| Per-Claim Limit | Aggregate Limit | |
|---|---|---|
| Governs | One claim’s maximum | The policy year’s total |
| Matched limits ($1M/$1M) | Full limit available once | One claim can exhaust the year |
| Split limits ($1M/$2M) | Same single-claim cap | Second claim still funded |
| With wasting defense | Defense erodes it | Defense erodes it too |
| Multi-claim years | — | This is the number that decides them |
Where the confusion comes from
Buyers benchmark the first number and ignore the second; employment claims arrive in clusters — a layoff generates three charges, a manager problem generates two — and the aggregate is what answers the cluster.
Related-claims clauses complicate the math: multiple claimants from one decision may be "one claim" against the per-claim limit, or several against the aggregate, and the form’s wording decides which.
When you need both
Limit structure is a set: per-claim, aggregate, retention, and defense treatment priced together. The right question is not "how much" but "how does a bad year spend this." Explore D&O insurance, cyber liability, and fiduciary liability, or start with employment practices liability.
A claim that lands in the gap
A reduction-in-force yields three separate charges; the $1M/$1M program exhausts on the first two defenses, and the third proceeds against the balance sheet.
Two unrelated claims in one year meet a matched-limit policy: the second claim finds the aggregate consumed and the renewal market hardened simultaneously.
Scenarios are illustrative composites, not descriptions of actual claims or outcomes. Whether any claim is covered depends on the policy issued.
How to decide
- Prefer split aggregates ($1M/$2M and up) where offered — the premium delta is usually modest.
- Read the related-claims clause; it decides how clusters count.
- Size against a bad year, not an average one.
- We display both numbers and the wasting math on every quote comparison.
We market your account and you compare terms side by side — no obligation.
Get Multiple Quotes within minutesFrequently asked questions
- Is $1M/$2M much more expensive than $1M/$1M?
- Typically a modest step — the second million of aggregate is cheaper than the first because it only pays in multi-claim years.
- Do retentions apply per claim?
- Usually yes — each claim bears its own retention, another reason clusters cost more than their headline.
- What happens when the aggregate exhausts mid-year?
- The policy is done paying; new claims wait for renewal — at a market that knows. Excess layers exist for exactly this.
- How do most buyers get this wrong?
- By shopping the per-claim number alone. We quote structures, not stickers.
Provident Financial Group is an independent insurance agency, not a carrier. We place coverage for per-claim vs. aggregate limits in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Vermont, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, the District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Georgia, Florida, Texas, California, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Indiana, Nevada, and Arizona.