General Liability Insurance For Small Business

General liability insurance for small business is an important component for contractors and subcontractors, as well as many other professionals and businesses. It can keep you from substantial monetary losses and protect your business.

General liability insurance for small business is not expensive and you can find many insurance brokers online willing to write a policy for you at a discount fee. When starting a business either online or offline, make sure to analyze the risks associated with the type of business you are starting.

There are many potential hazards with virtually any small business that general liability insurance can address. An example of an online business who might be subject to legal risks is any business with a physical location where customers and clients visit your place of business. Someone could be injured in a simple slip and fall accident and general liability policies would cover an accident like that.

Another example of a business with risks for lawsuits is a retail operation, no matter how small it may be. If there is foot traffic at your place of business people can be hurt and property can be damaged. These are the types of claims that general liability insurance protects small business from.

While those may sound far fetched to you, there are many examples of litigation in these areas, even when negligence is not found, you could lose money on legal fees if your small business does not have the right kind of liability insurance.

There are also many examples of offline small businesses that need liability insurance coverage. Some examples are builders and contractors who do construction related work such as roofing, plumbing, drywall, paining, flooring, remodeling, subcontracting, etc. Many cases have been brought against contractors, sub-contractors, and construction workers after slip and fall injuries, property damage and more.

If your small business will have or has employees, then you have still another liability. Employees could file a claim against you if they are hurt on the job, and without the proper insurance policy or policies in place, your insurance company would not be able to reimburse them, thus making the actual employer (you in this case) liable for their claim. With the proper insurance in place, you could be devoid of these monetary obligations. In this case a workers compensation policy would be the type of policy you’d need to buy from your insurer.

The web is littered with horror stories about small business owners who did not take the time to get the proper coverage including general liability insurance for small business and paid a hefty price instead. Don’t let your company become one of these statistics.

Buying GLI can be inexpensive, especially if you work part time as a contractor or subcontractor. Many insurance agencies offer lower premiums to professionals with lower work volume. In some cases your premiums could be as low as a few hundred dollars a year, which you can clearly see would be a good investment. Even if you buy it just for the peace of mind that comes from knowing you’re covered should someone file a claim against you for damages or injury.

When buying a GLI policy ask about professional liability insurance as well. This additional policy will cost you a bit more but it will add protection for instances when a customer sues you for damages if something goes wrong on the job. For instance, if you are an IT professional and you wipe out data on a customer computer, they could sure you for loss of revenue you caused. This type of policy protects many professions from accountants to designers, to architects and even pros like tree workers and landscapers. 

Oh, and one last tip on paying liability insurance premiums…

Once you do decide to get liability coverage for your small business, be sure you are prompt in making payments on premiums or you could find yourself on the hook for large damages, the court proceedings, and even the legal fees for your lawyers and the lawyers on the opposite side. In nearly all cases, this would result in your spending far more money in comparison to that of shelling out for the general liability insurance in the first place.