can sit excess of employer’s liability, the liability half of the workers’ compensation policy. It never pays the statutory benefits.

The insured’s own property. An umbrella extends liability limits, not property limits. Fire, water or theft at their own building is answered by the commercial property policy, or the BOP it is packaged into.

What does a commercial umbrella cover?

It sits on top, and only on top. It pays above the limits of the policies scheduled beneath it — general liability, commercial auto and employer’s liability. That schedule, with carriers, limits and effective dates, is the first thing a market asks for.

A contract is almost always the reason it is bought. A landlord, a general contractor, a municipality or a customer names the total limit the business must carry, and that number is the answer. Where nothing names it, the limit is sized off revenue, payroll, fleet and the loss history.

Following-form excess, or a true umbrella. A following-form policy copies the underlying wording — it covers what the primary covers and excludes what the primary excludes. A true umbrella can be broader, and answer for a claim the underlying policy does not cover at all. Ask for the one you mean, and read which one came back.

The self-insured retention is what that difference costs. On a claim the underlying policy covers, the umbrella attaches at the underlying limit. On a claim no underlying policy covers at all, a broader umbrella can still respond — but the business pays the retention itself first. Say that number out loud when the policy is sold, not when the claim is filed.

What underwriting reads. The underlying limits, the auto fleet, the loss runs and what the operations actually are. A thin underlying limit or a rough loss run is what gets an umbrella declined.

Who buys it: contractors bidding jobs with high certificate requirements, trucking and fleet operators, habitational owners and property managers, manufacturers and distributors with products exposure, and any account whose primary limits look thin next to its revenue or whose lender or franchisor has told it to carry excess limits. The umbrella is only as strong as what is underneath it.

Commercial umbrella, answered

What do you need before an umbrella can be quoted?

The underlying schedule: every policy the layer will sit over, with its carrier, its limits and its effective dates. General liability, commercial auto and employer’s liability are the usual three. Without it there is nothing for a market to attach to.

Can you write an umbrella over another carrier’s primary?

Yes. A supported umbrella sits over primary policies the same market wrote; an unsupported one sits over another carrier’s primary and is underwritten harder, because the market is taking a layer above limits and wording it did not set. Send the declarations page either way.

What underlying limits are usually required?

Markets set minimums before they will attach — commonly $1M each occurrence on general liability, $1M combined single limit on auto, and a scheduled employer’s liability limit. It varies by market and by class, and we tell you when one is short before the file goes out.

Following-form excess or a true umbrella — which one am I getting?

A following-form excess policy copies the underlying wording, so it covers what the primary covers and excludes what the primary excludes. A true umbrella can be broader and answer for a claim the underlying policy does not cover at all, with the business paying a self-insured retention first. Say which one you are asking for.

How long does an umbrella quote take?

The submission goes out the day the file is complete. Excess markets answer by e-mail, on their own clock, so we do not put a time on an underwriter.

How is my commission handled?

You keep your commission on business we place for you, reconciled and settled monthly. Your terms are in your agency agreement, not on this page.

Excess limits, quoted off
the primary you placed.