General liability insurances are policies that are mandatory for businesses in most states and provide coverage for third party liability claims, including bodily harm, property damage and advertising injury.
The Most Common Types of Claims Covered for by General Liability Policies
Liability claims filed by third parties are among the most common types of claims and also very expensive ones that can ruin an uninsured company. The most typical physical injury claims that general liability insurances cover for include slip and fall accidents suffered by one of the company’s customers during a visit at the company’s premises, while the other claims that belong to the range that general liability policies cover for include damage caused by you or by your team to your client’s property. Your liability insurance will also provide coverage for the administrative costs incurred by handling claims and for any costs related to court costs and settlements for covered claims.
What General Liability Insurance Policies Do Not Cover for
Your general liability insurance will provide you coverage for a variety of claims made by third parties. For any damage suffered by your own business property, you will need a business property insurance, while in the case of injuries sustained by your own employees, you will need a workers’ comp insurance. The damage sustained by your corporate vehicles is also excluded from the coverage provided by general liability insurance policies – that type of events is covered by commercial auto insurance policies.
Making Sure that You Purchase the Best Possible Policy
Shopping for the right general liability insurance Colorado policy is not easy. First of all, you will need to familiarize yourself with the state-level requirements that determine the various aspects of the policy that you need, then you will need to actually start shopping for the right policy.
During the actual shopping phase, you have two choices: you can either turn directly to an insurance company and purchase your policy from them or you can turn to an independent broker or agent who work with multiple insurers and can recommend you various solutions that meet your needs and requirements. Working with an independent agent will give you the additional benefit of having an insurance specialist by your side, should you have any questions or should you need any help or advice in the future.
If you choose the first solution, you will need to start by evaluating insurance companies in terms of their specialties, their experience in handling general liability claims as well as their reputation in handling those claims. In the next phase, you should evaluate the coverage and the premiums – make sure that your policy is worded the right way and find out whether your business is eligible for discounts. Most insurance companies provide discounts for clients willing to make a more substantial upfront payment –insurers usually provide various payment plans that you can choose from. You might also be able to obtain discounts if you decide to buy multiple insurance policies in bundle – you might want to consider getting your other mandatory policies, such as the workers comp, the commercial property or the commercial auto insurance from the same insurer and benefit from discounted rates on all of them.