What Injuries Are Not Covered Under General Liability Insurance?

One of the most commonly used  part of a general liability insurance policy is bodily injury liability, which covers medical expenses for those who are injured on a business’ property. Not all injuries are covered, however. 

Employee Injuries 
For the majority of cases, employee injuries will not be covered under general liability. General liability insurance is generally geared toward third parties and clients, while injuries an employee may suffer on the job should be covered under workers compensation.  

Intentional Injuries 
Injuries that a customer or third party purposefully inflict on themselves will not be covered. For example, if the camera in your grocery store catches a customer purposefully spilling milk on the ground and immediately slipping in it, this injury likely will not be covered. 

Illegal or Malicious Attacks 
If one of your employees or managers attacks a customer, the resulting injuries may or may not be covered. On the workers compensation side, workers comp will not cover employee injuries if that employee instigated the fight that caused the injuries. 

Injuries caused by intentional or illegal acts will not be covered under general liability insurance. 

Vehicle Accidents 
Say your company transports equipment. While on the road, one of your driver causes an accident and injures another driver. This accident is not covered under general liability insurance, as it did not occur on the business’ property. Instead, you will need a separate commercial auto insurance policy with liability coverage in order to pay for injuries and damages caused by the work vehicle. 

What Else Isn’t Covered by General Liability Insurance?

Along with the above injuries, general liability insurance also does not cover damage to your commercial property. Although it does cover third party property, it may not cover intentional damage or illegal activities that lead to the destruction, damage or theft of another person’s belongings. 

Be sure to review your commercial general liability insurance policy with your insurance provider. Different businesses require different limits and you may want to enhance your general liability insurance in order to protect your business’ unique assets. 

Many business owners choose to enhance their general liability insurance policy with umbrella liability insurance. An umbrella liability policy covers the gaps left over by your other liability coverages.  So if your general liability policy reaches its limit for a claim, umbrella liability will step in to cover the remaining costs.