The Liability Conversation Most Private Clients Haven't Had
Why $1 Million — Even $2 Million — May Not Be Enough
READING TIME: 7 minutes
BRAMPTON, ON - Most successful people assume they are protected.
They have a home policy. They have auto insurance. The limits look substantial on paper — $1 million, maybe $2 million. They renewed last year. They didn't hear anything alarming. They moved on.
This is the liability gap hiding in plain sight.
For a private client — a business owner, a community leader, an entrepreneur, a first-generation founder, a second-generation beneficiary of real family wealth — the liability picture is fundamentally different from what a standard policy was built to address. The exposures are broader. The visibility is higher. The stakes, if something goes wrong, are considerably more significant.
The conversation most private clients haven't had is a simple one: is what you have actually enough for who you are and what you've built?
For most, the honest answer is no.
"The question isn't whether you have liability coverage. The question is whether your coverage reflects your actual life — your visibility, your assets, your activity, and who you are in the community."
— Bram Bains, Maverick Insurance Brokers
What the data says
The Chubb 2025 Wealth Report surveyed 1,000 high-net-worth individuals across North America between July and September 2025. The findings on liability are striking.
81% of high-net-worth individuals do not carry excess liability insurance.
Not 81% of the general population. 81% of individuals with significant investable assets — business owners, professionals, community figures — people who have the most to lose in a serious liability claim.
Of the 19% who do carry excess liability, 78% hold limits of $3 million or less.
And yet — 68% say they are actively concerned about the size of a verdict against them if they were to lose a liability case in court.
The concern is there. The coverage is not.
For private clients in Ontario in 2026, the starting conversation on liability does not begin at $1 million. It does not begin at $2 million. For most private client households, the new baseline is $5 million — with the right structure to get there.
"81% of high-net-worth individuals don't carry excess liability insurance — yet 68% worry about the size of a verdict against them. The gap between concern and coverage is the most expensive space in private client insurance."
Source: Chubb 2025 Wealth Report
Why your life creates more exposure than you think
Chubb's Masterpiece Excess Liability program opens with a question worth sitting with:
Do any of these apply to you?
You entertain guests at your home
You have teenage children
You employ household staff — a nanny, a housekeeper, a personal driver
You or your family travel regularly for business or pleasure
You have a swimming pool, hot tub, or recreational equipment at your home
You own a second home or vacation property
You serve on the board of a non-profit or charitable organization
You own or operate recreational vehicles, watercraft, or other equipment
Any of your properties are held in a trust or corporation
For a private client in Brampton's business and community ecosystem, most of these apply. And the list above does not even touch the exposures most specific to your world.
You are visible. Founders, executives, community leaders, and creators operate in the public eye in ways that ordinary policyholders do not. Your name is attached to opinions, decisions, and associations — on social media, in the press, at events, and in the community spaces you lead. That visibility is an asset. It is also an exposure.
You sit on boards.Volunteering time on a non-profit board, a community foundation, a school advisory committee, a sports organization — all of it creates personal liability exposure that most people never consider until it is too late.
You host events.Whether it is a dinner at your home, a birthday celebration, a fundraiser, or a company event at your property — every gathering creates a liability surface. A guest who is injured. A situation that is mischaracterized. A decision that becomes the subject of a claim.
You are active on social media. A comment on a business matter. A post about an industry peer. An opinion expressed professionally that lands differently than intended. Defamation, libel, and slander claims are increasingly arising from digital activity — and most standard liability policies were never designed to address this.
Your family is active too.A teenage driver in the household. Children at practice, at tournaments, at social events. A spouse or partner who is also visible in professional or community life. Liability in a private client household is rarely singular.
The exposures most people discover too late
The Chubb 2025 Wealth Report identified the five most common personal liability concerns among high-net-worth individuals:
Allegations of assault or harassment — 80%
An allegation — arising from a social event, a professional setting, a community role — does not require physical harm to generate a serious civil claim. For individuals in leadership positions, the threshold for being named in litigation is lower than most people realize.
Auto accidents causing bodily injury — 77%
A serious motor vehicle accident can generate medical costs, lost income claims, and pain and suffering awards that exceed a $1 million or $2 million auto liability limit well before a verdict is reached. Add a teenage driver. Add multiple high-value vehicles. Add a personal driver. The exposure compounds.
Claims from workers on your property — 77%
A housekeeper. A groundskeeper. A renovation crew. A nanny. Anyone who works on your property and sustains an injury can pursue a claim against you as the property owner. The assumption that they carry their own insurance is frequently wrong — and frequently tested at the worst possible moment.
Underinsurance of another person — 74%
When an accident involves another party who is themselves underinsured, the financial gap can flow toward you. Particularly relevant in auto claims where the at-fault party carries minimum coverage that falls far short of actual damages.
Libel, slander, or defamation — 67%
A business dispute that turns adversarial. A public comment that is characterized as damaging. A social media post that generates a legal response. For visible, successful individuals, this exposure is real, growing, and rarely adequately covered by a standard policy.
