Does an umbrella cover my business?

Generally no. A personal umbrella is built for personal liability and typically excludes business pursuits, which means a claim arising out of your work usually falls outside it even when the work happens at home. Business liability sits above commercial policies instead, through a commercial umbrella over commercial general liability, commercial auto, and employer’s liability. Two situations catch people out. A home-based business is one, because the homeowners policy underneath is also limited for business activity, so there can be a gap in both layers at once. Volunteer board service is the other, since some personal umbrellas address it and others do not. Whether a specific activity counts as a business pursuit is a form by form question, so tell us what you do and we will look at where it falls.