Commercial General Liability Insurance is Coverage Every Company Needs

The need for having a commercial general liability insurance coverage is paramount if you are running a business or commercial establishment of your own so as to protect you against the many liability claims that you may be subjected to.

Commercial general liability insurance protects you against those liabilities that might be incurred as a result of your business dealings with customers or other individuals or organizations. There are many types of liabilities that could be claimed against you and your business.

These include claims for personal injury or bodily injury suffered by a customer at your place of business or a claim arising out of faulty goods and service delivery. There might be also instances when you might face a worker's compensation claim for injuries suffered at the workplace by your employees.

The most common causes for liability claims are usually slip and fall accidents in which customers are involved and which take place at your place of business as well as accidents that involve your employees during their course of employment with you.

A commercial general liability insurance policy protects you from all these liabilities and many more by paying for the damages or by reimbursing you. In the event that a claim made against you is successful, you stand to lose a lot. A successful claim usually means that you end up paying increased amounts as monthly premium towards your policy. The reason is that you are perceived as high risk by the insurance company with each claim that is successfully made against you.

General liability insurance protects you from various liabilities that you might incur, namely personal injury liability which also includes bodily injury, property liability claims, workmen's compensation claims and also claims arising from advertising injury. Irrespective of whether the claim against you is false or genuine, you stand to gain from the protection given by your coverage instead of having to go in for a million dollar settlement with the plaintiff. The policy protects you and your business from suffering the ill effects of litigation.

A commercial liability insurance policy provides the insurance coverage your company needs. A specialized kind of commercial liability insurance is product liability insurance, protecting your company against defective and improperly used products you sell or manufacture.

Reasons to Consider Commercial Liability Insurance

Commercial liability insurance is designed to protect a company in the event of a lawsuit. If someone is injured while on the company's property or while using the company's products or if a business arrangement falls through, that person has the right to sue that company for compensation or to recoup their losses. Liability insurance will protect the company from large monetary losses if they lose the lawsuit.

Liability insurance can be purchased on its own, but it is most often offered as part of a package deal that includes the company's property insurance. This is usually cheaper than purchasing two separate policies. The amount of coverage a business needs depends on what type of business it is and where they are located.

A retail business that has many customers moving through it on a daily basis is likely to need more coverage than a manufacturer where only employees are present. With every customer that enters their establishment, a retailer runs the risk on them incurring an injury that could lead to a lawsuit. If an employee is injured while on the job, your workers compensation payments will protect your business and will cover most of your expenses.

However, it doesn't really matter what type of a business you have, you need to carry this coverage to ensure you are properly protected in case the unthinkable happens.

Every state has different laws governing the ease with which the injured party can file a lawsuit and how much the plaintiff can be awarded. If your business is located in a state that makes it easy for the injured parties to bring a suit or to be awarded large settlements, then you will need more coverage.

Commercial liability insurance is essential for every business, no matter what its size. Without this coverage, the company runs the risk of losing all of its assets if they lose a lawsuit. This coverage will protect your business and you from bankruptcy.

One type of specialized liability insurance is contractors insurance which is something those in the building industry should consider. Another type of insurance is errors and omissions insurance which is used to cover any errors or mistakes made by business professionals in the normal course of work.

Insuring Your Fish and Chip Shop

During the 1980's, the insurance industry developed packages specifically for fish and chip shop owners. Given that many retailers were interested in purchasing the most dollar-conscious policies, there became known something called the "bundle" policy. This type of insurance policy puts a number of types of coverage together specific to the takeaway fish and chip shop industry.

The product available is far more attractive to the purchaser and sold at a much more competitive rate. Regardless, the most important factor to consider is that given the inherent potential risk to goods and property on the site of a fish and chip shop, some insurers will only offer limited coverage. The following will therefore provide a breakdown of this particular type of insurance and where one may purchase same.

Specific to a policy for a fish and chip shop is coverage for damages to store materials and property. This damage can come in the form of theft, fire, loss or other accidental damage. The most important item to make sure has substantial coverage attached to it is the deep fast frying fish range. Since fires are most common around these ranges, a significant portion of the policy will focus in on the potential risks of this mechanism. And dependent upon the street value of the frying range, the cost of the policy can swing dramatically higher or lower depending.

Further, your Fish and Chip Shop insurance should include the following specifications:

Coverage for all the contents and stock against potential fire, storm and flood damage;

Coverage should the proprietor experience any sort of business interruption, such as would occur following a valid claim against the policy. One would want to be sure business was not interrupted during this period of time;

Coverage towards any records that could conceivably be lost due to any potential fire, flood or other disaster. The policy should adequately cover for money that is owed you. These records clearly could not be accessed because of this damage.

