Excess Liability Above $10 Million: How High-Limit Umbrella Towers Work for Connecticut Families

Short answer: Personal liability above about $10 million is usually built as a tower: a primary umbrella from a private-client carrier, then one or more excess layers from other insurers above it. The layers must "follow form" to the umbrella below, share the same underlying requirements, and leave no gaps. The most common problems are excluded exposures (aircraft, watercraft over certain sizes, board service, employment claims), uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage that stops at a low limit, and properties or vehicles left off the schedule.

Who needs a tower

Liability limits should relate to what a judgment could reach and what a serious claim could be worth, not only net worth. Families with substantial assets, high incomes, visible profiles, multiple homes, household staff, young drivers, boats and frequent entertaining often carry $10 million to $50 million. Our umbrella sizing guide and the excess liability calculator are starting points.

How the layers fit together

• Underlying policies: home, auto, watercraft and other primary policies with the limits the umbrella requires, commonly $500,000 to $1 million auto liability for high-limit programs.
• Primary umbrella: usually $5 million to $10 million from the private-client carrier writing the home and auto.
• Excess layers: additional $10 million to $25 million layers from other carriers, written to follow the primary umbrella's terms.

If any excess layer's wording is narrower than the umbrella below it, the tower has a hole at exactly the moment it is needed.

Exclusions to check in every layer

• Directors and officers: serving on nonprofit or private company boards. Many umbrellas exclude or narrow it; some private-client umbrellas offer limited nonprofit D&O. See D&O for boards.
• Employment practices involving household staff; see household EPLI.
• Aircraft and larger watercraft; see aircraft insurance.
• Business pursuits and rental properties held in LLCs, which need to be named or covered separately.
• Defamation and personal injury, increasingly important with social media.

UM/UIM: protecting your own family

Connecticut ties uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage to your auto liability limits, but excess UM/UIM on an umbrella is separate and often optional. A family with $25 million of liability may have only $1 million protecting themselves against an underinsured driver unless excess UM/UIM is added, and it usually is not available in the upper layers. Ask specifically.

Keep the schedule current

Every home, vehicle, boat and entity needs to appear on, or be compatible with, the underlying requirements. A new car bought in a child's name, a Florida house added mid-year, or an LLC-owned rental can create a gap. Review the full schedule annually.

New England Insurance, an independent Connecticut agency in Bridgeport since 2012, builds and reviews high-limit liability towers as part of private client programs. Request a review.