Archive for the ‘General Liability Insurance’ Category

Garage and auto related operations are unique with respect to the exposures they present. The lines between the general liability for the operations side of things, and the automobile liability blur in several areas. The garage policy was developed to provide comprehensive liability coverage to protect both the general liability and automobile liability exposures in one neatly packaged policy and protect from gaps that would otherwise leave this type of operation exposed to potential claims. As a package, the Garage Coverage Form contains premises liability coverage, products liability coverage, automobile liability coverage, and physical damage protection to vehicles. Endorsements are available to broaden and further protect the insured and to make the Garage Coverage Form even more comprehensive as well as specific broadened coverages such as an amended pollution liability endorsement.

Under a general liability insurance policy, the insurer is obligated to pay the legal costs of a covered business in a covered liability claim or lawsuit. Covered liability claims most of the time include bodily injury, property damage, personal injury and advertising injury (damage from slander or false advertising). The insurance company also covers compensatory and general damages. Punitive damages aren’t covered under general liability insurance policies because they are considered punishment for intentional acts. The Personal and advertising injury limit and products and completed operations limit may be excluded in general liability policies in professions such as environmental consulting, engineering, legal professions, dental professions etc. In these professions those limits would be covered in a Professional Liability policy which is advised in combination with a premises liability policy for property damage or the slip and fall type injury.

My previous post below generated some questions specifically from web designers.  Let me address some of them!

Do I Need Professional Liability if I Just Freelance Occassionally?

Well, this is a loaded question. Of course the answer is that if you do ANY web design work whether you’re a free lancer (independent contractor), a very small company, or a company with many employees….YES you need Professional Liability. The need for the coverages isn’t dependent on the amount of design work you do, it’s based on the fact that you do it for pay, period. It only takes one claim to financially ruin a company or an individual. Remember, if you do design work as an independent contractor (individual proprietor), your personal finances and assets are at risk in the event of a claim.

It is obvious that Doctors and Lawyers need Malpractice or Errors & Omissions (E & O) insurance, but there are other Professions that should obtain Professional Liability Coverage including but not limited to:

If your contract doesn’t specify what type of additional insured (AI) coverage is required, it is likely that a more restrictive blanket additional insured endorsement may be provided. This of course depends on your carrier, and the forms that they use. Some carriers use more comprehensive AI forms, however with more comprehensive coverage usually comes higher premiums and endorsement fees.