Your organization can become liable to third parties for injury or property damage in a variety of ways. Commercial liability policies address these principal sources of claims:
- Premises
- Products and completed operations
- Personal injury (such as libel, slander, false arrest, invasion of privacy) and advertising liability (such as advertising that libels, slanders, etc. and violations of privacy, misappropriation of ideas, copyright infringement, etc.)
- Fire damage liability (for damage to leased or rented premises)
Liability policies usually include a small sublimit, which covers medical payments paid to injured third parties where goodwill, not fault, is the determining factor.
The cost of general liability insurance, whether payroll, sales, square footage or other measure, depends on the type of business involved. Policies can be claims-made (which provide coverage only while the policy is in effect, unless modified) or occurrence (where the policy in effect when the accident occurred is intended to provide coverage).