Comprehensive general liability insurance is a broad coverage option for businesses and professionals. Instead of handling individual liabilities like property damage or bodily injury, it handles both in one policy. Thus, the insured doesn’t have to pay extra for separate contracts.
Furthermore, general liability can cover additional claim types through riders and endorsements. Some of these expand on areas where damage or injury occurs. Others provide reimbursement for property damage.
There might be confusion on what comprehensive general liability insurance covers over the commercial version. Actually, commercial general liability insurance is the same. In the current marketplace, it’s the name that replaced comprehensive general liability insurance.
No matter the name, this type of insurance is important for new and existing businesses. It covers the following:
Customer Injuries
Damage to a customer’s property
Liability issues with business products
Copyright infringement
There’s a difference between comprehensive (commercial) general liability insurance and professional liability. The former covers issues within the tangible realm. In simpler terms, situations where physical harm is done in one form or another.
Conversely, professional liability deals with intangible claims. These refer to advice by businesses such as brokerage houses, medical institutions, and other locations that provide professional advice to their customers.
Comprehensive general liability goes beyond property damage and bodily injury. Additional policies can be purchased by a company to ensure a greater amount of protection. These types of policies include:
Cyber liability to protect a company’s data due to hacks or cyber extortion.
Commercial property liability to cover a company’s physical location.
Liquor liability to protect an organization that serves alcohol.
Hired and non-owned auto insurance for companies that allow employees to use their own vehicles for work purposes or the business’ rented/leased vehicles.
The items listed aren’t part of a comprehensive general liability policy for all insurers. A business should speak with an agent to determine what the premium covers and what should be added in the form of endorsements or riders.