Why Snow Contracts Ask for It
A single serious slip-and-fall — a head injury, a fractured hip in an elderly claimant, a permanent disability — can exhaust a $1M per-occurrence limit on its own, before anyone has paid for a defence. Property managers know this, so their insurance exhibits ask for excess limits as a matter of routine.
The same is true on the auto side. A plow truck that causes a multi-vehicle collision on an icy highway at 5am produces exactly the kind of loss a $1M auto limit does not finish paying.
What It Costs and What It Buys
| Limit | Typical use | Relative cost |
|---|---|---|
| $1M | Small commercial lots, HOA work | Base |
| $2M | Retail centres, mid-size property management portfolios | Modest step |
| $5M | Healthcare campuses, national accounts, municipal | Still the cheapest limit on the schedule |
Umbrella follows form — check what it sits over
An umbrella only extends the policies it is written over. If your underlying general liability carries a snow-and-ice exclusion, the umbrella inherits it and adds nothing where you need it most. The underlying schedule is the part to read.