General Liability Insurance

Even with careful planning and the best precautions, accidents and injuries can still happen on the job. Say, for example, a client trips and falls over a bag you left on the floor. Or maybe an accident occurs while on a client’s premises. If your client is injured and you’re legally liable, our commercial liability insurance can cover claims by third parties for their bodily injury.

If you meet with customers or vendors face to face, you should consider general liability insurance coverage. Whether you do your work in an office or storefront, or at your client’s location, general liability insurance coverage can protect you from these types of claims and lawsuits.

If an accident occurs and someone other than you or an employee is injured, your Hiscox business general liability insurance policy may cover associated medical expenses for each injured person, up to $5,000 per person. This coverage applies even if the accident is not your fault.

Bodily injury can occur on the job in many different industries including carpentry, HVAC contracting, construction, and electrical work. For example, a construction business client could accidentally touch an exposed wire while you’re working on-site, leading to an electric shock injury. In the case of a massage therapist, a client could sustain a minor burn during a hot stone massage if a stone is placed directly on the skin for too long. Or a yoga instructor could be held liable if he or she encourages a student to push deeper into a pose and the student suffers a muscle strain or herniated disc.

In these hypothetical situations, a small business could be sued for medical expenses even if they are not at fault for the injuries. Medical expenses can easily add up to thousands of dollars, even for injuries that appear to be minor. Protect yourself and your business with a commercial general liability insurance policy.

Property damage, whether caused by you or one of your employees, can create huge expenses that you may be responsible for. We offer coverage for damage to the property of another person or business as part of our commercial general liability insurance for small businesses. Note that covered claims are for damages to someone else’s property, and not for your own property.

General liability insurance coverage is useful in situations like these.

• A building inspector accidentally knocks over an artisan glass windowpane while making their way back to the truck. If the piece shatters and the client demands reimbursement plus delivery costs, it is important for the building inspector's company to have coverage for the claim.
• A personal trainer is conducting an at-home workout session for a client and accidentally knocks over a laptop while teaching a new routine. Third-party property damage coverage may cover the personal trainer for a claim by the laptop’s owner for their property damage.

If you also have your own business property you want to protect, consider a business owner's policy.

If you run a real estate business, for example, and an agent on your team makes a negative comment about a client or a competing agent on social media, you could face a slander lawsuit. At Hiscox, we may cover the subsequent claim, up to your commercial general liability policy's limits of liability, and pay for an attorney to defend you, if needed. Whether it’s you or your employee who commits libel or slander, your business could face significant financial loss from defending or settling a claim without general liability insurance.

Our general liability business insurance provides protection against the unintentional use of a third party's idea if it was used as part of your advertising. We may also protect you if your advertisement or marketing materials infringe upon a third party’s copyright or trade slogan.

Property damage can occur in many forms, affecting electronic data as well as physical property. For IT consultants and technology service providers, we added electronic data liability to our list of what’s covered under a commercial general liability insurance policy.

For example, suppose an IT professional damages a computer server while working for a client. The client’s electronic data is damaged and cannot be recovered, prompting the client to sue the IT professional for their electronic data loss. In this instance, we may cover any damages up to the $25,000 limit for electronic liability coverage for these professions.

In some cases, electronic data can be just as valuable or even more so than office furniture, supplies, and infrastructure in a business environment. Choosing Hiscox for your IT consulting and technology insurance helps protect your business from electronic data liability claims.

Legal fees can easily soar to thousands of dollars if you don’t have a plan in place for your defense. If you are sued for a covered general liability claim, we will appoint a lawyer if necessary, even if the lawsuit is groundless.

We will cover defense costs on your behalf without reducing your limit of liability. If you’re running a small business, having general liability insurance typically makes it easier to pay for high legal fees in connection with legitimate or frivolous claims made against you or your business.

At Hiscox, our general liability insurance coverage extends not just to the actions of your full-time employees, but to part-time staff, leased and temporary workers as well. Here are some situations that could be covered.

• An employee of a real estate brokerage firm accidentally drives a stake through a water line while putting up a For Sale sign and causes damage to a homeowner’s lawn.
• After having a few drinks at the bar, a computer programmer’s assistant accidentally spreads untrue rumors about an executive at a client company.

In these examples, your business could be sued due to the actions of your staff, regardless of whether they are full- or part-time employees, or leased or temporary workers. We can help you stay protected with general liability insurance for your small business.

If a claim is filed against your business, there are many expenses that can follow, and many that you may not expect. As small business insurance experts, we are aware of all of the hidden expenses and extra fees that commonly come along with defending you and your business against claims, and we’re ready to put our expertise to work for your benefit. Here are some examples of this.

• If one of your clients, a business, or another third-party files a claim against you, we may cover legal defense costs if incurred.
• We may also cover up to $250 per day for the loss of your earnings and pay for reasonable expenses you incur as a result of assisting us in the investigation of the claim against you.
• We may also provide interest on damage awards as part of our general liability insurance policies.

These are examples of hidden costs that may arise and add up if you’re not working with an insurance company that understands the toll that claims and lawsuits take on business owners. Whether you work in IT, marketing, therapy, health, fitness, contracting, beauty, engineering, or another vertical, we are here for you.

General liability insurance covers claims that someone else (other than an employee) makes against you. It does not cover claims for damage to your own property or that of an employee, or medical costs related to your own or an employee’s bodily injury.

Your policy doesn’t cover damage to or theft of your own business property. To cover your property, consider a business owner’s policy which includes general liability coverage plus business property coverage.

Your policy doesn’t cover claims of professional negligence, errors, or omissions. These types of claims can be covered by professional liability insurance, which you should consider if you offer advice to clients.

Your policy doesn’t cover automobile liability or injuries arising out of driving for either personal or business reasons. Instead, you should consider commercial auto insurance or hired and non-owned auto (HNOA) coverage.

General liability insurance does not protect you against claims that you mishandled personally identifiable information. Cyber security insurance covers this and more.

We won’t cover claims for bodily injury, medical costs or lost wages due to an employee becoming ill or getting injured on the job. For these types of claims, consider workers compensation insurance, which is required in most states.