General Liability Insurance

Examples of general liability insurance coverages include:   

• Product liability coverage can help protect your business from claims that a product you made or sold caused bodily injury or property damage to someone else’s belongings.3 We offer product liability insurance as a part of your general liability insurance policy.
• Product recall insurance helps you manage a product recall and protects you from the financial impacts. Product recall insurance  is an endorsement you can add on to your business insurance policy.
• Contractual liability coverage can be added on to your general liability insurance policy. Contract Liability Insurance coverage helps cover claims related to contract issues.
• Short-Term liability insurance is a type of business insurance created for short projects that take between two hours and two weeks to complete. Short-Term General Liability gives you the same coverage as a general liability policy, just for a shorter time.

What is General Liability Insurance and what does it cover? General liability insurance, also known as commercial general liability insurance or Business Liability Insurance helps cover: 

• Costs for property damage claims against your business
• Medical expenses if someone gets injured at your company
• Administrative costs to handle covered claims
• Court costs, judgments and settlements for covered claims

Your general liability insurance can help pay for claims up to your coverage limits, or your general aggregate. Your General Aggregate for Insurance, sometimes called the “aggregate limit of liability,” is the maximum amount of money your insurance company will pay out for claims during a policy period. So, if you have a $1 million aggregate limit on your general liability insurance policy, your insurance will pay for claims up the maximum amount of $1 million during the policy term. 

Be aware that general liability insurance doesn’t cover every kind of claim. For some, you’ll need different types of coverage to give your business more protection.

A general liability insurance policy won’t help your business with:

• Commercial auto accidents that you or your employees cause while driving for work. A Commercial Auto Insurance policy can help you cover the cost of damages. If your small business doesn’t have company-owned vehicles, and needs assistance, we can help.. Be aware that many states require certain types and amounts of auto coverage, like bodily injury liability coverage or property damage liability coverage.
• Employee injuries or illnesses due to their work. Workers Compensation Insurance gives your employees benefits to help them recover from a work-related injury or illness. For example, it can help cover an employee’s medical bills and ongoing care expenses.
• Damage to your own business property. You’ll need to get a Commercial Property Insurance policy to help protect your owned or rented building and business equipment.
• Mistakes or errors in the professional services given to customers. Professional Liability Insurance can help cover your legal costs if a client sues you for a mistake in the services provided.
• Claims that cost more than your liability limits. You’ll need a Commercial Umbrella Insurance policy for expensive claims. This extends the limits of certain liability insurance policies.
• Illegal acts or wrongdoing that you or your employees did purposefully can result in your business being held legally responsible.

 State laws generally don’t require you to carry general liability insurance. However, not having coverage could put your business at financial risk. Judgments, settlements, legal defense fees and court costs can also be extremely expensive. If someone files a claim against your business: 

• You’ll need legal counsel, which can cost between $100 to $500 per hour.
• The maximum amount could easily exceed $75,000 if the claim ends up in court.
• You may need to spend thousands of dollars, even if the lawsuit gets dropped.

When you add the cost of administrative work, legal secretaries and any settlements or judgments, your business could face a bill totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. The right general liability insurance policy can help your business cover these costs. You may also find that businesses will want to make sure you have the minimum coverage they require before agreeing to work with you. They want to make sure your business can survive a liability claim and continue to do what they hired you to do. So they may ask you to provide proof of insurance, also known as a Certificate of Liability Insurance.

Get the right Liability Coverage for your business with Seto PEO Services