General Liability Insurance
If a customer gets hurt or your work damages someone else's property, this is the policy that steps in. It's also the one every landlord, GC, and client contract asks you to carry. Tell us what you do and we'll shop it across 50+ carriers.
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What is general liability insurance?
General liability insurance covers injuries and property damage your business causes to other people, plus the legal defense when someone sues. It's the policy behind nearly every certificate of insurance a landlord, general contractor, or client asks you to carry, and typically the first policy a business buys.
What this policy is typically built to handle.
- Injuries to other people, like a customer who slips and falls at your place
- Damage your work causes to a client's property during a job
- Legal defense, generally even when the claim against you turns out to be groundless
- Medical payments for minor injuries, typically no fault required
- Claims like libel, slander, or copyright issues tied to your advertising
- Settlements and judgments, up to the limits on your policy
Who usually carries it.
- Any business with a physical location customers walk into
- Contractors and trades working on someone else's property
- Tenants on commercial leases, since most landlords write it into the lease
- Anyone bidding work where the contract asks for specific limits and a certificate of insurance
- Service businesses working in customer homes or on job sites
What it does not cover
- Injuries to your own employees. That's what workers comp is for.
- The cost of redoing your own faulty work. GL typically pays for the damage bad work causes, not the rework itself.
- Damage to your own property, tools, or equipment. That's a property policy.
- Accidents involving your vehicles, which generally fall to commercial auto.
- Professional mistakes and bad advice, which usually need a separate errors and omissions policy.
- Exact terms vary by carrier and policy. We walk you through your exclusions before you buy, not after a claim.
The slip and fall
Picture a small retail shop on a rainy afternoon. The entry mat is soaked through, a customer slips on the tile and fractures her wrist. A few weeks later her attorney sends a demand letter for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
This is exactly what general liability is built for. The policy assigns a defense attorney, handles the negotiation, and pays a covered settlement up to the policy limit. The owner's part is usually the deductible and a few phone calls. Without the policy, the demand letter alone could swallow a year of profit.
Get a QuoteAn illustrative example, not a real claim. Every claim is decided by the insurance company under the terms of the actual policy.
What affects your cost.
No two businesses price the same. The only way to know your number is to quote it, and the quoting part is our job.
- Your class code, meaning the work you actually perform, not what your LLC name says
- Annual revenue and payroll
- Location and foot traffic
- Claims history and open losses
- The limits and deductible you pick
Questions we hear a lot.
Yes, completely standard. $1M per occurrence, $2M aggregate is what most landlords and GCs ask for, and adding them as additional insured is routine. The part that trips people up is the endorsement wording, since some contracts require specific forms. Send us the insurance section of your contract and we'll match the policy to it before you sign. That's our job, not yours.
No, and this is the exclusion that surprises contractors most. GL typically pays for the damage your work causes to other property, not the cost of redoing the faulty work itself. If a pipe you installed leaks and ruins a floor, the floor is generally covered. Reinstalling the pipe is on you.
You can move mid-term. The old policy gets cancelled pro-rata and you typically get the unused premium back. The one thing that matters is continuity: no gap between the old policy ending and the new one starting, especially if clients hold your certificates. We line up the dates so you don't have to think about it.
Most GL policies are auditable, which means at the end of the year the insurance company compares your actual revenue or payroll to the estimate and bills or credits the difference. If you know mid-year that you're running well ahead, tell us. Adjusting the estimate then is a lot more pleasant than a surprise audit bill later.
Coverage that often pairs with this.
- Business Owners Policy (BOP)Liability, your property, and lost income in one policy. Often costs less than buying the pieces separately, with one renewal to manage.
- Workers Compensation InsuranceMedical bills and lost wages when an employee gets hurt on the job. Required by law in most states once you have employees.
- Commercial Umbrella InsuranceExtra liability limits above your GL, auto, and employer liability. For the claim that blows past a primary policy.
Get your General Liability Insurance quote.
Tell us once. A licensed agent shops it across the 50+ insurance companies we work with and comes back with real options, not a form letter.
- Fill this out. It takes a few minutes, not an afternoon
- A licensed agent shops your file across the 50+ insurance companies we work with
- Quotes come back, on average, within 24 hours²
Disclosures
- Sinai Coverage LLC is an independent insurance agency, not an insurer. Coverage is provided by the insurance companies your policy is placed with. Headquartered in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. Serving all 50 states.
- Average across recent quote requests. Complex risks and certain coverage lines can take longer.