What it covers
- Third-party bodily injury on your premises or from your operations
- Damage you cause to others' property
- Products & completed operations claims
- Personal & advertising injury (libel, slander)
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General Liability, in plain English.
The foundation of a commercial program. It responds when your operations injure someone or damage their property, and most leases, contracts, and job specs require it.
When you need it
- Day one — it's the foundation of a commercial program
- Required by most leases, contracts, and job specs
Common gaps
- Professional-services exclusions (that's E&O's job)
- Limits below what your contracts require
- Subcontractor and additional-insured wording mismatches
Who it's for
- Effectively every operating business
- Especially anything with premises, customers, or jobsites
This page is general information, not advice about your specific situation, and not a quote, binder, or contract of insurance. Actual coverage is governed solely by the terms, conditions, and exclusions of the issued policy.
Who usually needs it
See General Liability in your industry.
Related reading
Understand it before you buy it.
Everything is included — except what's excluded
How a general liability policy actually functions: a broad promise, narrowed by exclusions and endorsements. Read those first.
Read · 3 min →The subcontractor agreement is an insurance document
Indemnity, additional insured status, waivers, and certificates — how proper risk transfer keeps subs' claims off your loss runs.
Read · 3 min →A certificate is evidence — not coverage
What a COI actually proves, why the endorsement is the part that matters, and what to check every time you collect one from a sub.
Read · 2 min →