An umbrella policy is excess liability coverage. Basic home and auto policies have limits in liability coverage. If your auto policy cuts off coverage at $500,000, but you have assets over that amount you should consider an umbrella policy. The umbrella covers excess liability loss over all personal exposures (provided they have underlying insurance with approved companies). Your auto, home, boat, motorcycle, secondary home, etc. all have a liability exposure and the umbrella is designed to protect that risk once the basic policies have reached their limits. These policies will not cover business related exposures, so you would want to check into commercial umbrella insurance for that type of risk. Contact an agent if you want to get an umbrella policy quote.