The only way to effectively protect the assets of your business is to carry commercial general liability (CGL) insurance coverage. CGL policy protects your business from damages caused by bodily injury or property damage which your business could be responsible for.
What Does CGL Insurance Cover?
A typical CGL policy could provide coverage for claims such as:
- Bodily injury or other physical injury
- Personal injury (libel or slander)
- Advertising injury
- Property damage as a result of your products
- Premises or operations
Commercial general liability insurance could be offered as a package policy with other coverage’s such as business property insurance, crime, business auto insurance and more. As a safeguard against liability, CGL enables you to continue your normal operations while dealing with real or fraudulent claims of negligence or wrongdoing.
A general liability policy could also provide coverage for the cost to defend and settle claims. Here is more detail into what a typical CGL policy may cover:
- Automatic additional insured: Coverage is provided for written contracts, agreements and permits.
- Personal and advertising injury: Protects against offenses made by you or your staff during the course of business. Such as libel, slander, disparagement or copyright infringement in advertisements.
- Defense costs: Provides coverage for legal expenses for liability claims brought against your business, regardless of who is at fault.
- Medical expenses: Provides coverage for medical expenses if someone is injured on your premises or by your products.
- Premises and operations liability: Provides coverage for bodily injury and property damage sustained by others on your premises. It could be in conjunction with any of your business operations.
- Products liability: Provides coverage for bodily injury and property damage sustained by others as a result of your products.
How Much general liability insurance coverage Does Your Business Need?
The amount of general liability insurance coverage that your business needs depends on three factors:
- Perceived risk: Consider the amount of risk associated with your business operations and functions. For instance, if you manufacture heavy machinery you would generally need more coverage then another that manufactures stuffed animals.
- Premises and operations liability: If you operate in a state that has a reputation for rewarding high damages, then you may wish to purchase higher limits of liability.
- Type of product manufactured: If you manufacture a dangerous product, you may want to carry higher limits of liability.
Don’t wait until it’s too late
Cheap general liability insurance might end up costing you more then you think. Don’t wait until you need the insurance to find out your not covered for something.
There are a lot of things you can do to protect your business. Start by calling Blue Lion Insurance Advisors today to have us review your general liability policy, get a free general liability insurance quote or for more information (732) 649-1600.