BUSINESS INSURANCE • FLORIDA & TEXAS
General Liability Insurance
Learn how general liability insurance can help protect your business from common third-party claims involving bodily injury, property damage, and other liability exposures.
EMD INSURANCE RESOURCES
What Is General Liability Insurance?
Commercial general liability insurance, often called CGL or general liability, is designed to help protect a business from certain claims made by customers, clients, vendors, and other third parties.
Depending on the policy and circumstances, general liability insurance may respond to claims involving bodily injury, damage to someone else’s property, and certain personal or advertising injuries arising from your business operations.
Bodily Injury
If a customer, visitor, or other third party is injured in connection with your business operations, general liability insurance may help respond to covered medical expenses, legal costs, and damages.
Third-Party Property Damage
If your business accidentally damages property belonging to a customer or another third party, general liability insurance may help cover eligible repair or replacement costs and related claims.
Personal & Advertising Injury
General liability may also provide coverage for certain non-physical injuries, such as covered claims involving libel, slander, or the use of another party's advertising idea.
Medical Payments
General liability policies may provide limited medical payments coverage for certain injuries to third parties that occur on your premises or as a result of your business operations. This coverage may apply regardless of fault, subject to the policy's terms and limits.
Damage to Premises Rented to You
General liability may provide limited coverage for certain damage to premises your business rents or temporarily occupies. The coverage available depends on the cause of loss, policy terms, and applicable limits, and it should not be confused with broader commercial property coverage.
Products & Completed Operations
General liability insurance may provide coverage for certain bodily injury or property damage claims arising from products your business sells or work your business has completed. This can be especially important for contractors, trades, manufacturers, and other businesses whose liability exposure may continue after a product has been delivered or a job has been finished.
Ongoing operations generally refers to liability exposures while your work is still being performed. Completed operations addresses certain bodily injury or property damage claims arising from your work after the work has been completed, subject to the policy's terms, exclusions, limits, classifications, and endorsements.
KNOW THE LIMITS
What General Liability Typically Does Not Cover
General liability is an important business coverage, but it is not designed to cover every exposure. Depending on your operations, other types of business insurance may be needed to address risks that fall outside the scope of a general liability policy.
Professional Errors or Advice
Claims arising from professional advice, errors, omissions, or specialized services are generally addressed by Professional Liability or Errors & Omissions (E&O) insurance rather than general liability.
Employee Injuries
Work-related injuries or illnesses involving employees are generally addressed through Workers' Compensation insurance, subject to applicable state requirements and policy terms.
Business-Owned Vehicles
Liability arising from the ownership or use of business-owned vehicles is generally handled through Commercial Auto insurance rather than a general liability policy.
Your Own Business Property
General liability is primarily designed to address certain claims involving third parties. Damage to your own building, inventory, furniture, equipment, or other business property generally requires Commercial Property coverage or coverage available through a Business Owners Policy (BOP).
Cyber Incidents & Data Breaches
Many losses involving data breaches, cyberattacks, ransomware, privacy incidents, and other technology-related exposures require specialized Cyber Liability coverage.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR LIMITS
How Do General Liability Limits Work?
General liability policies typically include several different limits. Understanding how those limits apply can be especially important for businesses working under contracts or across multiple projects.
Each Occurrence Limit
The each occurrence limit is the maximum the policy may pay for covered damages arising from a single occurrence, subject to the policy's terms, conditions, and applicable limits.
General Aggregate Limit
The general aggregate is the maximum the policy may pay during the policy period for certain covered claims that fall within the general aggregate.
Products-Completed Operations Aggregate
This is a separate aggregate limit that generally applies to covered bodily injury and property damage claims arising from products or completed work.
Per-Project Aggregate
Some businesses, particularly contractors, may be required to carry a general aggregate that applies separately to qualifying projects. When provided by the policy or an endorsement, a per-project aggregate can allow the general aggregate limit to apply separately to individual projects rather than having one general aggregate shared across all operations.
EXPLORE YOUR COVERAGE
Not Sure What Other Coverage Your Business May Need?
General liability is only one part of a business insurance program. Answer a few questions about how your business operates to explore other coverage types that may be worth considering.
Have an Insurance Question?
Resources are a great place to start. When you're ready to discuss your specific insurance needs, EMD Insurance Solutions is here to help.