Business Insurance

Commercial General Liability Insurance

General Liability is one of the first essential coverages in the life of a business. You may run a bakery, manufacture a product or have clients come to your office. There is a liability exposure inherent in all of these cases.

The Commercial General Liability product comes with six difference components of coverage. Here is a sample of how the Liability coverage page would read for someone with a 1M/2M limit:

General Aggregate 2,000,000

Products-Completed Operations Aggregate 2,000,000

Each Occurrence 1,000,000

Personal and Advertising Injury 1,000,000

Damage to Premises Rented to You 500,000

Medical Expenses 10,000

This may look a little confusing but let’s break it down.

The Each Occurrence and General Aggregate correspond with each other. If there is a “general” liability claim, such as a slip in fall at the grocery store, it would fall under the General Aggregate. There can be two claims of this type, up to one million each, before the limit of insurance is exhausted.

The Each Occurrence also corresponds with the Products-Completed Operations Aggregate. If a customer choked on a piece of one of your products like food or small plastic pieces and got sick because of it, this claim would fall under the Products-Completed Operations Aggregate limit of insurance. As with the General Aggregate, there can be two claims of this type, up to one million each, before the limit of insurance is exhausted.

Additional coverages are also granted in this section: Personal and Advertising Injury provides coverage for oral or written material published with the intention of libel or slander, copying another’s advertisement, logo, slogan or other artistic work so closely that it can be confused with the original as well as discrimination or humiliation that ruins someone’s reputation. The limit of coverage on claims of this type is one million. No aggregate limit is provided.

If you are renting the space for your business and you accidentally cause a fire that destroys part or all of the building, the limit of Damage to Premises Rented to You will coverage this cost. This coverage is sometimes called Fire Legal Liability also. There is no aggregate on this limit either. Insurance carriers offer various limits on this one. Some may offer half of the Each Occurrence limit, other may offer up to the same limit.

If there is a minor accident that results in some small injury or damage, Medical Expenses will pay the claim no questions asked, up to the limit of insurance.

Higher limits are also available. Most 2M/4M limits and some are even beginning to offer 3M/6M limits as well. Depending on the limit, the other coverages listed would be increased proportionately as well. Also, deductibles do not apply with liability insurance as they do in property insurance.

Insurance carriers have a minimum premium that they charge for this policy. It can range from $350 to $750 a year. Give us a call today to let us find the right policy for you.