Umbrella coverage is widely misunderstood and, dollar for dollar, is the most cost-effective ways to protect your business. Too many companies skip it or underbuy it, and that’s a miss in today’s economy.
What an umbrella actually does (in plain English):
First, it boosts your limits. An umbrella sits on top of your General Liability, Auto Liability, and Employers Liability base policies. So instead of only buying a primary $500K or $1M, you can scale to $2M, $3M, $5M, even $10M for a very cheap price point. It’s leverage: more total protection without rebuilding your whole program.
Second, it can “drop down”. Here’s the part most people don’t realize. Primary policies come with exclusions. In certain scenarios, the umbrella can broaden coverage and respond at the primary level, essentially stepping in where your base policy doesn’t. That “drop down” capability is a quiet workhorse in claims.
Why I recommend it so often.
For the protection it provides, umbrella coverage is surprisingly affordable. I bring it up with owners and CFOs across the spectrum: small, midsize, and large businesses because it adds meaningful resilience without blowing up the budget.
How we build yours.
At Mt. Franklin, we help tailor structure and pricing of insurance layers to your risk profile and growth plans. Our team will look at your current limits, identify potential exclusions, and show you how an umbrella can close gaps while scaling your total protection. Then you decide what level fits.



