Which Milwaukee businesses should consider a commercial umbrella policy?

Contractors, taverns and restaurants, transportation and delivery operations, property owners, manufacturers, distributors and any business that could face large bodily injury or property damage claims should consider commercial umbrella insurance.

Does a commercial umbrella replace my general liability or commercial auto policy?

No. A commercial umbrella does not replace your general liability or commercial auto policy. It sits on top of those policies and only responds after their limits are exhausted by a covered claim.

How much commercial umbrella limit do I need?

Appropriate limits depend on your industry, size, assets, contracts and appetite for risk. Many small to mid-sized businesses start with $1M or $2M of umbrella coverage, while larger or higher-risk operations may carry $5M or more. An ITG agent can help you think through claim scenarios and contract requirements to choose a practical limit.

Milwaukee · Commercial Umbrella & Excess Liability

Milwaukee Commercial Umbrella Insurance
for Large Claims, Contracts & “Worst-Case” Days.

Q: What is commercial umbrella insurance?

Commercial umbrella insurance provides additional liability limits above underlying policies such as general liability, commercial auto, employer’s liability and liquor liability. It is designed to respond when a covered claim is larger than the limits on those base policies.

Insurance Technology Group (ITG) is an independent agency on Bluemound Road in Waukesha that helps Milwaukee businesses stack extra liability limits on top of their general liability, commercial auto, employer’s liability and liquor liability policies. When a claim is bigger than “typical,” a commercial umbrella policy is what stands between a bad day and a business-ending event.

Extra limits above your base policies. Built to sit on top of GL, Auto, Employer’s Liability and Liquor – not replace them.

Designed around Wisconsin claim reality. Winter driving, taverns, contractors, mixed-use properties, and busy city streets.

Aligned with contracts and lenders. We match limits and wording to the requirements in your leases, bids and loan documents.

Call Now · 833-515-1776 Local Line · (414) 698-8386

What this page is meant to do.

Commercial umbrella insurance is one of the most misunderstood policies in a Milwaukee business program. Many owners know they “should” have it, but the reason why – and how it actually works at claim time – is fuzzy. This page is designed to fix that.

Explain, in plain language, how a commercial umbrella policy behaves above your base coverages.
Show why Milwaukee contractors, taverns, landlords and fleets often need more than $1M in limits.
Share realistic claim scenarios where umbrellas prevented catastrophic outcomes.
Clarify what umbrellas do not cover so expectations are aligned now, not after a loss.
Give you a clear next step if you want ITG to review or quote your current program.

Insurance Technology Group LLC Independent Insurance Agency · 2246 W. Bluemound Rd, Waukesha, WI 53186 Phone: (414) 698-8386 · Toll-Free: 833-515-1776 Wisconsin Agency License #: 3003892003 · Firm NPN: 21750189 Designated Responsible Producer: Michael A. Barger – WI License 21655132 / NPN 21655132 Licensed in WI, IL, OK, TX & TN – Property & Casualty

Commercial Umbrella · High-Level Overview

The safety net above your general liability, auto and workers comp employer’s liability.

A commercial umbrella policy is sometimes called “excess liability.” Both terms describe one big idea: extra dollars that can be used to pay a covered claim after your underlying policies run out.

Most Milwaukee businesses start with familiar liability limits such as $1,000,000 per occurrence / $2,000,000 aggregate on general liability, or $1,000,000 combined single limit on commercial auto. For many routine claims, those limits are enough. But the reality is that serious accidents, multi-party lawsuits and long-tail injuries do happen – especially when your business touches the public, serves alcohol, or operates vehicles in winter traffic.

A commercial umbrella policy is designed for those days. It sits on top of one or more underlying liability policies (general liability, auto, employer’s liability, liquor, etc.). When a covered claim exhausts those base limits, the umbrella can step in with additional protection – often in layers of $1M, $2M, $5M or more.

Think of it this way: your base policies are the first floor of the building. A commercial umbrella is the additional stories you build on top. The more people you serve, the more vehicles you run, the more contracts you sign and the more assets you own, the more those extra stories matter.

How It Works

What a commercial umbrella policy sits on top of – and how claims flow through it.

The easiest way to understand umbrella coverage is to picture how money moves during a large claim. Your base policies pay first. When they are exhausted, the umbrella can continue paying, up to its own limit.

