A horizontal segment of the liability insured, e.g., the second $100,000 of a $500,000 liability is the first layer if the cedant retains $100,000, but a higher layer if it retains a lesser amount. See Pro rata.
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UK: a term used in mainly in reinsurance to denote a stratum of cover, for example, claims between £10,000 and £50,000 (which might be expressed as £40,000 excess of £10,000); insurance cover may be arranged in a number of successive layers, with different layers being covered by different insurers or reinsurers.
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REINSURANCE: The total amount of excess of loss reinsurance portion which an insurer needs to protect a given set of exposures is usually not written in one contract. Instead, the total amount is split into pieces or layers and separate contracts are written which fit on top of each other and have similar or identical terms but separate limits which sum to the total amount required. Each of the separate contracts in the series is called a layer or level in the total program.