What Is General Liability Insurance? Overview and Coverage

Almost every business needs general liability insurance coverage as it helps them remain financially strong in a business crisis.

General liability insurance coverage is an insurance policy that protects a company from bodily harm, personal injury, and property damage caused by the business’s operations, goods, or injuries on its premises.

This article will teach you everything you need to know about general liability insurance coverage.

Carefully read through.

General Liability Insurance Coverage Definition

General liability insurance, or business liability insurance, is a form of insurance policy that protects a company from bodily harm, personal injury, and property damage caused by the business’s operations, goods, or injuries on its premises.

It provides coverage to small businesses for bodily injuries, medical payments, advertising injuries, and more.

Additionally, this type of insurance protects you financially if you’re sued for an injury at your place of business, for causing property damage to a visitor, or for inflicting an advertising injury, such as defamation, copyright violation, etc., or, libel.

Almost every business needs business liability insurance. Let’s quickly examine why you need business liability insurance coverage for your business.

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Do I Need General Liability Insurance Coverage?

One of the most important reasons to purchase business liability insurance is that your clients or employers may require it before doing business with you. 

Interacting with clients in person, working on someone else’s property, and promoting your company are other business situations where business liability insurance may be required.

Most firms require general liability insurance to protect themselves against lawsuits, investigations, medical losses, and attorney bills.

A certificate of insurance is required to show that you have insurance coverage. A certificate of insurance is an official document that outlines an insurance policy’s coverage types and limits. 

Proof of insurance is a certificate of insurance. You’ll be ready to do business once you’ve given a client a certificate of insurance.

With business liability insurance, you won’t have to stress about what to do if a customer trips and falls or how you’ll pay for a replacement vase if you break one at a client’s home.

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Why Businesses Need Commercial Liability Insurance

One thing that all businesses have in common is the necessity for liability insurance.

These claims arise when you are legally responsible for someone who was injured on your property and:

• if an employee injures someone else or damages someone else’s property,
• or if your product causes bodily injury or property damage,
• if your business is in a rented space and that rented space is damaged, and
• many other legal claims, such as libel, slander, copyright infringement, and false advertising claims. 

Here are a few reasons your business may need general liability insurance:

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1. Customer Interactions

For the sake of the customers, we always advise businesses to get general liability insurance coverage that protects customers from accidents and injuries on-site.

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2. Premises Liability

A CGL coverage will also cover premises liability, including incidents that happen on your own or leased property.

A premises liability suit occurs when a customer enters your store and slips and falls. Under the CGL policy, this would be covered.

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3. Business Adverts

If your business gets slapped with an advertising lawsuit for slander or libel, your commercial general liability will always come to the rescue.

We’re sure you may wonder about the possibility of occurrence and probability.

These claims can arise from something as simple as ‘We are the best in Ohio” in an ad for your business.

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4. It protects employees

Having staff can expose you to a wide range of lawsuits. Aside from workers’ compensation coverage, which is covered under a separate policy, you’ll need to safeguard your company against the activities of your employees.

If, for example, one of your employees’ actions causes physical damage to another person’s property or even physical injury to another person, your CGL policy will protect you and your company, preventing you from being held liable for the actions of your employee.

5. You produce a product.

If your company makes anything, it’s vulnerable to a product liability lawsuit. You have a product responsibility claim when your product causes harm or injury to another person’s property or body.

What Types of Businesses Benefit from Commercial General Liability Insurance?

Because a significant physical injury or property damage claim might be a serious financial threat, almost every small business needs general liability insurance.

The types of businesses that typically use general liability insurance include:

• Building design
• Construction and contracting
• Consulting
• Food and beverage
• Healthcare professionals
• Home-based businesses
• Information technology
• Insurance professionals
• Nonprofits
• Personal care
• Photo and video 
• Real estate

What Does General Liability Insurance Cover?

General liability insurance protects you against a variety of claims. Consider the following two examples:

General liability insurance will cover their medical expenses if a client or customer slips and falls while visiting your business. It protects a customer’s house or property from harm caused by one of your employees.

This liability insurance provides coverage that helps protect your small business from claims that come from your normal business operations, such as:

• Property damage
• Physical injury
• Defense costs
• Personal and advertising injury

In most cases, general liability insurance coverage must be in effect at the time of the injury or damage to provide protection. Even if you stop paying premiums, they may still be able to give retroactive coverage.

