USLI Insurance in Florida
USLI is the specialty market on our shelf for the risks that don’t fit a standard checkbox: a personal umbrella written for a home held in a trust or LLC, an excess layer above an umbrella that has hit its ceiling, a certificate for a wedding venue by Friday, a landlord’s scattered rentals on one policy. A Pennsylvania insurance group whose charter dates to 1867, family-owned for five decades before Berkshire Hathaway acquired it in 2000, USLI carries AM Best’s highest grade — A++ (Superior) — across all five of its member insurers. Here is the story, the rating, and the specific problems this market solves for Florida households.
USLI at a glance
Carrier ratings verified directly with each rating agency.
The insurer Buffett bought over the phone
USLI’s modern story starts with a phone call. In early 2000, Warren Buffett was introduced to Bob Berry, whose family had owned U.S. Liability for forty-nine years, and the two agreed on a half-stock, half-cash acquisition — by phone. Buffett’s 2000 shareholder letter described the group as a highly respected writer of unusual risks and said the company “adds luster to the collection.” The deal closed August 8, 2000, and USLI has operated as a Berkshire Hathaway company from its Wayne, Pennsylvania headquarters ever since — on a charter that dates to 1867.
The Berkshire fingerprint is the underwriting culture: profitable operations with no growth mandates, across more than one hundred specialty products with no single line dominating the book. All five of the group’s member insurers — led by United States Liability Insurance Company — carry AM Best’s A++ (Superior), the top of the agency’s scale. For the odd-shaped risks this market exists to write, that combination — narrow appetite, top-grade paper — is precisely what you want.
The problems USLI solves for Florida households
- An umbrella for a home held in a trust, LLC, or estate. Standard umbrella programs are built around individually titled homes. USLI’s personal umbrella can be written in the name of individuals, trusts, LLCs, or estates when the primary residence is on the policy — the clean answer for households whose home sits inside an entity for estate-planning reasons.
- More coverage than your umbrella’s ceiling. When a household’s primary umbrella tops out, USLI writes excess personal umbrella layers that attach above a $1 million primary — the way taller liability towers actually get built. Limits are quoted per household, with the structure confirmed at quote time.
- Event liability with a certificate deadline. Venue wants proof of insurance for a wedding, a reception, a party? USLI’s special-event programs cover one-day, multi-day, and annual events — including host-liquor liability — and the certificate is the deliverable.
- A landlord’s scattered rentals. USLI’s rental-dwelling program can carry multiple 1–4 family properties on one policy — a fit when a portfolio outgrows the tidy shape admitted markets prefer. For rentals that fit standard markets, our DP-3 landlord guide covers that lane.
- Excess uninsured-motorist protection. Available on the umbrella — a Florida-relevant option worth pricing every time.
- The true odds and ends. Condo and renters niches, home-based business liability, vacant-home situations — placement paths vary by property, and we confirm the right one with underwriting before anything is promised.
One honest note on limits: USLI underwrites Florida umbrella business with deliberate discipline, so we never print a maximum here — the available limit for your household is established at quote, working with your agent, and shown beside what our other umbrella markets return for the same facts.
Where USLI fits in an umbrella decision
The stand-alone umbrella we quote first for most Florida households is RLI — $1 million to $5 million over any underlying carrier, Citizens included. USLI is the range-extender: the trust-or-LLC title, the excess layer above a maxed primary, the household whose situation needs a specialty underwriter’s judgment rather than a checkbox. There is no formula for the limit itself — carry as much as you qualify for and can comfortably afford, protecting what you own and the earnings ahead of you — and the qualify-for half of that sentence is exactly what these two markets, quoted side by side, establish. The full structure lives in our home, auto, and umbrella bundle guide.
Claims and service, carrier-direct
USLI policyholders file claims with the carrier directly — 1-888-523-5545 (option 3), the 24/7 online portal at myaccount.usli.com/claims, [email protected], or the after-hours emergency line at 1-888-875-5231, per the carrier’s instructions. On umbrella losses, the underlying carrier handles the claim inside its own limits while USLI is put on notice for the excess layer. Your agent’s part comes before any loss: confirming the layers meet with no gap, the title matches the policy, and the certificate says what the venue needs — questions for 813.920.8181 on any quiet day. What a policy pays in a particular loss is always governed by its own terms.
USLI in Florida: your questions, answered
Who is USLI?
United States Liability Insurance Group — a Wayne, Pennsylvania specialty insurer whose charter dates to 1867, owned for five decades by the Berry family and acquired by Berkshire Hathaway in August 2000 in a deal Warren Buffett agreed to by phone and praised in his 2000 shareholder letter. It writes more than one hundred specialty products through independent agents, with a Berkshire-style underwriting culture: profitable operations, no growth mandates.
What does USLI’s A++ rating mean?
A++ (Superior) is the highest Financial Strength Rating AM Best assigns, and USLI states that all five of its member insurers carry it (as of August 22, 2025). Only a small group of U.S. insurance organizations hold the grade — our stand-alone umbrella market RLI joined it with a February 2026 upgrade — which means the specialty layers of your program can sit on paper rated at the very top of the scale.
Can an umbrella policy be written for a home in a trust or LLC?
With USLI, yes — its personal umbrella can be issued in the name of individuals, trusts, LLCs, LLPs, or estates when the primary residence is included on the policy. This is the specific problem that brings many estate-planned households to this market: the home’s title moved into an entity, and the standard umbrella program couldn’t follow it. Working with your agent, the title, the underlying policies, and the umbrella get lined up in one review.
I already have a $1 million umbrella. Can I get more?
Often, yes. USLI writes excess personal umbrella coverage that attaches above a $1 million primary umbrella — the standard way taller liability towers are built. Available limits are established per household at quote time. The sizing rule doesn’t change with the height: as much as you qualify for and can comfortably afford, protecting current and future earnings alike.
Do you write wedding or special-event insurance?
Yes — through USLI’s special-event programs, covering one-day, multi-day, and annual events, with host-liquor liability available. The usual trigger is a venue requiring a certificate of insurance for a wedding, reception, or party; the policy is quoted quickly and the certificate is the deliverable. Tell us the date, the venue, and the headcount, and we’ll take it from there.
Can USLI insure my rental properties?
Its rental-dwelling program can carry multiple 1–4 family properties on one policy, which fits landlords whose portfolios have outgrown the shape standard markets prefer — and its umbrella tiers accommodate multi-property households. Where a rental fits an admitted DP-3 market, we quote it there too, and the side-by-side decides. One entry covers both paths.
How do I file a USLI claim?
Directly with the carrier: 1-888-523-5545, option 3, the 24/7 portal at myaccount.usli.com/claims, [email protected], or after hours 1-888-875-5231, per the carrier’s instructions. On an umbrella loss, the underlying carrier works the claim inside its limits while USLI stands noticed above them. Your agent’s questions belong before the loss — layers, titles, certificates — any quiet day at 813.920.8181.
