Five claim scenarios that’ll make you hug your liability policy

With general liability coverage, your business is protected (up to your policy limits) if you're found legally liable for injuries or property damage caused by your operations, your products, accidents on your premises, or mishaps at customer locations (based on your policy coverages and conditions).

Here are three types of general liability coverages important for your business:

• Product protection coverage. Once your product leaves your business, it's out of your control. From allergies to accidental ingestion or a defect in design, general liability insurance can cover you and your assets if someone is injured or something is damaged by your product.

• Property damage coverage. If your business often requires you to be on site at a customer's property, odds are the work you do comes with some hazards and risks. You'll want coverage for property damage you're legally responsible for.

• Chemical application coverage. You can help protect your business from losses related to chemical drift, accidents while transporting chemicals, or damage caused when spraying.

Think about the characteristics of your own business and its potential risks as your read the following five hypothetical examples.

A customer visiting a garden center slipped on the wet floor where plants recently had been watered. Ignoring the yellow caution cone, the customer reached for a plant, slipped, and fell.

“The most common type of general liability claim is a slip/trip/fall type of claim,” notes Traci Dooley, national agency sales director at Hortica®, a brand of the Sentry Insurance Group. “Regardless of how the slip or trip occurs, if an individual falls and breaks something, complications can cause the claim to get very expensive!”

A floral shop delivered a vase of flowers to a customer. As the recipient pulled the vase out of the box, the vase suddenly broke and the customer's hand was cut by a shard of glass.

The local garden center was a pet-friendly business where customers were allowed to bring their pets while they shopped. Customer A brought in a well-behaved golden retriever. Customer B bent down to greet and pet the dog, but the dog was startled by the loud bark of another dog nearby. Customer B was knocked to the ground and suffered scrapes on her knees and a broken wrist.

In spring, this garden center sold containerized plants and bulk mulch. A store employee loaded a large purchase of mulch onto the bed of a customer's pick-up truck with a small tractor/loader but scraped the tailgate of the truck as he backed away after unloading the mulch.

A floral shop maintained decorative plants in a nearby office complex. Shop employees watered the plants weekly, including a large planter. Over time, the container leaked, causing damage to the carpet underneath. The carpet couldn't be repaired or matched, so the entire room had to be recarpeted.

*While the descriptions above aren't based on a specific individual or entity, the details reflect characteristic facts from multiple actual claims.

In each of the examples above, the business's general liability coverage could help protect their bottom line following the injuries and property damage. It provides a safety net to help protect your business in the event of an unforeseen incident. If something does go wrong, having some protective measures in place can prove invaluable. Even in situations where you meet your insurance deductible, it'll still likely be far less expensive than paying the full cost of a liability-related lawsuit out of pocket.

If you have questions or would like to review the liability coverage on your current policy, contact us or request a quick quote.

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