General Liability
Protect your business
General Liability
As a business owner you may be legally responsible for causing injuries to others or damaging property of others. It is important to protect your business from these risks.
- Contractors
- Restaurants
- New Ventures
- Hard to Place Businesses
What General Liability Insurance Covers
A general liability policy protects your business when someone outside your company claims you hurt them or damaged their property. Here are the main parts of a typical policy.
Bodily Injury
Pays for medical bills, lost wages and legal costs if a customer, visitor or member of the public is hurt because of your business, like a slip and fall at your shop or a job site injury.
Property Damage
Covers damage you or your employees accidentally cause to someone else's property, such as breaking a window, flooding a unit or damaging a customer's equipment while working.
Products and Completed Operations
Protects you after the job is done or the product is sold. If your finished work or a product you sold causes injury or damage later, this part of the policy responds.
Personal and Advertising Injury
Covers claims of libel, slander, false advertising or using someone else's ad idea or copyrighted material in your marketing.
Medical Payments
Pays small medical bills for someone injured on your premises, regardless of fault, which often keeps a minor incident from becoming a lawsuit.
Damage to Premises Rented to You
Covers damage you cause to a building or space you rent, such as a fire that starts in your leased office or shop.
Legal Defense
Pays for attorneys, court costs and settlements for covered claims, even if the lawsuit turns out to be groundless. Defense costs are typically paid in addition to your limits.
Common Add-Ons for Contracts
General contractors, landlords and property managers often require these before you can start work. We can add them and issue certificates quickly.
Additional Insured
Extends your coverage to protect the general contractor, property owner or client named in your contract.
Waiver of Subrogation
Prevents your insurance company from going after your client to recover what it paid on a claim.
Primary and Non-Contributory
Makes your policy pay first, before your client's own insurance, as many contracts require.
Umbrella or Excess Liability
Adds extra limits on top of your general liability, auto and employer's liability, often $1 million or more, for large contracts or higher-risk work.
Not covered by general liability: injuries to your own employees (workers' compensation), vehicles (commercial auto), mistakes in professional advice (errors and omissions), and damage to your own building or equipment (commercial property). Coverage and exclusions vary by insurance company and policy.
Request a General Liability Quote
Tell us about your business and an agent will contact you, usually within one business day. Prefer to talk? Call (818) 701-1033.