Discover the Benefits of Getting General Liability Insurance
General commercial liability insurance is there to protect your business from financial loss resulting from someone claiming you or your employees have caused injury or damage. General liability policies typically cover the following types of situations:
Bodily Injury
Physical injury to someone, not an employee that happens at your place of business and injuries that occur at a client’s home or workplace caused by you or your employees.
Personal Injury
Libel, slander, copyright infringement, wrongful eviction, advertising infringement, and more.
Advertising Injury
Losses caused by following in connection with your business and the advertising of your goods or services: libel, slander, invasion of privacy, copyright infringement, and misappropriation of advertising ideas.
Legal Defense and Judgments
Costs associated with defending against real and frivolous lawsuits and judgments. This usually does not include punitive damages for negligence or willful misconduct.
Limit Your Risk And Financial Exposure
General commercial liability insurance is not required for businesses operating in California. However, it is essential to know that California puts no cap on liability lawsuit rewards. The state is known for awarding large liability judgments. As a result, we believe it is essential to have sufficient liability coverage to limit your risk and financial exposure.
Help Protect Your Business From Risks
How much commercial liability insurance should you have depends on your unique situation. In general, the type of business you have will determine the amount of insurance needed for your business. For small businesses, between $500,000 and $1 million is usually acceptable. For higher-risk enterprises or those with significant interaction with the public like a consumer-focused business, you may want to invest in a higher level of coverage. With more and more people working out of their home, it is critical to understand the limitations of your homeowner’s or renter’s insurance when it comes to business liability and loss.
When running your own business, it’s essential to consider the risks your business may face and how to protect your business from unforeseen events. All businesses face some liability; general liability insurance is designed to help protect your business from risks. Working with a professional knowledgeable of general liability insurance’s intricacies and your particular business and financial situation is important when determining what if any coverage you should have.
FAQs About Our General Liability Insurance
Even though general liability coverage isn’t needed in all states, it’s highly recommended to consider it. You never know when you can get sued or when your employees can cause damage to your business. In either of these cases, you need money to cover losses, legal defense costs, and more.
Our business insurance coverages are meant to protect you as best as possible. You may be investing more money upfront for your insurance package, but it gives you better protection in scenarios that involve property damage, bodily damage, or other factors.
If you have more questions surrounding liability insurance for business owners, keep reading for the answers.
Do You Need Business Liability Insurance?
Even though it’s not required by law to get general liability insurance, most commercial leases ask for this kind of coverage.
General liability insurance is only one of many other packages your business should have, including:
- Workers’ Compensation Insurance
- Commercial Auto Insurance
- Cyber Liability Insurance
- Professional Liability Insurance (also known as “Errors and Omissions Insurance”)
You must consider your needs and goals as a business owner to determine which of these packages you need to get. Most of the time, general business liability insurance is an excellent place to start.
What Can General Liability Insurance Protect You From?
It depends on the insurance provider you work with. The team at S Philips Surety & Insurance Services Inc. offers protection in four key areas:
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- Bodily/Physical Injury to Customers: It involves physical injury that someone experiences while on the business premises. This also covers damage that happens at a client’s home or workplace that was caused by someone from the company.
- Personal Damages: It covers a wide range of “damages” related to the business and its employees, including: libel, copyright infringement, slander, wrongful eviction, advertising infringement, etc.
- Advertising Damages: It protects you from any losses caused by advertising problems related to your goods and services. Some of these damages include: invasion of privacy, copyright infringement, misappropriation of advertising ideas, and more.
- Legal Defense Costs: As its name implies, it offers coverage for any legal costs associated with the claim. However, it doesn’t cover punitive damages for negligence or willful misconduct.
If you want to know specifically how our insurance packages can help, remember to request a consultation with our team.
What Risks Are You Exposed to If You Don't Get Business Insurance?
Keep in mind that California doesn’t have a limit on liability claims. This means that your financial risk can get a lot higher in the event of an accident. By getting general business insurance, you ensure that you don’t have to pay out of pocket for certain expenses, regardless of how high or low they are.
In some states, Contractors’ general liability insurance for example, helps both the contractor and any third party they hire for a job. If you’re someone dealing with large-scale projects, you need contractor general liability insurance. Otherwise, you expose yourself to hefty bills if someone gets injured or something goes wrong during the project.
Do You Still Need Business Insurance If You Have a Small Business?
You can cover damages related to:
- Lawsuits after professional errors
- Injuries to clients
- Property damage
- Accidents when driving to the property
- Employee injuries
Keep in mind that you don’t have to get a lot of liability insurance coverage if you have a small business. When it comes to business general liability insurance, there are plenty of options to consider, especially if you get our professional services.
The best way to know how much coverage you need for your small business insurance package is to consider the potential risks surrounding your business, as well as how big of a budget you currently have.