An organization interacts with its employees, contractors, clients, vendors, and other parties during its course of business operations. If any of these parties suffer an injury or loss due to the business premises or its operations, a claim can be filed for the same. Having a commercial general liability or CGL Insurance can help protect the business or an organization against such claims.
Following are the damages covered by the commercial general liability insurance:
Bodily injury and property damage:
This policy protects the insured from claims arising out of bodily injury or property damage to others. Such claims can arise due to non-professional negligent acts or liability arising out of the premises or business operations. Mental and emotional distress are also considered bodily injuries. Thus, any damage caused by your business, product, work, and employees to the client or their property is covered by this commercial general liability insurance or CGL Insurance.
Personal and advertising injury:
In commercial general liability insurance, personal and advertising injury means any damage to a person’s character, position in the community, and reputation. It protects the insured against:
- Wrongful eviction, entry, or invasion of privacy
- Malicious prosecution
- Libel
- Slander
- False arrest
- Infringing on other’s copyright
- Use of other’s advertising ideas
Medical Payments:
If a customer or a client or any other person, suffers injuries on the insured’s premises, then the CGL insurance policy covers the medical expenses incurred in such an event. The cause of the injury can be an accident or a business operation. The following medical expenses are covered by the commercial general liability insurance for the person injured or killed at the insured’s premises:
- Medical expenses
- Surgical expenses
- Ambulance expenses
- Hospital expenses
- Professional nursing expenses
- Funeral expenses
Thus, commercial general liability insurance provides financial protection to the business or an organization. It helps the firm by providing the necessary financial resources to continue the business operations in case of any unexpected event. It covers various costs like:
- The cost of defending or investigating a suit
- Expenses incurred when the insurance company requires assistance during the defense
- Cost of settlement for a particular law-suit
Case Study:
R.M Electronics Ltd was one of the leading electronic cable manufacturing companies located in Mumbai. The company was in the business of manufacturing and exporting various electronic components and cable wires. The clients of this company were not only limited to India but also spread abroad. In 2015, they got a huge consignment of exporting electronic components to a company based in Dubai. Since the value of the consignment was big, the foreign company wanted to take a tour of R.M Electronics Ltd. They sent an officer to India to check the raw materials that were to be used in the assignment.
Read More: Who is an Insured under Commercial General Liability Insurance?
During the trip, the officer was welcomed warmly and was shown the production line, the stock used, and the process of assembling the electronic parts. However, during his tour of the company, the officer tripped through one of the unattended cable cords and succumbed to a spinal injury.
The foreign company filed a suit against R.M Electronics for not taking adequate safety precautions. However, R.M Electronics had purchased the commercial general liability insurance policy.
This policy came to the rescue of R.M Electronics. The insurance company sent an investigator to investigate the scenario. Upon the investigation, the insurance company helped R.M Electronics to cover the medical expenses of the officer who suffered the spinal injury and thus covered for the monetary loss.