1. Underlying policies carry the first layer.

Your commercial umbrella is not a stand-alone policy. Carriers require you to keep specific minimum limits on the underlying coverages before the umbrella will respond. Those underlying policies usually include:

General liability (GL)
Commercial auto liability
Employer’s liability (part of workers compensation)
Liquor liability (for bars, taverns and restaurants)

If a claim doesn’t trigger one of those base policies, it typically won’t trigger the umbrella either.

GL, Auto & Employer’s Liability Liquor liability for taverns

2. A large claim pierces the underlying limit.

When a claim is big enough to use up the limits on your underlying policy, the umbrella is designed to kick in. Common situations include:

A severe auto accident with multiple injured parties and large medical bills.
A construction accident where a subcontractor or bystander suffers serious injury.
A tavern or restaurant claim involving alleged overserving and long-term impairment.
A slip and fall that results in permanent disability or lifetime care needs.

Once the underlying policy pays its full limit, the umbrella can provide additional dollars – subject to its own limits, terms and exclusions.

Catastrophic injuries Multi-vehicle accidents Alcohol-related claims

3. Umbrella limits stack on top, not beside.

If you carry $1M / $2M GL and a $2M umbrella, you do not suddenly have “$3M / $4M” of GL only. Instead, you have $1M per occurrence at the base, and the umbrella is available above that when a qualifying claim exceeds the underlying limit.

Umbrella limits are often written in towers: $1M, $2M, $5M, $10M and beyond. We help you choose a limit that makes sense for your revenue, assets, industry and contract requirements – without paying for excess limit you are unlikely to need.

$1M–$2M starting points $5M–$10M for higher risk Built around contracts

Simple Milwaukee example: contractor auto accident.

A Milwaukee contractor’s truck is involved in a serious accident on I-94 during a winter storm. Multiple vehicles are involved, several people are injured, and one injury is life-altering. Between bodily injury, property damage, lost wages and legal fees, the total settlement and judgment reach $2.3 million.

The contractor’s commercial auto policy has a $1M limit. Once that $1M is paid, the commercial umbrella policy can step in and pay the remaining $1.3M, up to the umbrella’s limit. Without the umbrella, the business (and possibly the owner personally) could be responsible for that difference.

Quick Claim Flow

How dollars move when a covered liability claim hits your program.

Step 1: Claim is reported to the carrier(s) for the underlying policy.
Step 2: Defense counsel is assigned and costs are usually inside the underlying limit (depending on form).
Step 3: Settlement or judgment uses up the underlying limit.
Step 4: If the settlement/judgment exceeds that limit, the umbrella carrier is notified and the umbrella can begin responding.
Step 5: The umbrella pays the remaining covered amount, up to its own aggregate limit.

A well-built umbrella policy makes this process smoother because the carrier has already reviewed your underlying policies, limits and operations before the claim ever happens.

Who Needs a Commercial Umbrella?

If one bad claim could change everything, an umbrella is worth a conversation.

Umbrella coverage is not just for huge corporations. Many small and mid-sized Milwaukee businesses now face contractual requirements, vehicle exposures and public-facing operations that make higher limits wise.

Some industries see catastrophic claims more often than others. If your business fits into one of these categories, you should at least know what umbrella options exist and what they cost. In many cases, the price for an additional $1M or $2M of liability limit is surprisingly modest compared to the risk it’s guarding against.

Common examples in and around Milwaukee:

Contractors and trades. Roofing, electrical, HVAC, concrete, excavation, steel and general contractors who work at height, operate equipment or coordinate subs.
Restaurants, taverns and bars. Especially those near high-traffic areas like Brady Street, Water Street, the Deer District, Bay View and Walker’s Point, where liquor and foot traffic mix.
Transportation, delivery and fleet operations. Any business that runs box trucks, service vans or other commercial vehicles in Milwaukee winters and freeway traffic.
Property owners and real estate investors. Strip centers, mixed-use buildings, small apartment complexes and commercial landlords with public walkways and parking lots.
Manufacturing and distribution. Operations with higher severity potential – especially if you ship products regionally or nationally.
Professional and medical offices. While separate professional liability is needed for errors & omissions, an umbrella above GL and auto is often sensible due to foot traffic and visitor exposure.

If any of those scenarios sound like you – or if your contracts already require higher limits – ITG can help you evaluate whether a commercial umbrella should be part of your Milwaukee business insurance strategy.

