Request A Free Quote
What is General Liability Insurance?
Running almost any kind of business comes with certain risks, and it’s important to protect businesses against these perils. General liability insurance gives Massachusetts businesses a way to shield themselves from an array of common risks.
General liability insurance is a type of commercial liability insurance. Most policies safeguard businesses from covered liability lawsuits that are filed by third parties. Should a business face a covered suit, a policy might help pay legal fees, settlements and/or judgements associated with the proceedings.
What Massachusetts Businesses Need General Liability Coverage?
Since general liability coverage protects against an array of common risks, this is a form of insurance that most Massachusetts businesses ought to carry. Businesses large and small can often benefit from the protections afforded by a policy regardless of what industry the businesses operate in.
What Coverages Do General Liability Policies Afford?
General liability policies normally offer three primary protections:
● Bodily Injury Coverage, which may cover injuries that third parties sustain while on a business property
● Property Damage Coverage, which may cover damage that’s sustained by other parties’ property and caused by the insured business
● Personal Advertising Injury Coverage, which may cover third-party accusations of false advertising, slander and/or libel
Some general liability policies also offer product liability coverage. This coverage isn’t included in all policies, though, and those that do have it sometimes only provide basic product liability protection.
(The precise coverages that are included in a particular policy can vary.)
Do General Liability Policies Cover Employees’ Illnesses and Injuries?
Job-related illnesses and injuries that employees suffer normally fall under the domain of workers compensation insurance and not general liability coverage. This is because employees normally aren’t treated as third parties because they have a working relationship with the business. Instead, they’re usually workers.
Insurance agents who help businesses with general liability policies frequently also are familiar with workers compensation policies.
Can General Liability Policies Be Combined with Other Commercial policies?
Since general liability coverage is so widely needed, insurance companies offer a few different ways to procure this type of policy. Businesses can often purchase general liability coverage on its own, through a business owners policy or through a commercial package policy. Business owners policies frequently put several basic coverages together, and commercial package policies offer even more coverage combination options.
What Are Comprehensive General Liability Policies?
“Comprehensive general liability” is simply an antiquated way of referring to general liability coverage. General liability policies today offer coverage similar to what comprehensive ones used to.
The terminology used has been updated so that it more accurately reflects what protections these policies do and don’t provide. The policies normally aren’t truly comprehensive, even though they protect against a range of common issues.
What Factors Affect How Much General Liability Policies Cost?
Insurance companies consider many factors when setting general liability policies’ premiums. Some of the items that can impact how much a business pays for this coverage are the:
● Size and scope of the business
● Location of the business’ operations
● Annual revenue or sales of the business
● Past claims history of the business
● Limits, deductibles and endorsements chosen by the business
● Discounts available to the business
How Can Businesses in Massachusetts Get General Liability Insurance?
For assistance finding general liability insurance that’s well-suited to your business’ needs, contact the Massachusetts insurance agents at John P. Russell Insurance. Our agents will work with you to assess your business’ particular risk exposure, determine what protections are needed and get quotes for several policies that offer those protections.
What Our Clients Say