A general liability insurance policy provides insurance protection to pay for bodily injury or property damages when the insured is legally responsible. In the event of a lawsuit, the cost of defending and resolving the suit such as attorney fees, court costs and other expenses associated would be covered. Coverage for medical expenses resulting from bodily injury caused by an accident on premises owned or rented by the insured party, or locations next to such property or when caused by the insured’s operations is also provided. Depending on the policy, it may also include Product Liability Insurance. This is designed for those companies that manufacture products and protects against customer lawsuits in the event the product causes injury to someone. It also pays for damages done in the course of oral or written advertisement that disparages libels or slanders a people or organization’s goods, products or services. It may be combined with Commercial Property Insurance that protects the insured business from costs incurred by damage (fire, flood) to its premises. Depending on the type of business, it may be the only liability insurance needed.
What does General Liability Insurance Cover?
Do you know what your business liability insurance covers? You rent or lease your property; that is responsible if someone is hurt at your leased facility, you or the property owner? Did you know that if you lease your building and have submitted a repair request to the property owner, to avoid potential injury and it has not been resolved then the property owner could be liable if it results in a personal injury lawsuit? However, if you knew about a repair needed and failed to have it repaired or did not notify the property owner to request a repair; you may be liable if it results in an injury. You could also be responsible if there has been a spill on your premises but you fail to clean it up. Usually the injured person is only at fault if they did not have a legitimate reason to be on the property, if warning signs of injury were posted yet ignored, or if the person was trespassing or participating in abnormal activity on the premises. Be prepared by having the correct level and type of business liability insurance to protect your business.
Every Company, Corporation, Association or Organization needs to have General Liability insurance.
Industry Examples of Commercial General Liability Insurance
Construction
Almost every job a contractor comes upon will request a certificate of liability insurance. This shows proof that the contractor has commercial general liability insurance to cover law suits brought against them for property damage or bodily injury due to their negligence. One section of the CGL policy is completed operations. This covers the company for suits brought against them after the job has been completed, this is particularly important in the construction industry. On a side note, when a company asks for a certificate of liability insurance there are a few things they may also request including naming someone an "additional insured" or asking for a "waiver of subrogation".
To read more about Certificates of Insurance Click Here For more information about Insurance for the Construction Industry, click here.
Manufacturing companies know full well the importance of the Commercial General Liability policy because this is the policy that usually provides them their product liability protection. Product liability provides for defense costs and reward settlements when law suits are brought against the insured manufacturing company due to bodily injury or property damage. So if you product is responsible, or an attorney tries to claim that your product is responsible for causing a wrongful death, dismemberment, fire, or other types of damage, then your product liability policy could be the difference between bankruptcy and survival.
Restaurants, Bars, Night Clubs, and Hospitality
The food, entertainment and hospitality industry all heavily rely on commercial general liability insurance to protect their companies against civil litigation. Restuarants, Bars, Night Clubs, Entertainment Venues, Hotels and grocery stores all have a heavy amount of foot traffic and public interaction. The more people, the more possibilities for accidents to happen, and slip and falls law suits to occur. The commercial general liability insurance policy provides protection for these instances. it is very important for all companies, but especially those in the hospitality and food and beverage service industry to make sure that their liability insurance policy does not have an exclusion for "assault and battery" coverage.
Marine
Marine companies need general liability insurance, but they need to make sure that they have Marine General Liability Insurance. The main difference between Commercial General Liability Insurance and Marine General Liability Insurance is the CGL policy usually has exclusions for "Boats in the Insured Company's Care, Custody or Control". So if you are servicing air conditioning units or the engines, on board any boats, and you have exclusions for boats in your care, custody or control, what are you really paying for?
Every company needs Commercial General Liability Insurance, but not all CGLs are the same. Contact an agent at ALC Risk Solutions today to get a free consultation regarding your liability insurance needs.
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