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What Is Included in General Liability Insurance Coverage?

Many small businesses face numerous risks that can cause financial loss. General liability insurance helps cover such risks, preventing losses to the business. Such coverage allows you to continue with regular business activity without worrying about paying for such damages. Here’s what your general liability coverage includes:

What General Liability Policies Cover

The general liability policy covers common risks that small businesses face, including:

Third-Party Injuries

Your business is liable when a customer is involved in an accident within your premises. Any injuries they incur that might need medical attention should be at the expense of the business. Your insurer offers injured customers adequate assistance during treatment and recovery, including payment for medication and emergency assistance. Should the injured customer choose to sue you, your policy will help cover all legal expenses like court fees, settlement, and representation.

Third-Party Damages

Some accidents might cause damage to third-party property and result in claims against your business. A server at your restaurant could accidentally spill hot coffee on a customer’s phone or laptop. The customer might claim repair or replacement costs for their equipment from your business.

General liability covers all necessary repair or replacement costs. If the customer chooses to sue your business, the insurer will take care of court fees and settlement costs.

General liability protects you from damage to third-party rental property. It may cater to repairs if fire ravages through a rented premise to move temporary business or host an event.

Libel and Slander

A brand is an asset and property in the business world, so companies can sue for personal injury to their brand. If you advertise using a slogan or image similar to another brand, they can sue for copyright infringement. Attacking your competitor can sometimes be interpreted as defamation, which is actionable.

General liability covers libel and slander against such personal injury claims. Your insurer helps secure quality representation for your court case and handles all court levies and settlements.

Product Liability

Customer injury can affect your business if your product affects another product’s quality. If a pizza or bread company relies on you for dough, any harm your dough might cause to other people or property is your responsibility. General liability policies cover product liability claims and handle any legal expenses related to your lawsuit.

What Is Not Covered Under the Policy

While general liability covers many business risks, they do not cover all. Here are some things not covered under a general liability policy:

Business Property Damage

While general liability policies cover damage to other property, damage to your equipment or business premises is not covered. You need commercial liability insurance to protect your business from financial loss due to damage to your business premises.

Your insurer handles repairs to your business and business property replacements for the best results. This helps you get the business up and running quickly to avoid loss of income from establishment closure.

Alcohol-Related Incidents

If your business sells liquor, the law might require you to get liquor liability insurance. Depending on your state you will also be required to acquire alcohol server training certifications to avoid any incidents as much as possible. General liability does not cover third-party injury or property damage resulting from inebriated individuals drinking at your establishment. Your liquor liability policy will take care of such damages and injury or any resulting claims and lawsuit costs.

Professional Mistakes

Errors are common in business. While you work to minimize them, you need coverage for such mistakes. General liability does not cover professional errors. Consider getting professional liability coverage. This will handle lawsuits relating to undelivered services or errors that affect partner businesses.

Employee Injuries

General liability covers injury to customers and not employees. You should purchase workers’ comp insurance to protect employees while on the job. The workers’ comp policy covers medical bills, rehabilitation expenses, and lost wages while your injured employee recovers from a workplace injury.

Data Breaches

Using credit card payments and online POS makes your business’s database a huge target for hackers and skimmers. Client information must remain confidential, so any data breaches expose your business to liability. You may need to purchase cyber liability insurance for catering to lawsuits involving data breaches.

Get General Liability Insurance Coverage

Starting a business can be lucrative, but it comes with legal risks. You need insurance to offset the risks and reduce the possibility of financial loss from accidents. General liability insurance coverage can help protect your business against third-party injury, damage, slander, and product liability.

Marco Polo
Marco Polo
Marco Polo is the admin of sparebusiness.com. He is dedicated to provide informative news about all kind of business, finance, technology, digital marketing, real estate etc.
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