Is $1,000,000 Enough?

Seems to be the requested limit, but is it enough these days? I know it's the last thing business owners want to hear, but it's definitely a good time to do a policy review. When it comes to General Liability Insurance, it's going to be easy these days to burn through a $1M limit. Below are some things to consider when looking at your limits. 

1. If you're a business owner, you can look at past settlements for cases in your industry. Sure they might not have the sales you have, but this will give you a good idea of where you might want to be on limits.

​2. Inflation over the years has made $1M almost laughable in terms of limits in some cases. Remember the movie, Austin Powers? You can search, "Austin Powers $1,000,000" and get the reference. 

3. Even though you have a contract that may only require $1M, it's definitely worth considering higher limits. Bottom line, just because a contract with a large company says those limits are sufficient, doesn't mean anything. 

So what are your options? Below are some ideas:

- Higher limits. Example, $2M Per Occurrence
- Consider Defense Outside the Limits (some companies offer this endorsement)
- Add an Umbrella Policy 
- Add an Excess Liability Policy 
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If you have any questions about Business Insurance or your General Liability limits, please feel free to contact me. I've worked with a lot of businesses and would be happy to help you. 

Jason Matison
Commercial Insurance Agent
Austin, TX