All You Need To Know About General Liability Insurance

If you are running any business, you should consider having a general liability insurance policy. This type of policy offers protection for your business for property damage and bodily or personal injury caused by your business operations or products. This post provides critical insights into general liability insurance.

What Is General Liability Insurance?

General liability insurance protects a business from liability claims resulting from normal operations. Typically, state laws do not require companies to have commercial general liability insurance. However, failure to have coverage puts your business at a financial risk. In the event of a liability claim against your company, you may end up paying for legal defense fees, judgments, and settlements. With general liability insurance, the insurer assumes responsibility for such costs. Thus, consider buying the coverage if you run a business. 

What Does General Liability Insurance Cover?

Bodily Injuries

General liability insurance provides coverage for any physical injuries suffered by a third party within your business premises. For instance, a customer or an employee may suffer a slip-and-fall accident leading to severe body injuries. With the policy, the insurance company would pay for the medical bills and legal defense if needed. 

Property Damage

Your business may also attract a legal claim for property damage caused by your employees. For example, if you are running a cleaning business, your employees may break the clients' furniture or windows. In such cases, the insurance company would cover the cost of replacing the damaged property. Notably, clients prefer to engage companies with general liability insurance for protection against property damage. 

Advertising Injury

Several advertising risks may arise in everyday business marketing activities. Your business may get sued for defaming an individual or another business entity, for example. Then, you may face a lawsuit for copyright infringement. For instance, this could happen if your business includes another company's logo or trademarks in an advertisement without permission. Besides, if you share any negative information about another entrepreneur, they may sue you for reputational harm. Without commercial general liability insurance, such risks may cost you a lot of money.

Risks Exempted From General Liability Insurance

Although general liability insurance is a form of comprehensive coverage, it may not cover all risks associated with running a business. You will need to buy separate policies for the following types of liability risks:

• Commercial auto insurance for business vehicle accidents 
• Workers' compensation insurance for employees' injuries and illness
• Commercial property insurance for damage to your business property 
• Professional liability insurance for errors during provision of professional services 

The risks of operating a business without general liability insurance outweigh the cost of buying the coverage. Contact an insurance agent to assess your business liability risks and to help you get adequate protection.