General Liability Insurance
We Offer a Full Range of Commercial Liability Insurance Products for Businesses
All businesses face liabilities. The Commercial General Liability policy will defend businesses from the risks of liabilities imposed by lawsuits and similar claims due to perceived or actual negligence. For insurance purposes, the legal meaning of negligence is failure to exercise reasonable care.
Commercial liability insurance will defend claims of bodily injury or property damage and protects businesses against incidents or accidents that may occur on business premises or at other covered locations where business is normally conducted, as long as the claim is covered under the insuring contract.
Commercial casualty insurance will respond to claims of liabilities imposed by lawsuits and similar claims 
made against a business for losses caused by injury to other people or damage to the property of others. Some of the most common types of Casualty Insurance include:
- General Liability Insurance
- Professional Liability Insurance
- Product Liability Insurance
- Worker’s Compensation Insurance
- Pollution & Environmental Liability Insurance
- Occupational Accident Insurance
- Employment Practices Liability Insurance
General Liability Policy
The General Liability Policy typically covers:
- Property Damage – Broadly defined as damage to property that you are legally liable for
- Bodily Injury – Injury to persons for which you are legally liable
- Medical Payments – Bodily Injury that occurs during the course of your Business Operations
- Defense Costs – Suits brought against your company, regardless of fault
- Personal & Advertising Injury – Claims for Libel, Slander, Invasion of Privacy, Copyright Infringement, and violation of advertising ideas
There are two major types of liability insurance policies: Occurrence Policies and Claims Made Policies.
Occurrence policies cover a business for harm done to others caused by incidents that occurred while a policy is in place – no matter when the claim is filed. For example, a person may sue a business in 2011 for an incident or injury stemming from an accident in 1998. In this case, the policy that was in place when the incident actually occurred will apply, even if the business now has a liability insurance policy with higher limits.
A Claims Made policy is just the opposite. This policy covers the business based on the policy that is in force when the claim is made, regardless of when the incident occurred. In the above example, the limits in the policy in effect in 2011 would apply.
Who Needs General Liability Insurance
You should consider general liability insurance for your business if you or your employees: visit clients work place or if clients visit yours; write or speak about a client’s business; have access to a client’s equipment (from servers to trucks); use third-party locations for business related activities. Finally, many business or loan contracts will require owners to have general liability insurance.
The amount of general liability insurance necessary is calculated primarily on the level or risk (ie. manufacturing industries may have a higher risk of bodily injury onsite than will tech-companies) and the state in which a business operates. The expert insurance agents at CGIS can help you determine the level of coverage that is appropriate for your business.
General liability policies detail the maximum amount that the insurer will pay during the period of time covered and/or per occurrence. Businesses are then responsible for any amount above that maximum, which is why many business owners may choose to supplement their general liability insurance policies with umbrella insurance.
Business Owners Policies (BOP)
For small businesses the most efficient and least expensive way to purchase liability insurance is usually as part of the Business Owners Policy (BOP) which combines property and liability insurance in one contract. These policies can be further customized by the addition of “endorsements.” Endorsements are additions to insurance contracts that change the coverage. The following are some of the most common endorsements for small business owners:
- Employment Practices Liability
- Liquor Liability
- Employee Benefits Liability
- Umbrella Liability Insurance
- Errors and Omissions Liability Coverage
- Directors and Officers Liability Insurance
CGIS is Your Trusted Choice for General Liability Insurance
At GGIS we are experts at helping to create the perfect workers compensation insurance policy for your business. We’ll analyze your needs and risks alongside your budget and determine the right combination of coverage’s for you. We provide your business with easy-to-understand, cost-effective environmental insurance solutions customized to reflect both your business needs and industry standards.
Our goal is to protect our client’s assets and shareholder value. Our risk management and loss mitigation services complement our clients on a local, national and international level. We’re here to help protect your business. Contact us today for more information about environmental and pollution liability insurance coverage.
