General Liability Insurance is an essential pre-need protection that can be purchased especially by small business owners. Part of the scope of the commercial liability industry, general liability insurance is a company’s first line of defense against suits that were caused by negligence or strict liability torts by the insured resulting to physical harm and injury or property damage to a third party.
The insurance provider will be paid an annual definite commercial general liability insurance price by their client and in turn, the client is provided protection when claims are made by a third party. Aside from claims for reasons like physical injury and property damage, medical expenses, judgments, civil liabilities such as libel and slander, and other legal costs can also be part of the coverage. Third parties that make these claims against the insured can mean the insured company or person’s subcontractors, vendors, volunteers, non-employees, and clients. The coverage can mean that the insurance provider pays the legal fees and payouts.
History
There was a time when this type of policy was called a comprehensive general liability insurance’, with the name alone, people took on the word ‘comprehensive’ included in it to mean coverage for any imaginable lawsuit under the sun, which was never really the case for this type of policy as it entails a lot of limitations, like for example environmentally inclined lawsuits like pollution caused by the company’s business processes will not be covered by the policy. So by the 1980s insurance companies dropped the ‘comprehensive’ and called this umbrella policy the general liability insurance.
Limitations of General Liability Insurance
Before we further mull over the general liability insurance cost, it is important for a potential policy buyer to be aware of what this policy does not cover, though this policy pretty much covers what most small businesses would need as protection, there are particular cases and events where problems can arise which are not part of this kind of policies. For example, if it were a customer that got a physical injury arising from negligence of the insured party, this can be covered, however if it was an employee that sues the company over physical injuries due to negligence or other reasons caused by the insured party, then this is a dispute that is covered by a different kind of policy called ‘Worker’s Compensation Insurance’, with this, it is important for the insured party to note which are the ‘third party claimants’ that are covered by the general liability insurance policy. Another often misinterpreted claim for the general liability insurance is the ‘Professional Liability Insurance’, this is viable when the insured company or individual has to deal with a disgruntled client because of a complete mix-up in the service or product provided- a professional oversight or mistake, these kinds of cases are not covered by the General Liability Insurance policy. Often, an individual or a company would be advised to get a combination of two or more insurance policies along with the General Liability Policy, depending on the kind of industry they work on and what other sensibilities they are more prone to, it is best to check with the insurance provider what other policies you might need to get you as close to fully covered as you can to protect your business. To know more about what limitations this policy has, check this link: Limitations of General Liability Insurance
Prices of General Liability Insurance
General Liability Insurance Cost might vary from industry to industry. The difference between the commercial general liability insurance prices is driven by what insurance industry calls ‘risk factor’. On average, small businesses that get this type of insurance pay around $400 to $600 for policies that have liability limits that reach $1,000,000 to $2,000,000. Individual and companies that have higher risks for liabilities can pay up to more than $3000 annually for their General Liability Insurance cost, these high-risk individuals and companies are usually industries that compared to home-based work and businesses that have less contact with their clients and their client’s properties, like accountants, have more physical traffic in their businesses. Companies that have brick and mortar businesses or companies that come in contact with clients and clientele properties on a daily basis are those of the highest liabilities and often pay the higher premium. Among the top high-premium payers include construction companies, janitorial or maintenance service providers, manufacturers, and wholesalers. The reason for higher premium is a wider range of coverage. The wider the coverage even within the limits of the general liability insurance the higher the General Liability Insurance Costs.
The pre-need industry is a relatively new industry and for it to survive it needs to stay adaptive and dynamic. The world and its prevailing industries have evolved rampantly for the past few decades. For example, in the 80’s the tech industry is not as prevalent as it is now, the legal liabilities of a small tech company is different from a construction company whose legal liabilities are already obvious and have mostly been distinguished by insurance policies years ago. So a general liability insurance policy that is fit for a small tech company, which generally deals with data and information and whose liabilities are more anchored on the security of these intangible assets, should be applicable to the needs of their sort of business and processes. Commercial General Liability Insurance prices for an average-sized company, with low risk in liability, would very rarely reach more than $1000. For a start-up company, it is advised to get to know the type of insurance policy that can cover them as much as possible, a lot of companies fail to do so and suffer the big costs of legal expenses and legal claims later on which in turn gives way to the demise of their business. This added layer of protection is worth the little investment if longevity and growth are the aims of the insurance buyer. For more information on the types of insurance policies a startup company should sign up for, you can check this link: Startup Insurance Policies