Customers, employees, repair people, delivery people and anyoneelse who comes in contact with your business property can hold youliable for your failure to take the proper degree of care. This canbe as simple as keeping your sidewalk swept or shoveling the snowon your front walk. If someone is injured as a result of yournegligence, the court will generally find in favor of the injuredparty, even if your negligence was only slight.
Basically, there are two types of liabilities against which youhave to insure yourself and your business: liabilities tononmembers of the firm and liabilities to members of the firm(employees and partners). Most of the liabilities toward outsiderswill be covered under a comprehensive general liability (CGL)policy. A CGL policy covers the following four risks:
- Payments due to accidents and injuries that might happen onyour premises or to your employees;
- Any immediate medical expenses necessary at the time of theaccident;
- The attorney fees and expenses for investigation andsettlement;
- The cost of court bonds or other judgments during appeal.
The limits to liability are determined on a per-accident andper-person basis. Additional limitations may include a total onbodily injury or property damage.
A CGL policy does not protect you against all liabilities,however. These include:
- Liability caused by an employee automobileaccident while on the job;
- Liability related to products manufactured orsold, or services offered, by your company;
- Liability insurance covered under workers’compensation laws.
For these, you’ll need additional insurance coverage and shouldcontact your insurance company to determine exactly what coverageyou need.