Coverage against profit loss after the potential loss of an alcohol license for uncontrolled reasons.

Coverage for any damage or injury to the public while on the premises.

After all research has been accomplished as to which insurance policy to purchase, the most important factor is to be assured that the type of policy purchased is one specific to the fish and chip retailer. Although this seems to be an obvious point, it bears repeating. Fish and Chip Shop insurance is a specific package. Standard retail business insurance will simply not suffice. Given the built-in risks to customers and employees both, you will need to be sure to protect everyone and everything on the premises. This will aid in fostering a healthy enterprise for many years to come.

Why You Need Employer's Liability Insurance Coverage

Everyone workplace carries risks of accidental injury. In some cases, the operation of the business seems normally benign, whereas other businesses are dangerous because of the nature of their operations. It's for these reasons that employers liability insurance often is required.

Employer's liability coverage is designed to shield employers from losses incurred by employees as a result of on-the-job injuries, illnesses resulting from workplace conditions, or death as a result of a work practice or accident.

For instance, suppose somebody spills their coffee in the employees' break room and fails to clean up the spill promptly. A co-worker comes along, slips in the spilled coffee, and falls hard to the tile floor, breaking a hip.

The employer is legally liable for the employee's injury and any losses resulting from it, such as medical expenses or lost pay. That's the reason for employer's liability insurance.

Employer's liability coverage belongs to an insurance type known as "risk financing." For example, the now-famous firm Lloyd's of London was founded by a group of shipping company owners who created a common fund to repay their costs when ships were lost.

Today there are many insurance carriers like Lloyd's that specialize in liability insurance. Large and even some medium-sized companies have an employee, or an entire department devoted to managing workplace risk. The job of risk managers is to whose job is to keep tabs on potential liabilities and to administer liability protection.

In the case of employer's liability insurance, the business owner pays a premium to an insurance carrier for protection against employee claims, also called "third-party claims." Third-party claims are those brought by others outside the contract between the business owner and the insurance carrier. In the above scenario, the injured employee could demand that the employer's liability coverage pay for his or her medical expenses and any lost wages. It might even be to the business owner's advantage for the employee to file such a claim with the insurance company, instead of paying for the employee's losses from business income.

However, if the liability situation is less clear-cut, an insurance company may elect to defend the insured in court rather than pay the claim. An expensive legal battle might follow to determine who actually is responsible for the accident that caused the employee's injury.

Certain businesses, such as transportation companies, factories, building contractors, various types of professionals and factories often are required to have employer's liability insurance. That's because there's an inherent risk in their type of business that could result in injury, so the local or state government seeks to protect employees from the outset.

If you have employees, then you probably are required to have employers liability insurance which protects you against employee lawsuits. Another specialized kind of business liability protection is directors and officers insurance which protects key management members from job performance related lawsuits.

A Look at the Medical Malpractice Insurance Rates Crisis

While comparing different types of medical malpractice insurance policies and related rates, it's not unusual to become lost in the sea of legal terms and types of policies. Despite the fact that nearly 6 percent of medical professionals in Florida do not have any kind of liability insurance coverage, some type of liability coverage or assets is required by law.

Rates of insurance coverage in Florida, as elsewhere tend to vary depending on their field of work, or "scope". This makes it quite difficult for medical professionals to have any idea what kind of coverage they can expect from different companies. The best way to go about comparing insurance coverage rates is to look at similar rates in the same scope as well as geographic location. These two factors play the largest role in determining costs and coverage of this type of insurance. For example, if you are are surgeon looking for help in Orlando, Florida, your medical insurance coverage rates will be much different from a heart specialist in Seattle, Washington. Other factors certainly come into play as well, such as the deductible you chose, however they do not have as significant of an impact.

A recent problem in medical professions across the country is the rising insurance coverage premiums. The term, "crisis", has been used frequently to describe the problem of rising premiums for coverage, especially in Florida. Part of the reason Florida is seeing such a large number of cases is in part due to the large senior population living there, who have a higher intensity of medical needs. Most premium costs that are becoming part of the crisis vary by state. Within that state, rising medical malpractice insurance coverage rates also vary by region. For example, insurance rates in an urban area such as Miami, Florida are going up much more significantly than coverage rates in a more rural city like Gainesville, FL. Basically, if you are a medical professional looking for coverage, you will be able to find cheaper deals further from metro areas.

Despite the current "crisis" going on with rising insurance rates, it's very important for medical professionals to have insurance. A single claim can potentially cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Thus, it is absolutely critical to have a medical malpractice insurance policy that protects your assets.