What Does Commercial General Liability Cover?

Business owners face various risks every day. Insurance companies offer various types of coverage to prevent the financial struggle of a company after a claim. General liability constitutes one of these types of coverage, but some people refer to it as commercial general liability.

You can sustain different injuries due to the actions or inactions of a variety of companies, and you may seek compensation for your damages. Commercial general liability better equips businesses to pay claims if someone gets hurt.

Still, an owner could deny liability to avoid a large payout. You should collect evidence of negligence and avoid accepting any initial settlement offers.

Business Insurance Statistics

Around 75 percent of companies in the United States do not have enough insurance. Among small businesses, 40 percent do not have any policies at all. A lawsuit from an employee or customer could leave an owner with financial struggles. A disaster could prevent a shop from reopening.

Every year, an estimated 35.2 percent of companies deal with a possible insurance claim. Most owners manage to avoid such events. Contract disputes constitute one of the most common reasons for claims. Nevertheless, some of the accidents fall under the coverage of commercial general liability.

Roughly 2.4 percent of claims involve a customer sustaining a personal injury on company property. For example, someone might have slipped on mopped flooring. About 2.3 percent of cases involve injuries from a business’s malfunctioning products.

Incidents may not often happen, but they can still take a toll on businesses. Policies like commercial general liability lessen the economic risks. If a company’s operations, products, or property gets you hurt, your compensation may come from the insurance policy.

The insurance company may try to contact you in hopes of offering you a low amount of money. A lawyer can talk to the insurance company on your behalf for proper negotiation.

Types Of Business Insurance Policies

Companies have multiple options when it comes to policies. An owner can buy commercial property insurance to protect physical assets. A fire, theft, or other events can damage or destroy the property. The policy can pay for the costs of repair or replacement.

In some cases, property damage can mean a company cannot run its operations for a while. As a result, the company may miss out on income. Business income insurance replaces the lost earnings, and owners can pay for ongoing expenses, rent, and payroll.

A common piece of coverage among businesses includes workers’ compensation insurance. Employees can receive benefits if they sustain injuries or become sick while at work. This insurance coverage provides money for medical bills and lost wages. Most states require companies to carry the policy. If you got hurt, you would need to claim workers’ compensation.

Some business owners purchase employment practices liability coverage. The insurance protects a company from various types of employee lawsuits. The policy can cover the legal costs of cases of harassment, wrongful termination, and negligent evaluation.

What Does Commercial General Liability Cover?

Commercial general liability constitutes another type of policy an insurance company provides businesses. The policy covers a company when personal injury or property damages occur. A business’s operations or products need to have caused the damage for the policy to apply. Even misleading advertisements could lead to a claim.

If someone sustains injuries on a company’s property, commercial general liability insurance covers it. However, the policy does not apply to all the risks a business may face. For example, the insurance might not pay the costs of a harassment lawsuit. The policy has monetary limits as well.

Many insurers offer excess liability coverage for a company to purchase. The excess liability applies to claims exceeding the limits of commercial general liability. If someone owns a business, the owner might come across two types of commercial general liability policies: a claims-made policy and an occurrence policy.

An owner should know the difference between these policies to buy the appropriate type of coverage. A claims-made policy gives coverage for any claim and does not depend on when the incident happened. The insurance could pay for the claim even if it took place before the time of the policy.

An occurrence policy only covers claims if they occurred while the insurance was active. If the policy had expired when an accident took place, the insurance might still pay the costs.

Commercial general liability does not only cover the purchaser. Business owners can add contractors to the coverage. In addition to the coverage, owners can buy other policies for other types of risks.

If you faced bodily harm or property damage because of a company, information about the coverage policies could help you determine your next steps.

When Businesses File A Claim

When an accident happens, a company needs to file a commercial general liability claim with its insurance company. Owners usually give the provider their names, the company’s name, contact details, and information about the claim.

Some business owners might keep note of communications with relevant third parties. They might have records of emails, phone calls, and in-person conversations in preparation for a potential lawsuit. You should do the same since it might help with your case.

When you file a lawsuit, a business might choose one of three decisions. Some businesses will answer the claim, and they might deny or admit any wrongdoings. A company’s lawyer may try to dismiss the case instead. Alternatively, the owner could go ahead and settle to avoid litigation costs.

You should hire an attorney earlier on to handle any of the responses a company might use.

The Type Of Lawsuit You Start

A claim you would make falls under the broad category of personal injury. However, the circumstances of your injuries could fit into specific areas of personal injury lawsuits. Premises liability applies to injuries on company property, for example.