What this looks like in practice
Chubb's Masterpiece Excess Liability program documents two real client situations that illustrate how quickly liability events escalate beyond standard coverage.
In the first, a Chubb client and his family were on vacation when they were struck by an oncoming car in a hit-and-run accident. While family members sustained minor injuries, the client — a surgeon — fractured his dominant hand and was unable to work for months. Because he carried underinsured motorist coverage through Chubb Masterpiece, the family recovered their full damages, including significant lost earnings, up to the limits of their coverage.
The second situation is more instructive for private clients with international lives. A Chubb client was skiing in Switzerland with his family when an injured skier brought suit against him after a collision. Chubb's Masterpiece policy covered the claim and his full defence costs — even after the policy limits had been exhausted by payments. Chubb's Multi-national Claims Unit, operating across 54 countries, managed the claim within the Swiss legal system, including sourcing local legal counsel with specific expertise.
Two situations most people would not immediately associate with their liability coverage. Both resolved because the right coverage was in place. For a private client without excess liability coverage, both situations would have resulted in direct, uncovered personal exposure.
What excess liability and umbrella coverage actually do
A Chubb Masterpiece Excess Liability policy — or a comparable umbrella policy through Intact Prestige or Aviva Ovation — sits above all of your underlying coverage: auto, home, watercraft, recreational vehicles. It responds when any one of those underlying policies is exhausted.
Key features of Chubb's Masterpiece Excess Liability program that distinguish it from standard coverage:
Liability limits from $1 million to $100 million.The coverage scales to match the actual exposure — not a one-size number.
No cap on legal costs. Defence costs are outside of the liability limit, meaning that even if a claim exhausts the liability limit through payments, defence coverage continues. This is not available on most standard policies.
Worldwide coverage.Life takes you beyond Ontario. The coverage follows — whether that is a property abroad, a business trip, a vacation, or a family event in another country.
Reputation protection. Coverage for lawsuits involving libel, slander, or negligent infliction of bodily injury — including cases originating from social media, websites, and digital platforms.
Protection in the courtroom.Defence costs for lawsuits that are groundless, false, or fraudulent — because the cost of defending a claim can be significant regardless of whether the claim has merit.
Chubb reports that 97% of clients who had a claim paid were highly satisfied with their claims experience. For private clients, that number matters. A claim is never just financial. It is reputational, emotional, and often time-sensitive.
The right number for a private client
Chubb's framework for determining the right level of protection:
Your home market value + your assets + your annual income = the amount of protection you need.
For a private client household in Brampton's estate market — with an average home value approaching $2 million, a vehicle collection, business assets, and investment holdings — the exposure quickly exceeds what a $1 million or even $2 million policy was designed to absorb.
For most private clients, the conversation starts at $5 million in excess liability coverage, extending across all underlying policies. Some households require significantly more. The right number is a function of a full picture — not a renewal form.
"For a private client household, $2 million is not a ceiling. It's a starting point. The right number depends on the full picture — your assets, your visibility, your activity, and what you've built or what your family has built."
— Bram Bains, Maverick Insurance Brokers
Awareness without action is still exposure.
The Chubb 2025 Wealth Report describes those who engage trusted experts as being significantly better positioned to preserve their wealth and respond effectively when adversity strikes.
68% of high-net-worth individuals are worried about verdict sizes. The liability protection gap is not a knowledge problem. It is an action problem.
The liability conversation most private clients haven't had is a short one. But having it — with the right advisor, with access to the right carriers — is the difference between coverage that reflects your actual life and coverage that reflects a standard renewal.
If you have built something significant, you deserve a liability position that keeps pace with it.
Statistics referenced from the Chubb 2025 Wealth Report — The Resilient Mindset: Turning Risk Awareness into Advantage. Survey conducted July–September 2025, 1,000 North American high-net-worth respondents. Product details referenced from Chubb Masterpiece Excess Liability program documentation.
Interested in reviewing your liability coverage? Learn more about the Maverick Private Client Group.
About Maverick Insurance Brokers
Maverick Insurance Brokers is an independent private client advisory based in Brampton, Ontario. Founded by Bram Bains, Maverick serves entrepreneurs, business families, and community leaders across Ontario — providing direct access to a trusted advisor across home, auto, high-value assets, and commercial insurance. Maverick is a member of the MIB Broker Distribution Network and an official partner of the Brampton Honey Badgers (CEBL).
About Chubb
Chubb is the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance group, with operations in 54 countries. With over a century of experience, Chubb specializes in serving successful families and individuals with more to protect — offering some of the broadest liability limits available, ranging from $1 million to $100 million. In Canada, Chubb operates through Chubb Insurance Company of Canada. Chubb Limited is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CB) and is a component of the S&P 500 index.
For more information on Chubb's personal insurance offering in Canada: chubb.com/ca-en/personal
Interested in working with Bram Bains? Learn more about the Maverick Private Client Group or Book a Call.
