Why Would You Even Consider Forgoing General Liability Insurance?
August 21st, 2011 | 
Author: Article by Chaim Goldstein
We live in a society where a lot of people are sue-happy. You could have a customer slip and fall on your store floor and the next thing you know you’re in a court room defending your company against a lawsuit. That’s why, as a business owner, you should never be caught without general liability insurance, workers compensation and property insurance, just in case someone becomes injured or in case property becomes damaged due to something you or your company did (or didn’t do).
Insurance Packages
Insurance companies have a way of assessing a business’s risk levels. You might just find that you are in one of those categories that are considered low-risk. For example, if you own a company that manufactures linens and towels, you will be perceived as being a lower risk than a company that manufactures heavy machinery. If your business does fall into that low-risk category, you could take advantage of a business owner’s insurance package that includes general liability insurance and other policies that protect business owners from liability.
Your State
If your state has a history of awarding high damage amounts to plaintiffs, you may find that your coverage limits are a bit higher than states with lower award amounts. This will drastically affect the price and coverage of your liability insurance coverage. That’s why you should discuss your options with your insurance provider so that you can get the coverage your company needs at a price you can easily afford.
How General Liability Works
When you secure a general liability insurance policy, the insurance company will pay your business’s legal costs in case a claim or lawsuit has been filed against it. The covered items can include bodily injury, property damage, advertising injury (false advertising and damage from slander) and personal injury. Punitive damages typically aren’t covered under general liability policies and that is due to the fact that they are considered to be punishment for unintentional acts.
When you purchase general liability insurance, your policy will state the maximum amount that the insurance company will pay during the policy period. Typically, these policies will also state the maximum amount the insurance company will pay for each occurrence. For instance, if your general liability policy states a 0,000 insurance cap and your business is sued for million, you will be responsible for the other 0,000 after your insurer has paid its half.
To help remedy these types of situations where the general liability policy isn’t enough to cover the lawsuit or claim, many business purchase umbrella insurance, which will pick up wherever your liability coverage ends. But even if you only purchase a general liability insurance policy, you’ll make sure that you and your company aren’t hurt too badly financially in case anyone does file a claim or lawsuit against you.
What if you don’t find the general liability insurance you want?I know how hard it can be to try and find the exact risk areas with your business that need coverage, but if you want to find out the real areas of risk and truly get insurance that will minimize the risk to the maximum extent possible. look here.
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