What Does General Liability Insurance Cover?
A visitor’s injury, damage at a customer site or a claim about completed work can each trigger a liability demand. 2
General liability can help protect your business from covered claims for injury to others, damage to their property and specified personal or advertising injuries. 1Injury and Property Damage
Check claims tied to your premises, work at other locations, products and completed work. 2Personal and Advertising Injury
Personal and advertising injury covers specified offenses such as libel or slander; it does not promise coverage for every marketing dispute. 1,3Medical Payments
Medical-payments coverage can address specified smaller injury expenses without first establishing legal fault; compare it separately from liability damages. 1Who Needs General Liability Insurance?
Consider general liability if you welcome visitors, work at customer sites, sell products or have a lease or contract requiring liability insurance. 2 2
General Liability Insurance Coverage Examples
What happened
A Visitor Trips in Your Office
A delivery driver trips over a loose cable in reception and asks your business to pay for the injury.
What happened
A Competitor Challenges Your Ad
A competitor says your campaign copied its advertising idea and sends a demand letter.
How Do You Compare General Liability Insurance Coverage and Costs?
Defense and Limits
Check the insurer’s duty to defend your business and whether defense expenses reduce the available limit. 3 Compare the per-occurrence limit, general aggregate and products/completed-operations aggregate. 3| Comparison point | Ask the insurer |
|---|---|
| Per-occurrence limit | How much can the policy pay for one incident? |
| General aggregate | What is the total limit for covered claims in the policy period? |
| Products/completed-operations aggregate | What limit applies to claims after products leave your possession or work is complete? |
| Defense | Does the insurer defend your business, and do defense costs reduce these limits? |
Work, Products and Property in Your Care
Coverage for damage to someone else's property doesn't settle every repair bill. Damage to the item you're working on, your own finished work or your own product can be treated differently. A repair shop should describe customers' equipment left in its care, as well as its work at customer sites. 3
Timing and Insured Entities
Check when injury or damage must occur and how to report an incident or claim. 3 Confirm which businesses and people the policy insures, especially after you add an entity or change operations. 3Other Exposures Beyond Premises Liability
Discuss auto, employee-injury, pollution and alcohol-related exposures separately from ordinary premises liability. 3How Does General Liability Insurance Compare With Related Coverage?
Property Packages
A business owners policy combines liability with property protection; general liability alone does not insure your own building or equipment. 1,2Professional Services
Separate injury or property-damage exposures from allegations that professional advice or services caused a client financial loss. 1What Do You Need for General Liability Insurance Quotes?
Operations and Existing Coverage
Prepare your operations, locations, products and work away from your premises, along with current policy information. 2Exposure Measures
Have sales, payroll or floor-area information ready and ask which measure the insurer uses to price your business. 2| Prepare | Ask the broker |
|---|---|
| Locations and work | Which premises and off-site work does the quote include? |
| Products and completed work | How does the quote treat products you sell and work finished at client sites? |
| Current liability policy | How do the proposed limits, insureds and exclusions differ? |
| Sales, payroll or floor area | Which exposure measure does the insurer use to price your policy? |
General Liability Insurance: Key Terms in Plain English
Per-Occurrence Limit
The limit that applies to one covered occurrence; compare it with the aggregate available across claims. 3
General Liability Insurance: A Policy Example to Compare
See Corgi's guide for an example of one provider's coverage terms and optional extensions.
Frequently Asked Questions About General Liability Insurance
Does General Liability Cover My Own Equipment?
Does It Cover Mistakes in Professional Advice?
A client's financial loss from professional advice belongs in a professional-liability review. General liability for injury or property damage doesn't settle that exposure. 1
More General Liability Insurance Questions
Does General Liability Cover Advertising Injury?
Sometimes. It covers listed advertising offenses, such as libel or copying someone's slogan in your ad, but not claims that your ads overstated your products or prices.
Does General Liability Cover Bodily Injury and Customer Injuries?
Yes, when a customer or visitor is accidentally hurt and your business is liable; medical payments coverage can also pay their medical bills regardless of fault.
Does General Liability Cover Business Property?
No. General liability pays for damage you cause to other people's property, not your own building, inventory, or equipment; commercial property insurance covers those.
Does General Liability Cover Company Vehicles?
No. General liability excludes accidents involving vehicles your business owns or uses; you need a commercial auto policy for company vehicles and drivers.
Does General Liability Cover Completed Operations?
Yes. Standard general liability covers injury or damage your finished work causes after handover, under a separate completed-operations limit, but not the cost of fixing your own work.
Does General Liability Cover Construction Defects?
Not for the cost to repair defective work itself; CGL may cover a separate covered injury or damage to other property.
Does General Liability Cover Damage to Rented Property or Premises?
CGL may cover limited damage to rented premises under a separate limit; the amount may not meet your lease obligation.
Does General Liability Cover Data Breaches?
Usually no for breach-response costs or lost electronic data; a privacy offense provision is not comprehensive cyber coverage.
General Liability Insurance Guides by State
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Which Insurance Providers Offer General Liability Insurance?
Sources for General Liability Insurance
- Commercial general liability insurance. Insurance Information Institute; Coverage A; Coverage B; Coverage C; Purchasing commercial general liability insurance. Accessed 2026-09-16.
- Commercial Insurance Guide. California Department of Insurance; Commercial General Liability; Commercial Automobile; What Should I Expect from a Broker-Agent?; How Are Commercial Policies Rated? Version: Form 700 revised June 14, 2024. Accessed 2026-09-16.
- Commercial General Liability Coverage Form. ISO; specimen hosted by Hiscox; I.A pp.1–5; I.B pp.6–7; I.C pp.7–8; Supplementary Payments p.8; II pp.9–10; III p.10; IV pp.10–12. Version: CG 00 01 12 07; copyright 2006. Accessed 2026-09-16.