Realistic Umbrella Limits

How much is “enough” for a Milwaukee business?

There is no single right answer, but we often walk through questions like these:

What is the worst injury that could realistically happen in or around your business?
How many people might be affected at once – one driver, a full van, a busy tavern crowd?
What contracts, leases or bid specs already require higher combined limits?
How many vehicles are on the road at any given time, and where do they operate?
What are your total business and personal assets that could be exposed?

For some small operations, an extra $1M is a solid starting point. For larger contractors, fleet operators or property owners, $2M–$5M is more common. Heavier-exposed risks may look at $10M+ towers.

Our goal isn’t to sell the biggest number possible. It’s to match limits with real-world risk so you can sleep at night and still keep your program affordable.

Milwaukee-Specific Perspective

Why Milwaukee’s roads, weather and nightlife make umbrellas more than a “nice-to-have.”

Carriers do not think about Milwaukee in abstract terms. They look at real loss data. Winter driving, busy city streets, construction activity and concentrated nightlife all play a role – and many of those factors point straight at the need for higher liability limits.

Consider a busy Friday night near the Deer District after a big game. Or a January morning on I-94 when a patch of black ice appears under a bridge. Or a summer afternoon on a jobsite where multi-trades are working at height. These are the environments where large claims originate – environments that Milwaukee businesses work in every day.

Slip-and-fall claims outside bars, restaurants and retail centers can escalate quickly when lifelong medical care, lost wages and pain-and-suffering are involved. Auto accidents that might be minor elsewhere can turn severe when visibility is low or speeds are higher on stretches of I-43, I-94, Hwy 41/45 or Bluemound Road. Construction zones near dense foot and vehicle traffic carry not just worker risk but risk to the general public walking or driving nearby.

The point is not to scare you. It is to show why carrier underwriters frequently recommend or require commercial umbrella limits for Milwaukee-area risks – and why ITG treats umbrellas as a core conversation rather than an optional “add-on.”

What commercial umbrellas do not fix.

Part of building trust is being crystal clear about what umbrellas do not do. A commercial umbrella policy:

Does not replace weak underlying coverage. If your GL or auto policy has major exclusions or very low limits, the umbrella will not magically fix those problems.
Does not cover employee injuries directly. Workers compensation is what addresses employees’ job-related injuries. Umbrellas may sit above employer’s liability, but not WC benefits themselves.
Does not automatically cover professional liability, cyber or pollution. Those are usually separate policies; the umbrella may need to specifically schedule them if coverage is available.
Does not change behavior-based exclusions. Assault & battery, expected or intended injury, and other excluded conduct in the underlying policy are typically excluded in the umbrella as well.
Does not guarantee coverage for every contract requirement. Some language requested by large companies or municipalities goes beyond what insurers are willing to do. We’ll help you spot those gaps and negotiate where possible.

If you are ever unsure whether a type of claim could touch your umbrella, we’d rather answer that question now than after a lawsuit is filed. That’s why we encourage questions – there are no “dumb” ones when it comes to liability.

How Umbrella Fits the ITG Program

Umbrella plus property, GL, auto, workers comp and more.

At ITG, we rarely talk about a commercial umbrella in isolation. Instead, we look at how it overlays the rest of your Milwaukee business insurance program:

Milwaukee Business Insurance – the base package for GL, property and business income.
Milwaukee General Liability Insurance – the core policy most umbrellas sit on top of.
Milwaukee Commercial Auto Insurance – often the single largest driver of severe liability claims.
Milwaukee Liquor Liability Insurance – critical for taverns and restaurants that serve alcohol.
Milwaukee Contractor Insurance and Builders Insurance – for jobsite and project-based risks.
Milwaukee Workers Compensation Insurance – where employer’s liability coverage often connects to the umbrella.

When all of these pieces are coordinated, your umbrella is not floating alone. It becomes a deliberate part of a layered protection strategy instead of an afterthought.

Next Steps

What ITG will ask when we design or review your Milwaukee commercial umbrella.

You do not need to have every number memorized to start. Our job is to ask detailed questions in a way that still feels natural. A short conversation can tell us whether a commercial umbrella is worth serious consideration and, if so, what range of limits makes sense.

