Minnesota General Liability Insurance
What is general liability insurance?
General liability insurance is insurance coverages for you or your Minnesota business for bodily injury & property damage. It provides safeguards from unknown risks developed from your premises, product, operations and completed operations exposures. If you were negligent is some way, general liability insurance would pay to defend you.
Here is a list of specific coverages included in a general liability policy or coverages that can be added to the policy:
- Bodily Injury
- Property Damage
- Products and Completed Operations
- Contractual Liability
- Liquor Liability
- Fire, Explosion or Lightning Damage
- Hired Auto and Non-Owned Auto
- Legal Defense Expenses
- Medical Payments
- Personal Injury
- Advertising Injury
Several things that general liability insurance does not cover are damage to your property, employees injuries, employment disputes, damage to your vehicles and professional mistakes. We offer policies for these other things separately. Property, workers compensation insurance, employment practices liability insurance (EPLI), commercial auto insurance, professional and E & O insurance.
Some Common Mistakes Made on buying Minnesota General Liability Insurance
The biggest mistake Minnesota businesses make is that they do not purchase general liability insurance until they are required to do so, or until it’s too late!
Why is that a mistake?
First insurance companies will not backdate policies to cover claims that have already happened.
Secondly, Minnesota General Liability Insurance is designed to protect your businesses financial assets in the event you were held liable for a claim due to injury or property damage.
Failing to purchase the appropriate general liability insurance can place all of your financial assets in harm’s way! You have worked so hard to make your business successful, don’t risk everything over not having insurance.
One roofing contractor that failed to purchase general liability insurance learned a lesson the hard way when a court ordered them to pay $22,487 out of pocket. They didn’t believe they needed general liability insurance because they have never had a claim and they were experts.
A carpenter’s ladder slipped and did $2,600 in damage to a client’s car. Accidents happen, make sure your protected.
Another business had all their truck, trailer and tools stolen. Their old agent didn’t ask if they needed tool coverage. We always ask!
Don’t make the mistake of not purchasing general liability insurance! When you do buy a policy, make sure it’s a good one and not a stripped-down cheapo GL policy. The insurance is to protect you and your Minnesota business!
Why it’s Important to Speak with a General Liability Insurance Specialist When Looking for Minnesota General Liability Insurance.
A general liability insurance policy is very broad and it can be very complicated! For example: a standard general liability insurance policy will not provide you the necessary coverage to protect vehicles that you own and use in your business.
You would need commercial auto insurance to protect that exposure in most instances. If you are using your personal automobile in your contracting business and it’s listed on your commercial auto policy, you might have a problem. Understand the vehicle must be titled to the company for coverage to apply, unless endorsed or addressed in some way.
There are literally dozens of different types of scenarios that could occur that would not be covered by a standard general liability insurance policy so purchasing the cheapest one, might not be the answer. Also, many insurance companies include some bells and whistles in their policies (extra included coverages), while others do not. Having one of our agents coach you and direct you in the right direction is important.
We work with over 20 different contracting insurance companies to insure a competitive rate and superior coverages. Each company is different and some really have a superior product for just a few dollars.
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