What is a Bumbershoot Policy?

The Bumbershoot policy refers to an umbrella coverage or an umbrella insurance policy specifically designed for the maritime industry. It is a form of excess liability insurance that was conceived insure marine risks. Maritime activities are human activities at the sea in relation to conveyance or production of goods. The Bumbershoot policy offers coverage for hazards in maritime companies,fg it also covers shipyards. The amount of coverage offered by the bumbershoot policy exceeds the limits of underlying liability policy. The policy not only covers maritime risks but also non-maritime risks, it offers coverage for dry and wet incidents, collisons, indemnity and others.

How does a Bumbershoot Policy Work?

The bumbershoot insurance policy proved a wider coverage for companies in the maritime industry or maritime activities at large. Commercial lines insurance span across general liability insurance, workers compensation insurance, bodily and property damage, and litigation coverage. The bumbershoot insurance policy however transcends beyond these, it protects industries from wet and dry incidents, that is, maritime and non-maritime activities. This policy covers expenses relating to salvage, collision, and indemnity. The coverage of liabilities that the bumbershoot policy caters for must however be in accordance to the standards set by the Longshoreman and Harbor Workers Act. Shipyard workers and terminal operators can also benefit from the bumbershoot insurance policy. The policy provides coverage for;

• Personal injury of workers or passengers,
• Weather incidents,
• Losses and damages during cargo transportation,
• Hijacking situations, and a few others.

Bumbershoot policy is an umbrella insurance policy or coverage that protects businesses in the maritime industry from risks associated with wet and dry maritime. Countries that border on the sea carry out a lot of merchandise of goods, cargo transportation and other maritime related activities using the sea. In 2017, a data from World Trade Organization (WTO) revealed that 21.7% out of a total of over $1.5 billion of the United State exports used sea transport (maritime). Furthermore, the European Union date revealed that 72.8% out of a $2.1 billion merchandise were transported by the sea. Bumbershoot policies are then of significance to countries whose exports are largely done through sea transportation and countries that are beneficiaries of the exports.