General Liability Insurance for Small Businesses

Operating a small business is a challenging venture at any time. In these tough economic times, any financial loss or legal challenges can be a serious threat. When small businesses are started and grown, there are many issues and events that you may not anticipate to occur. These events may be associated with you, your employees, your business practices, your client’s activities or visits, for example, injuries to your employee or client during the course of doing business and damage to your tools. Therefore, liability insurance which is also known as casualty insurance is an insurance policy that covers injury to another person or damage to a person’s property for which you are legally responsible. General liability insurance is a standard element of most business owner’s policies. Insurance is not only going to be important to you, but it will be important to your other business relationships.

What should be included in the cover?

Business Property Insurance
Property insurance should include a broad form of coverage to protect you from a wide variety of losses. Your insurance should include:

Buildings: Coverage would be required here if you own the building your business occupies. In the event you lease premises, your landlord should provide this coverage.
Business personal property includes your tables, desks, chairs, computers (hard and software), business equipment and other valuable contents of the building used for your business. Also, you will want to include the tenant’s improvements you might make to leased premises. An example would be a room divider you added, or a display case, or a custom-built counter that forms part of the reception area for your clients or other partitions in your business premises.

Loss of Income

Earthquake
Flood (which may or may not be available)
A properly written policy will include loss of income that might result from breakdowns, as well as loss of income from other hazards that would temporarily close down your business.

Liability Insurance
A Comprehensive General Liability (CGL) policy is designed to provide coverage to third parties for the following:
Personal and Advertising Injury

Fire Legal Liability: This is compulsory if your business premises is leased or rented. It protects you in any event your negligence or those of your employees’ results in damage or loss to your landlord’s property. For example: Your employee or you leave an electrical appliance on overnight which may cause or start a fire resulting in damages to your landlord’s property. This is where Fire Legal Liability protects your investment.




Products and Completed Operations
Medical Expense or Medical Payments
General Liability for your premises. A very good example is when someone “trips over the torn carpet or gadget wires, or any of your equipments resulting in an injury” loss.


There are many types of insurances a business owner should have to protect his business but a small business owner should endeavor to get the very basic ones mentioned above. As your business grows, there will be a need for an upgrade in your insurance policies