What it means
Primary means your policy pays before any other insurance available to the additional insured. Noncontributory means your insurer will not ask the additional insured’s own insurer to share the loss.
Standard other insurance conditions do not automatically do this. Most insurers meet the requirement with an endorsement such as ISO CG 20 01, Primary and Noncontributory Other Insurance Condition, which usually applies only when a written contract requires it.
Contracts often ask for primary and noncontributory wording on both general liability and umbrella policies. The umbrella needs its own matching language for the requirement to be met above the primary layer.
An example
Redwood Fire Sprinkler’s contract with a hotel owner requires general liability that is primary and noncontributory. A guest injured by a falling sprinkler head sues the hotel. Because Redwood’s policy carries the endorsement, its insurer defends the hotel as an additional insured without asking the hotel’s own insurer to contribute.
Names in this example are fictional.
See this term in your own contract.
Send a lease, subcontract or client agreement with the policies you hold. You get every insurance requirement in it, cited to the clause, set against what your policies say. Free, and back within one business day.
Get a free contract checkPrimary and noncontributory, answered
Is primary and noncontributory automatic with additional insured status?
No. Additional insured status and primary and noncontributory wording are separate. Without a specific endorsement, the policy’s standard other insurance condition decides how it shares losses with other policies, which may not meet the contract. Check that the policy includes a primary and noncontributory endorsement that applies when a written contract requires it.
Does the umbrella also need to be primary and noncontributory?
Often yes, if the contract says so. Many contracts require the wording on every liability policy, including umbrella and excess layers. The umbrella has its own other insurance condition, so the requirement is met only if the umbrella policy contains matching language. Review the contract and the umbrella form together before confirming compliance.
General information only. It is not legal or insurance advice. Only issued policy documents and endorsements describe actual coverage.