What Is Business General Liability Insurance?
Did you know that small businesses have a failure rate of 70{d76f1c19516befd0d02dd7628c4f02994b77c2f36ca1cda12e5887cc42cc72f7}? There are a lot of reasons that cause businesses to go under, including getting pulled into a lawsuit by a client.
If you don’t have the right insurance protection, your company might become bankrupt. Keep reading to learn about business general liability insurance and how it can help.
What Is Business General Liability Insurance?
Business general liability insurance can protect your company if it is found responsible for bodily injuries and property damage. This policy covers medical expenses and attorney fees.
In addition to bodily injury and property damage coverage, general liability insurance can cover personal injuries, such as slander or libel.
Bodily Injuries
If your business is the cause of bodily injuries, general liability insurance will cover the costs associated with them.
Bodily injury includes customer slips and falls and the policy will help pay for medical expenses. This is different from employee slip and fall coverage.
Property Damage
If your services include working on a client’s home, general liability insurance will cover property damage. For example, if an employee were to break a client’s window, this policy covers the repair or replacement costs.
Personal Injury
If your business gets sued by a customer for libel or slander, general liability insurance has you covered. Your policy will help pay for legal fees when you need to hire a defense lawyer to fight the case.
Risks of Not Having General Liability Insurance
Now that you’ve read about general liability insurance, you need to understand the risks of not having this coverage.
Legal defense fees, settlements, and judgments can all add up and be expensive. If someone files a claim against your company, you’ll need legal counsel which can cost upwards of $100 per hour or more.
The maximum amount you end up paying could be almost $100,000 if the claim goes to court. Even if the lawsuit gets dropped, you are likely to still pay thousands of dollars.
Without a general liability insurance policy, you risk going bankrupt because you won’t have the money to cover the above costs.
Who Needs General Liability Insurance?
Laws require that businesses carry specific insurance plans. Although general liability insurance isn’t usually required by law, it’s recommended for businesses.
For instance, Ontario small business insurance plans can include general liability insurance and umbrella policies that help with costs that go over your limit.
Before agreeing to work with you, customers might want to make sure you have the minimum coverage required to protect their property.
Consider general liability insurance if you:
- Handle or work near client property
- Have a building, store, or office open to the public, clients, or vendors
- Use social media for business
- Advertise or create marketing materials for business
In short, any business can benefit from owning this policy.
Protect Your Business Now!
Business general liability insurance is one type of insurance plan that your company should hold.
If you want to protect your business from client lawsuits, these plans can cover costs associated with bodily injuries, property damage, and personal injuries.
For more blogs with tips for businesses, check out the other posts on our website.