How Does General Liability Insurance Coverage Work?

The sole aim of general liability insurance is to cover claims made by members of the public against your business.

These claims could be for bodily injury, illness, or property damage caused by your business’ work or a product you have sold or produced.

For instance, if a member of the public slipped on a wet floor on your business premises and sprained an ankle, if a faulty toy you sold, or if injures a child, you visited a client and spilled a drink over their computer.

Different levels of coverage are available for commercial general liability plans. A policy may contain premises coverage, which protects a company from claims that occur at the company’s physical site during normal business hours.

It may also cover bodily injury and property damage caused by a finished product or service provided at a different place.

When purchasing a general liability insurance coverage, ensure you differentiate between a claims-made policy and an occurrence policy.

A claims-made policy provides coverage for whenever a claim is made, regardless of when the event occurred.

On the other hand, an occurrence policy is distinct because it covers claims where the claim event occurred during the time of the policy, even if the policy is now expired.

How Much Does Business Liability Insurance Cost?

The cost of general liability insurance is determined by several factors.

The first consideration is the nature of your business. If your company is a high-risk operation, the liability insurance will be more expensive.

Other factors that influence the cost of general liability insurance include your company’s years of experience, size, location, number of employees, building conditions, policy details such as deductibles and coverage limitations, and your company’s insurance claims history

A business owner’s policy (BOP) bundles general liability and business property insurance into one policy. However, you can purchase general liability insurance on its own.

According to Insureon, general liability insurance costs an average of $42 per month. Insureon’s small business customers spend less than $25 per month on average for their plans.

What General Liability Insurance Doesn’t Cover

It is true that general liability insurance covers a lot for your business; it is also true that it doesn’t cover everything. Here are a few things commercial general liability insurance won’t cover:

• Employee injuries – To provide coverage for employee injuries, you’ll require workers’ compensation. A private insurance company or a state-run organization can provide workers compensation.
• Auto accidents – For auto accidents that occur while doing business, a commercial auto insurance policy will protect you if you own the car, and hired or non-owned auto insurance will offer protection if you use a personal car or rented car for work.
• Professional mistakes: – it doesn’t cover professional errors. A professional liability insurance policy will provide protection if you make mistakes in the course of your work. This insurance covers legal costs if a customer or client sues you for a mistake in your professional services.
• Theft: – it won’t cover your business equipment or property against theft or other damages.
• Claims that exceed your policy limit or illegal acts that you or your employees did on purpose.

How to Get General Liability Insurance

All business insurance carriers commonly sell general liability insurance. In a business owner’s policy, it’s frequently combined with business property insurance and business income insurance.

A BOP is a wonderful option if you also require property and income protection. It may also help you save money.

Whether you buy general liability insurance on its own or as part of a business owner’s policy, always ensure you compare quotes from a few different companies to get the greatest coverage at the best price.

You can get general liability insurance from each o the following insurance companies:

• The Hartford 
• Hiscox 
• State Farm 
• Next 
• Progressive 
• GEICO
   

FAQs On General Liability Insurance Coverage

General liability insurance protects you from unexpected expenses related to many of the most common types of accidents that can affect your business and lead to lawsuits:

• Injuries to people who are not your employees;
• Damage to the property you don’t own;
• Accusations of libel or slander.

General liability policy provides financial protection if you are held responsible for some of the most common accidents that can occur at a business, such as a customer injury or damages to someone’s property.

All business insurance providers typically sell business liability insurance. It’s often packaged with business property insurance and business income insurance in a business owner’s policy.

General liability insurance policies typically include the per-occurrence limit and the aggregate limit.

Conclusion

Obtaining general liability insurance is a food business for every business owner. It pays you when things go wrong.

As a matter of fact, a good number of clients will not do business with you unless you have business liability insurance.

Therefore, not having business liability coverage as a business owner is something you don’t want to do.

References 

• nerdwallet.com – General Liability Insurance: What It Is, Where Small Businesses Can Get It
• Insureon.com – What is general liability insurance?
• investopedia.com – What Does Commercial General Liability (CGL) Insurance Cover?

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