General liability is the policy behind almost every certificate request a Marion County business receives.
What It Covers
- Bodily injury to third parties arising from your operations or premises
- Property damage to others' property caused by your work
- Personal and advertising injury, such as libel or slander, subject to policy terms
- Defense costs, which are frequently the larger expense, since defending a claim is costly even when you win
What It Does Not Cover
- Your own work. Damage your work causes to other property is generally covered; the cost of redoing faulty work generally is not. This is the source of most contractor disputes.
- Your employees' injuries. That is workers' compensation.
- Your vehicles. That is commercial auto, written for work trucks and vans.
- Professional advice. That is professional liability, a separate line.
- Your own tools. That is inland marine.
Limits and Contracts
General liability limits are usually written per occurrence with an aggregate cap for the policy period. The aggregate is the number people forget: it can be exhausted by earlier claims, leaving less than expected for the next one.
Whatever your contracts demand is the floor. If a general contractor requires a specific limit plus an additional insured endorsement, both have to be in place before work starts, and the endorsement is a policy change rather than a certificate.