What Does General Liability Insurance Cover?
Answers about what commercial general liability insurance covers, from customer injuries and property damage to advertising injury, and what it leaves to other policies.
What Is Covered Under General Liability Insurance?
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.
Does General Liability Cover Defamation?
Sometimes. CGL may cover defined defamation offenses, but exclusions and your business activity can remove protection.
Does General Liability Cover Defective Products?
Usually not the cost to replace the defective product itself; CGL may cover a separate covered injury or damage to other property.
Does General Liability Cover Events?
Sometimes, for covered third-party injury or property damage at an event included in your policy; the event details and any required endorsement must match.
Does General Liability Cover False Advertising?
Usually not for claims about an ad’s quality, performance, or price; CGL Coverage B applies only to defined offenses.
Does General Liability Cover Fire Damage?
CGL may cover your legal liability for fire damage to someone else’s property; damage to rented premises has a separate limit.
Does General Liability Cover Harassment?
CGL generally excludes workplace harassment claims; EPLI may cover specified claims by workers or applicants.
Does General Liability Cover Independent Contractors?
Not automatically. A contractor is covered only if the policy or an endorsement gives that person insured status.
Does General Liability Cover Intellectual Property?
No as broad protection. Standard CGL wording excludes many intellectual-property claims, with a narrow advertising-related exception.
Does General Liability Cover International Operations?
CGL coverage for international operations depends on where the loss and lawsuit occur and which foreign sales, staff, and worksites the policy covers.
Does General Liability Cover Lawsuits?
Often, when a suit alleges covered bodily injury, property damage, or a defined advertising offense; a lawsuit alone does not trigger CGL.
Does General Liability Cover Legal Fees?
CGL may pay defense costs in a covered suit; whether those costs reduce the limit and who controls the defense depend on the policy.
Does General Liability Cover Libel or Slander?
Sometimes. CGL Coverage B may cover defined libel or slander claims, subject to exclusions for knowing falsity, earlier publication, or some media businesses.
Does General Liability Cover Negligence?
Often, for covered bodily injury or property damage caused by a negligent act; professional services and other excluded risks need separate coverage.
Does General Liability Cover Patent Infringement?
No under standard CGL wording. Patent infringement is expressly excluded from personal and advertising injury coverage.
Does General Liability Cover Personal Vehicles Used for Business?
A standard CGL policy generally excludes most work-related crashes in personal vehicles; hired and non-owned auto coverage may address business liability.
Does General Liability Cover Products and Product Liability?
Often, for covered bodily injury or property damage caused by your product; CGL does not cover the cost of fixing or recalling the product itself.
Does General Liability Cover Property Damage?
Often, for covered physical damage to someone else’s property; CGL does not insure your own building, inventory, or equipment.
Does General Liability Cover Ransomware?
CGL generally excludes electronic-data losses, while cyber policies may cover specified extortion, recovery, and interruption costs.
Does General Liability Cover Reputational Harm?
No for reputation damage alone. CGL may cover a defined defamation claim, but public-relations costs or lost customers are not automatically covered.
Does General Liability Cover Settlements?
Sometimes, if the settlement resolves a covered claim and the insurer approves it under the policy terms.
Does General Liability Cover Stolen Equipment?
CGL does not replace equipment your business owns when it is stolen; commercial property or inland marine may cover it.
Does General Liability Cover Subcontractors?
A subcontractor is not automatically insured by your CGL policy; their own policy and an additional-insured endorsement determine protection.
Does General Liability Cover Theft?
CGL does not cover your own stolen money, inventory, or equipment; crime and commercial property policies address different theft losses.
Does General Liability Cover Trademark Infringement?
Usually not. Standard CGL wording excludes trademark infringement, with a narrow exception for certain advertising claims.
Does General Liability Cover Vendors?
Only if the vendor is named or added as an insured under the policy; the vendor’s own liability needs its own coverage.
Does General Liability Cover Volunteers?
Possibly, if the volunteer qualifies as an insured under your policy and the claim falls within coverage.
Does General Liability Cover Water Damage?
Potentially, for accidental damage to someone else’s property that your business is legally liable for; your own property needs separate coverage.
Does General Liability Cover Work From Home?
Potentially, for covered liability arising from business operations at home; it does not insure the home or personal belongings.
Does General Liability Cover Wrongful Termination?
CGL generally excludes wrongful-termination claims; EPLI may cover specified claims, subject to its defense terms and limits.
What Is Not Covered Under General Liability Insurance?
Does General Liability Cover Auto Accidents?
No. General liability excludes crashes involving vehicles you or your team own, rent, or drive, so you need commercial auto coverage for business driving.
Does General Liability Cover Breach of Contract?
No. General liability doesn't pay for missed deadlines or failed deliverables; it covers injury, property damage, and certain indemnity agreements the policy calls insured contracts.
Does General Liability Cover Copyright Infringement?
Usually not. CGL has only a narrow exception for certain copyright, trade dress, or slogan claims in an advertisement.
Does General Liability Cover Cyber Attacks?
Generally no for the main costs of a cyberattack; CGL electronic-data exclusions leave incident response and recovery to separate coverage.
Does General Liability Cover Discrimination?
CGL generally excludes employment discrimination claims by applicants or workers; EPLI may cover specified employment-practices claims.
Does General Liability Cover Employee Injuries?
Generally no. A worker’s job-related injury is usually handled by workers’ compensation, with employers liability addressing some separate lawsuits.
Does General Liability Cover Employee Theft?
CGL does not cover your direct loss when an employee steals business money or property; crime coverage may.
Does General Liability Cover Faulty Workmanship?
No for the cost to fix your faulty work; CGL may cover a separate covered injury or damage to other property.
Does General Liability Cover Liquor Liability?
Businesses that sell, serve, manufacture, or distribute alcohol generally need liquor liability coverage because CGL excludes many alcohol-related claims.
Does General Liability Cover Pollution or Environmental Damage?
Standard CGL generally excludes pollution cleanup; businesses handling pollutants or contaminated sites may need environmental liability coverage.
Does General Liability Cover Privacy Violations?
CGL privacy wording does not provide full data-breach or regulatory coverage; cyber insurance may cover specified response costs and claims.
Does General Liability Cover Product Recall?
Usually not. CGL does not cover the cost of withdrawing, inspecting, repairing, replacing, or disposing of your product.
Does General Liability Cover Professional Negligence and Errors and Omissions?
CGL generally excludes client financial losses from professional advice or services; professional liability or E&O may cover specified claims.
Does General Liability Cover Workers’ Compensation?
Workers’ compensation is separate from CGL and provides statutory benefits for covered employee work injuries.
Coverage Guides Related to General Liability Insurance
Help With Buying and Renewals
Spot can shop this coverage for you, handle the paperwork and keep track of renewals. The first consultation is free. Talk to Spot