Most people who need an umbrella find out through an envelope. What you do in the first week after a demand letter arrives matters more than almost anything else about the claim.
Report it immediately and say nothing to the other side. Those two steps protect the cover you paid for.
Three things about the week a claim arrives.
Every liability policy requires prompt notice of a claim or an incident likely to produce one. Sitting on a demand letter hoping it resolves is the most common way a household damages its own position. Report it the day it arrives even if you believe it is nonsense, because reporting costs nothing and silence can be treated as prejudice.
A liability policy appoints and pays for lawyers. That is frequently worth more than the limit itself, because most claims are fought down rather than paid out. Handling it yourself, or admitting anything, undermines the defense before it starts.
Where an umbrella sits above a homeowners or auto policy, notice generally belongs to both. The underlying carrier handles it first and the umbrella insurer needs to know it exists, particularly if the demand approaches the underlying limit.
Being ready before anything happens.
The answer should be us, the same day, before anyone else.
When they sit inside, a long defense erodes the cover.
A gap between the layers appears at exactly this moment.
Send your current limits. We will also tell you exactly what to do if something arrives.
We tell you what to do in the first week, which decides most of it.
Request a quote