Commercial General Liability
General liability insurance, known as Commercial General Liability (CGL), protects your business from another person or business’s claims of bodily injury, associated medical costs, and damage to property. Understanding General Liability Insurance coverage is an important first step in managing CGL risks.
Here are just a few examples of situations in which your business could be responsible for paying various costs, such as medical and legal expenses, as well as compensatory and punitive damages:
- While visiting your business, a customer trips on loose flooring and is injured.
- An employee in your painting or construction business accidentally leaves water running, causing substantial damage to a customer’s home.
- A class action lawsuit is filed against your business, alleging advertisements constituted misleading information.
A CGL insurance policy will usually cover the costs of your legal defense and will pay on your behalf all damages if you are found liable—up to the limits of your policy. CGL coverage is one of the most important insurance products, due to the negative impact that a lawsuit can have on a business and because such liability suits happen so frequently. Some examples of what could be covered are below:
- Bodily injury: It is raining outside and a client hastily enters a spa and slips on the floor, which does not have a wet floor sign. The client sustains injuries and makes a claim against the spa owner. A general liability insurance policy could cover the client’s medical costs, including any lost wages, that result from the injury.
- Property damage/data loss: A consultant is working in a new client’s office when they accidentally spill coffee on the server. The machine is damaged beyond repair and valuable data is lost. The consultant’s general liability insurance could cover the cost to replace the server.
- Personal injury: A tax preparer is overheard talking about a client in a false and unflattering way. The client finds out about the conversation and sues for slander. The tax preparer’s general liability policy could cover the defense costs as well as any settlement or judgment.
Consult Statewide Insurance of Florida Professional about what type of coverage you need and how much.
