General Liability Insurance

What it covers

Commercial general liability, usually called CGL, covers claims made against your business by other people for:

• Bodily injury: a customer trips over a cord in your shop, or a homeowner is hurt on your job site.
• Property damage: your installer cracks a client’s countertop, or a water line your crew connected floods a basement.
• Products and completed operations: a product you sold or work you finished causes injury or damage after it’s left your hands.
• Personal and advertising injury: claims like libel, slander or using someone else’s material in your advertising.

It also pays for your defence, meaning lawyers and legal costs, which is often the biggest expense even when the claim against you doesn’t hold up.

Most CGL policies are written on an “occurrence” basis, which means the policy that was in force when the injury or damage happened is the one that responds, even if the claim comes in years later.

What it doesn’t cover, and common gaps

• Your own property. Damage to your building, tools or stock is a property insurance matter.
• Professional mistakes. Bad advice, a design error or a missed deadline that costs a client money falls under professional liability (E&O).
• Vehicle accidents. Those belong on your auto policy.
• Employee injuries. Usually handled through WSIB if you’re registered.
• Faulty workmanship itself. If your work is defective, CGL generally won’t pay to redo it, though it may respond to damage the defect causes to other property.
• Pollution, cyber and professional services. These are usually excluded and need their own coverage.
• Contract requirements you didn’t check. Many contracts ask you to name the other party as an additional insured, carry certain limits, or waive certain rights. If your policy doesn’t match, you may be in breach of contract before anything goes wrong.

Where your business and family policies overlap

Liability is where the business and family umbrellas need to line up.

• Business at home. Say you’re a bookkeeper who meets clients at your kitchen table, or a hairdresser with a chair in the basement. If a client slips on your front steps, your home policy may say it was a business visit and decline, while you don’t have a business policy at all. A home business endorsement or a proper CGL closes that gap.
• Umbrella limits that don’t connect. Many owners have a personal umbrella and a separate commercial umbrella, or one but not the other. A personal umbrella generally excludes business activities. A commercial umbrella usually doesn’t cover your home, cottage or family cars. If the limits and the underlying policies don’t line up, a serious claim can fall between them.
• Rental properties and cottages. If you rent out a cottage or a unit, the liability to guests and tenants sits on the property’s policy, not your CGL. If the property is held in a company, it may need its own liability coverage.
• Family members in the business. A spouse or child who helps out on jobs should be considered when the policy describes who’s insured and what work is done.

Steve looks at every liability policy you hold, business and personal, side by side, so the limits and the gaps are clear.

How Steve works on this

Steve starts with what your business actually does day to day, because the description of operations on a CGL policy matters. If it says “office” and you’re on job sites, that’s a problem. He reads your key contracts and lease requirements, walks you through the policy, explains its exclusions in plain terms and gives you options, including whether an umbrella makes sense, with his own view on what he’d do. At renewal, he calls to check for new work, new contracts or changes in revenue.

If you’d like a second set of eyes on your liability coverage, book a review.