Commercial liability insurance protects businesses from financial losses from lawsuits involving injuries or property damage. It covers bodily injury, property damage, and lawsuit defense. If a customer gets hurt at a store or product, insurance covers medical expenses and legal fees. If a business accidentally damages a client's property, insurance covers repair or replacement costs. Despite frivolous lawsuits, commercial liability insurance helps cover legal fees.
Business insurance covers your property, including buildings, equipment, and inventory, against a range of perils such as fire, theft, and natural disasters.
Accidents can happen on your premises or due to your products or services. Business insurance provides liability coverage to shield your business against claims and legal expenses.
If unforeseen events disrupt your operations, business interruption coverage ensures that you have the financial support to continue operating, covering lost income and expenses.
Running a business comes with its share of risks and uncertainties. At Portfolio Insurance Agency, we offer comprehensive business insurance solutions that go beyond protection – they empower you to navigate challenges and nurture your business's growth.
General liability insurance (GL) protects against lawsuits and other claims arising from your operations. Also called business liability insurance, it covers a wide range of risks that small business owners face, including:
Typically, general liability insurance covers:
General liability covers business-related incidents that result in bodily injury to a third party. This can include a customer slipping and falling on your premises or an employee accidentally dropping a toolbox on someone’s foot. Of course, this coverage only applies to non-employee injuries.
Additionally, general liability protects any third-party property damage resulting from your business operations. For example, a landscaper’s policy may cover a stone that kicks up from their lawn mower and breaks a client’s window.
General liability insurance coverage includes liability protection for both products and completed operations exposures. Products are any goods that you manufacture, sell, or distribute in your business. If a product causes physical injury or illness, such as a customer becoming sick from undercooked food, a business can find protection under this coverage.
Alternatively, completed operations protects against faulty services or work performed by a business. A project must be fully complete for coverage to apply. For instance, a customer hires a plumber to install a shower drain as part of a bathroom renovation, but the plumber didn’t seal the drain properly and the bathroom flooded days later. The plumber’s general liability policy can cover up to his liability limits for his faulty workmanship since the incident occurred after he left the premises.
Not all injuries are physical. Any written or verbal communications that cause harm can also be covered under your general liability policy. This encompasses libel, slander, malicious mischief and copyright infringement, to name a few. For example, a small business retailer suffers a decrease in business after a local competitor starts a rumor about their bad customer service. The small business owner can sue the competitor for personal and advertising injury for damaging their reputation and profitability.
Medical payments cover any non-employee medical or funeral related expenses for which your business is responsible. Of course, your coverage depends on your selected limits. For example, a shelf falls on a customer while they’re grocery shopping. Their medical expenses total $10,000, but the grocer’s liability insurance covers only $5,000 toward medical payments. In this case, the store would be responsible for paying the remaining $5,000 out of pocket.
General liability coverage typically includes coverage for any damages to non-owned land, buildings, or structures. The insured, or their business, must be legally liable for the damages for coverage to apply. For instance, a local restaurant rents property that catches fire due to a negligent employee leaving a frying pan unattended. General liability might cover the damages since the business caused the fire. In contrast, this coverage wouldn’t apply if a lightning strike started the fire.
Commercial general liability (CGL) insurance premiums are determined based on several key factors. Let’s explore what influences the cost of CGL insurance: