General Liability Insurance from Massachusetts Specialists

What is General Liability Insurance?

Many Massachusetts businesses are exposed to an array of common risks regardless of what industry they’re in. General liability insurance policies can provide a fundamental level of protection against several of these common risks.

General liability insurance policies are one of the most commonly needed types of commercial insurance. As such, they’re made widely available by insurance companies and purchased by lots of different businesses.

What Massachusetts Businesses Need General Liability Coverage?

Most Massachusetts businesses, regardless of their sizes or legal structure, ought to consider purchasing general liability coverage. This includes sole proprietors, LLCs, S-Corporations and other entities, for these different legal formations don’t normally prevent people from suing a business. It also includes small businesses and large corporations. Small businesses frequently don’t have the resources to fight a major lawsuit, and large corporations are often more likely to be named in a suit.

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What Protections Does General Liability Coverage Afford?

General liability coverage typically comes with three main protections, each of which can have its own terms, conditions, exclusions and limits. These primary protections that most policies have are:

• Bodily Injury Coverage, which normally covers common accidents where third parties are injured

• Property Damage Coverage, which normally covers certain incidents where others’ property is damaged

• Personal Advertising Injury Coverage, which normally covers slander, libel and false advertising lawsuits

Some general liability policies also include product liability coverage or other protections. Other coverages are less uniformly included, though, and the policies that do have them may place lower limits on these extra protections.

When a business is faced with a covered claim, general liability coverage will usually help with any legal defense fees, settlements or judgements that come out of the claim.  

(Exact coverages may vary from one policy to the next, and a few general liability policies may not include these coverages.)

Are Employee Injuries Considered Third-Party Injuries?

If an employee visits a business as a customer might be considered a third party. For example, a server who visits a restaurant where they work for a meal when they’re off the clock may be a third party during the particular visit. This is because they’re coming as a customer, rather than an employee.

Employees aren’t normally considered third parties when they’re working, however. Injuries that they sustain while working, therefore, frequently aren’t covered by a general liability policy’s bodily injury coverage. Instead, on-the-job injuries are usually under the purview of workers compensation insurance.

Do Insurance Companies Still Offer Comprehensive General Liability Policies?

“Comprehensive general liability coverage” is mostly an antiquated term for what’s called “general liability coverage” today. Insurance companies have made the change in terminology to better reflect the protections offered by this coverage. These policies offer general and fundamental protections, but they don’t protect against every possible risk. That’s why there are other liability policies as well.