Commercial Liability Insurance – What to Know
The society we live in is extremely litigious. Because of this, it has become a standard operating procedure for companies to avail to a commercial liability insurance to help protect them and the company from all the kinds of lawsuits that may be applicable. This article will discuss the nature and some basic information of a general commercial liability insurance.
All Businesses Need It
A common misconception is that because you don’t own a business that might cause more problems and liabilities than yours, you don’t need a commercial liability insurance. In reality, it is one of the best moves management can do in protecting the company from all forms of liabilities because there might come a time that the service the company is providing might actually cause a liability or do some damage to customers or to third parties, thus resulting in a lawsuit. Any kind of business no matter what form or nature will always be vulnerable to litigation.
Coverage: What Does It Include
This kind of insurance covers all the claims that is related to negligence resulting in personal and bodily injury, property or building damage, false advertising injury and the like. The legal costs that are spent in lawsuits are also included in this category regardless of what the claim may be. This, however, does not cover instances where there is criminal intent or where the case involves punitive damages. This type of insurance offers a package called the Business Owner’s Policy or the B.O.P. When presented with this, read the policy carefully and thoroughly because they are most of the time engineered for low-risk businesses. For businesses with higher risks of litigation, you can just avail of the general insurance policy.
Setting the Limits
Like all other kinds of insurance contracts, policies will differ from one state to another. One state will have a higher damage amount awarded while others will not. Each insurance policy will provide for limits within which the amounts awarded will be based on. This issue is a little bit more complicated so it is advisable that you contact your insurance agent and ask him about it.
Protecting Your Business
Be wary and be careful of anything and everything that might make a lawsuit happen. If anything out of the ordinary happens like an unexpected incident, report the situation right away. Try to document anything and everything about the incident and submit the complete form to your insurer.
Lastly, train your employees and inform them about all such incidents that might happen from health and safety procedures all the way to documenting a liability claim because the success of a company in overcoming a lawsuit also rests with its employees.
Related posts: