General Liability Insurance in Texas & More

What is general liability insurance?

Most Texas businesses are exposed to certain common risks, such as injury on company property, basic accidents off of company property, and libel claims. General liability insurance may help protect businesses from risks such as these.

General liability insurance offers protection against a range of common risks. It is a crucial type of insurance for almost all businesses.

What businesses in Texas should have business liability insurance?

Business liability insurance is a coverage that’s widely applicable. Most businesses in Texas should have this coverage, as a single liability lawsuit could be financially ruinous.

This is one insurance that businesses ought to consider regardless of their location, size, industry, or just about any other factor. If you’re in business, you can probably benefit from general liability protections.

Does homeowners insurance provide liability protection for home-based businesses?

Some homeowners insurance policies do make basic business insurance coverages available, often as an add-on protection. When business coverages are available through a homeowners insurance policy, general liability indeed is often one of the included business coverages.

If business coverages aren’t available through a homeowners insurance policy, a general liability policy is likely needed. This is something that a knowledgeable insurance agent can sort out.

What are the coverages that business liability insurance includes?

Business liability insurance itself normally comes with several sub-coverages, which further define the protections that a policy offers. Some sub-coverages that businesses should usually look for are:

• Premises Liability Coverage: May provide protection for incidents that occur at a business’s facility, office, store or location
• Bodily Injury Coverage: May offer protection for incidents that result in injury to third parties, such as customers, visitors or vendors
• Property Damage Coverage: May offer protection for incidents that result in damage to third-party property, such as buildings or belongings
• Personal Advertising Injury Coverage: May provide protection against allegations of libel, slander or false advertising

An increasingly important consideration is protecting against slanderous statements that are made online. While many general liability policies now include coverage for online statements, some might still not provide this protection. It’s important to confirm that a policy does cover online statements before purchasing coverage, or to get the coverage another way.

An insurance agent who specializes in general liability policies can help business owners evaluate a general liability policy’s personal advertising injury coverage to see whether online statements are indeed coverage. An agent can help evaluate all other coverages too, of course.

Does general liability include injuries and damage caused by products?

Businesses that make or sell products may have risk exposure if their products cause injury or property damage. These incidents normally fall under product liability coverage.

Some general liability policies include limited product liability coverage. Product liability isn’t always included, though, and it’s often quite restricted when it is included.

Businesses that need substantial product liability coverage likely should purchase a separate product liability policy. Those that only need a little product liability coverage may look for a business liability insurance policy that includes some.