Umbrella coverage checker

Published 2026-10-01 · Last updated 2026-10-01.

What umbrella cover is

An umbrella policy adds liability cover above your primary policies: auto, homeowners, renters, condo and sometimes watercraft or recreational vehicles, depending on the policy. If a covered claim exceeds your underlying limit, the umbrella layer pays the excess, up to its own limit. Umbrella policies provide additional liability cover above your underlying policies, with amounts varying by carrier.

Two features matter as much as the limit. First, the umbrella only covers what the underlying policy would cover: if the underlying policy excludes a claim, the umbrella generally excludes it too — it extends the dollar limit, it does not override the underlying terms. Second, many umbrella policies cover some personal-injury claims, such as defamation, that an underlying policy may not cover at all; where no underlying cover exists for that claim, a self-insured retention — an amount you pay first, similar in function to a deductible — may apply. Both features vary by contract, so read the umbrella wording, not just its limit.

Your liability gap — what the checker tests

The working HTML tool (umbrella-checker.html, in this same folder) uses only figures you enter. No insurer rate is stored in it. You enter:

• Underlying limit for the claim type: the limit on the primary policy that would respond first, for example your auto liability limit or your home liability limit.
• Hypothetical claim amount: a claim size you want to test. This is a scenario figure you choose, not a prediction.
• Umbrella limit: the umbrella layer you want to test.
• Self-insured retention, if any: the amount you would pay first on a claim with no underlying cover, if your umbrella wording includes one; enter zero if it does not apply to the scenario.
• Carrier-required underlying minimums (optional, entered by you): if your umbrella carrier has given you a written underlying-limit schedule, enter those minimums and the tool flags any underlying limit below them. The tool does not hardcode a carrier's schedule as a universal rule.

The tool then shows, in order: what the underlying policy pays, what the umbrella layer pays, and what remains uncovered. If the claim fits inside the underlying limit, the umbrella pays nothing — that is a correct output, not a failure, and it tells you the umbrella would not have helped in that scenario.

Underlying limits — the gate you must pass first

Checker result — how to read it

• Underlying pays, umbrella pays nothing: the claim fits inside your primary cover. An umbrella would not have changed this outcome.
• Underlying pays its limit, umbrella pays the rest, nothing remains: the umbrella did its job for this scenario. Note the claim size that produces this result, and test larger claims too.
• Underlying and umbrella both pay their limits, remainder remains: the claim exceeds both layers. That remainder is the uncovered exposure in this scenario. It is the number to think about when you choose an umbrella limit — and when you weigh your assets and future income against that exposure.
• Underlying below the carrier minimum you entered: the tool flags it separately, because the layering above may not work as shown if the carrier's requirement is not met.

Test several claim sizes, not one. A checker run at a single comfortable figure tells you little; runs at a moderate, a large and a very large figure show where each layer stops helping.

ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE — not a policy fact

A household tests a hypothetical auto claim of $750,000, with an underlying auto limit you enter and an umbrella limit of $1,000,000. The underlying policy pays that underlying limit first. The umbrella pays the remaining your underlying limit. Nothing remains uncovered in this scenario. If the same household tests a $1,500,000 claim with the same limits, the underlying pays your underlying limit, the umbrella pays its $1,000,000 limit, and the remainder remains uncovered. These are ILLUSTRATIVE scenarios chosen to show the layering arithmetic; they describe no real claim, no real policy and no carrier's terms.

What it does not cover

Umbrella cover does not cover intentional acts, business activities, professional services or contractual liability, in general terms — each of those needs separate cover or is excluded outright, and the exact list varies by contract. It does not pay claims below your underlying limits, it does not replace an underlying policy, and it does not cover damage to your own property. If your exposure comes from a home-based business, a rental property or a professional activity, ask specifically whether the umbrella covers it before you count on the layer. Raising underlying limits is also an alternative worth comparing: sometimes a higher primary limit costs less than a new layer, and sometimes the umbrella is the cheaper way to reach the same total — compare both, in writing, for the same claim scenarios.