We review your current policies and limits. General liability, commercial auto, workers comp (employer’s liability), liquor liability and any other scheduled underlying coverage.
We ask about your operations and top risks. Vehicles, job sites, foot traffic, products, alcohol service, property ownership and any high-severity exposures.
We look at contracts, leases and bid specs. Many municipalities, general contractors, landlords and lenders require combined limits that can only be reached with an umbrella.
We walk through “worst day” scenarios. Not to scare you, but to help you see dollar amounts in terms of people, vehicles, medical care and attorneys instead of vague threat levels.
We price reasonable limit options. Usually, we look at a few steps – for example, $1M, $2M and $5M – so you can compare cost against peace of mind.
We explain, in writing, how the umbrella interacts with your base policies. You should know exactly which coverages the umbrella sits above, which exclusions matter, and how a large claim would move through the layers.

You will never be pressured into a limit you are not comfortable with. Our role is to educate and guide so you can make a clear decision with your eyes open.

How to Reach ITG

Start a commercial umbrella conversation in the way that fits your day.

You can get the ball rolling with as little as a quick phone call:

Call the local line at (414) 698-8386 and say you want to review or add a commercial umbrella to your program.
Use the toll-free number 833-515-1776 if you’re calling from a job site or from outside the immediate Milwaukee metro.
Email your current declarations pages and any contract requirements to [email protected] so we can study them before we speak.
If you prefer face-to-face, we can schedule a time at our office on Bluemound Road to walk through your current policies and options line by line.

However you choose to reach out, you will be talking with a local ITG agent who understands Milwaukee’s streets, winters and business landscape – not a call center several states away.

Questions & Clarity

Common questions Milwaukee business owners ask about commercial umbrella insurance.

When we talk with owners, CFOs and office managers around Milwaukee, the same questions come up again and again. Here are straight answers in one place.

If I have a $1M general liability policy and a $2M umbrella, do I now have $3M of GL?

Sort of, but not exactly in the way people usually mean. You still have a $1M per-occurrence limit on your general liability policy. If a covered claim uses that whole $1M, your umbrella can then provide up to $2M more above it, depending on the umbrella’s terms, for a total of $3M available for that event. The umbrella does not change the wording on the underlying GL policy; it simply adds limit on top.
Will an umbrella policy defend me from the first dollar if something big happens?

Defense for most everyday claims typically starts under the underlying policies. The umbrella carrier becomes involved when it appears that the claim may pierce those limits, or when the underlying carrier tenders its policy limit. Actual defense and tender obligations depend on the specific policy forms, so we always recommend reviewing your declarations and endorsements with us to see how yours work.
Can umbrella coverage sit above more than one company?

Yes, many umbrellas are written to sit above multiple underlying policies, sometimes even policies written by different carriers. That is one reason underwriters ask to review your entire program. They need to understand all the underlying terms and limits before deciding whether – and how – to offer umbrella coverage.
Is commercial umbrella insurance expensive?

Cost depends on your industry, size, claims history, vehicles, and required limit. But many owners are surprised by how reasonable the first $1M–$2M of extra limit can be relative to their total risk. For some programs, the annual umbrella premium is smaller than the deductible on a single serious claim it could help cover.
What happens if I reduce my underlying limits after buying an umbrella?

Umbrella policies assume you maintain certain minimum underlying limits. If you reduce those limits below the required level and don’t adjust the umbrella, you can create “gaps” where you’re self-insuring a portion of large claims. Whenever your underlying limits change, it is important to tell us so we can make sure the umbrella is adjusted or rewritten to match.

Connected Milwaukee Insurance Guides

Pages that pair with your commercial umbrella to form a complete program.

Your umbrella is most effective when it is paired with strong underlying coverage. These Milwaukee-focused pages go deeper into the base policies that umbrellas commonly sit above.

Milwaukee Business Insurance Milwaukee General Liability Insurance Milwaukee Commercial Auto Insurance Milwaukee Liquor Liability Insurance Milwaukee Contractor Insurance Milwaukee Builders Insurance Milwaukee Construction Insurance Milwaukee Workers Compensation Insurance Milwaukee Commercial Property Insurance Milwaukee Condo Insurance (HO-6)

When you’re ready, ITG can take all of these lines – property, GL, auto, workers comp, liquor and umbrella – and shape them into one integrated protection plan that follows your growth instead of holding it back.

Milwaukee Commercial Umbrella Insurance for Large Claims, Contracts & “Worst-Case” Days.