Buying Tips:

Commercial Liability Insurance

The Commercial General Liability policy, which most carriers use, is a broad form, comprehensive product, which includes coverage for the following exposures:

• Bodily injury and Property damage to others.
• Medical Payments to others, on a no-fault basis.
• Product Liability
• Coverage applies both on premises and off anywhere in the world.
• Major exclusions in the Commercial General Liability Form include:
  • War
  • Nuclear Events
  • Intentional Injury
  • Professional Liability
• Who is an insured on a Commercial General Liability Policy?
  • The Company
  • Officers and employees acting within the scope of their duty
  • Landlords
  • Liability assumed under contract
  • Newly acquired organizations, for at least 90 days
• Certificates of Insurance – Are used to show the coverages that an insured has at a particular point of time. They cannot change your insurance contract; this can only be done by endorsement of the original policy. If you want to be named as an additional insured on a subcontractor’s policy, for example, get a copy of the actual endorsement if possible. The insurance company endeavors to notify certificate holders, but has no legal requirement to do so. Check in with your subs periodically regarding their insurance arrangements. Uninsured subcontractors that you use will be your insurance responsibility (see the Workers' Compensation section for more on this).
• First Named Insured – Some Commercial policies have many named insureds. It is wise to choose the first named insured carefully. They make the payment decisions, decisions on coverage changes and cancellation decisions.