Many people think of a slip and fall accident, but other events can mean an unsafe property. You would start a premises liability lawsuit if you got hurt in an elevator or on an escalator. If the building catches fire, you might suffer from smoke inhalation.

Even negligent security can result in a premises liability claim. A criminal could hurt a visitor if the business did not have the appropriate measures in place. Speak with a premises liability lawyer to know if your case falls under this category.

When you seek compensation for negligence, you might claim product liability. Part of commercial general liability includes the coverage for product-related injuries. A business might sell a defective or unsafe product, including a piece of equipment or a household item.

Some items involve certain risks to work properly, so companies have to display appropriate warnings in this situation. Any business in the chain of distribution can bear responsibility for injuries. If multiple entities bear liability, an attorney can help identify them.

How Long Do You Have To File A Claim?

When a company becomes liable for your injuries, you have a limited amount of time to make a claim. When you decide on the time to sue, the statute of limitations sets the deadline for personal injury cases to a certain number of years after the date of the accident.

You should review the laws of your state to know how long you have. The court most likely will deny a claim if the statute of limitations passes. The length of time can range anywhere from one year to six years. Most people begin the lawsuit soon after an accident to ensure they submit all required documents on time.

The laws in some states provide exceptions for certain circumstances. The discovery rule could apply to your case if you reasonably did not know of your injury until the deadline already passed.

A case could qualify for an exemption if the person knew of the injury but not of the business’s connection to it. Perhaps, a business had hazardous material, and you did not know about the exposure until later.

Several places have personal injury laws regarding victims under the age of 18. Some people may have suffered from a disability or mental illness at the time of the accident. These individuals could qualify for an extension.

Proving The Business’s Liability

Every business must provide a reasonably safe environment for customers and other visitors. Businesses need to make sure their goods and services do not affect a person’s well-being. After an accident occurs, you have to prove negligence to obtain compensation.

The first step of showing negligence involves arguing that the business owed you a duty of care. While companies cannot protect people from all types of injuries, companies do have to adhere to a reasonable standard of care.

For example, managers need to ensure that the property does not have any spills or debris that could pose a risk of injury to visitors. Signs have to warn people of wet floors. Many buildings place mats near the entrance when the weather calls for rain.

Once you establish a duty of care, you need to prove how the company failed to uphold that duty. The owner did not perform regular maintenance on the building, for example. If an employee did not clean up a spill or leave a wet floor sign, the business likely breached its duty of care. All properties should have fire alarms as required by law.

Finally, you must show that the breach directly led to injuries and damages. You can use medical records, hospital expenses, and lost wages to prove negligence.

Not every injury results from the actions of a company. Even if the business failed to keep the area safe, something else could have caused a person to trip. An attorney can help establish the connection between the breach and the bodily harm.

Strict Liability

For product-related accidents, you usually do not need to put in much effort to prove negligence. In most cases, the strict liability rule applies to defective products. Of course, the rule does not mean the business automatically bears responsibility. Your case has to satisfy specific elements.

You still have to show how the product involved an unreasonable danger at some point during the production and supply chain. The manufacturer or seller intended to give the product to consumers without appropriate changes. As a result, a person sustained injuries.

Strict liability puts less of a burden on you compared to a car accident claim. However, the defendant could defend itself in a lawsuit successfully. If proving liability appears simple, some people may believe they can handle a case on their own.

However, you can benefit from having an attorney by your side. An attorney can ensure the company does not avoid liability and help recover maximum compensation given your specific circumstances.

A Few Insurance Company Delay Tactics

Even though commercial general liability covers businesses, insurance providers do not like paying a lot of money. They may employ one of several tactics to give as little as possible. Have a settlement in mind, and let your lawyer speak with the insurance agent.

In many cases, the insurer uses strategies to delay the claim. The insurance company may argue how you had pre-existing injuries, and the defendant does not bear liability for them. The agent may request five years or more worth of medical records.

The delay could last for months while the injured person tries to search for previous records. Insurance companies use these tactics to frustrate victims in hopes that they do not try to get a large settlement.

Another tactic involves the insurance agent ignoring your attempts to contact the insurance company. Insurance adjusters understand that you have work and other obligations. As a result, the adjuster may miss a phone call when you have time to chat. The strategy might annoy the victims so much that they accept a low settlement.

One insurance adjuster may re-assign you to another adjuster. The new person would need to spend time reviewing your claim. He or she may request further documentation, and you will have to put off the settlement to get the additional information.

Keep note of every time you contact the insurance company. Reach out to a personal injury lawyer for assistance. An experienced personal injury attorney can protect you from an insurer’s delay tactics.