General liability insurance exclusions

General liability insurance covers third-party liability risks that small businesses commonly face, such as customer injuries and property damage, as well as personal injuries and advertising injuries. Your policy will pay for your legal fees, court costs, and any settlements and judgments.

While many businesses need general liability insurance, it doesn’t cover all the risks your business can face. You might need to purchase other business insurance policies to fill coverage gaps and make up for general liability insurance exclusions.

Here are the most common exclusions from a commercial general liability policy:

Comprehensive general liability insurance doesn’t cover claims related to catastrophic risks. These scenarios include “acts of god” (e.g., earthquakes, floods, and earth movements like mudslides), as well as hostile acts such as damage from wars and riots.

Intentional acts are one of the most common commercial liability insurance exclusions. Your policy won’t cover claims that are caused by wrongful acts, such as damaging a customer’s property on purpose.

Commercial general liability insurance excludes coverage for illegal actions or criminal acts. For example, if you get caught selling illegal substances out of your storefront, your insurance company wouldn’t cover your legal fees.

Your general liability insurance policy won’t cover claims caused by maintenance issues or general wear and tear. For example, if you knowingly have a loose handrail outside your office and it causes a customer to fall and hurt themselves, you might not be covered.

Preventable risks that lead to third-party bodily injury or property damage claims are excluded under general liability coverage. So, if a customer slips on the icy steps outside your store because you didn’t put salt or sand down, the claim wouldn’t be covered.

General liability insurance doesn't cover damage caused by a subcontractor who is working for you. If you would like to extend your general liability insurance coverage to your subcontractors, you could add them to your policy as an additional insured endorsement.

There are commercial general liability policy exclusions for risks that are covered under different types of insurance policies. These include:

General liability insurance doesn’t cover business vehicles. If your business owns cars, trucks, or vans, you'll need commercial auto insurance. This policy covers third-party bodily injuries and property damage if you're involved in an accident, as well as your legal fees.

General liability insurance covers some contractual liability claims, but they’re very specific. Contractual liability insurance, also called a hold harmless agreement, offers more protection against risks that your business can face when entering into a legal agreement with another business or customer, such as breach of contract or incomplete work.

If you handle or store customer data electronically, you may need electronic data liability insurance. This coverage, which can be added to your general liability insurance as an endorsement, protects your business financially if electronic customer data is accidentally lost, stolen, inaccessible, or corrupted.

Although general liability insurance covers customer injury and property damage claims, alcohol-related claims usually aren’t included.

Instead, you would need liquor liability insurance. This policy is required in most states for businesses that sell or serve alcohol. It will help pay for settlements, medical costs, and legal fees if you sell alcohol to an intoxicated person who then causes harm to someone else or damages their property.

Pollution-related claims are excluded under general liability insurance.

If your business operates in an industry that could cause environmental pollution, like manufacturing or construction, you should consider pollution liability insurance, also called environmental insurance. It protects against any types of claims related to pollution liability and cleanup costs.

General liability insurance doesn’t provide any protection to your office space, business equipment, or inventory. Commercial property insurance will cover damage to your workplace and business property when it’s caused by a covered peril, like a fire, burst pipe, theft, vandalism, or a hail storm.

If you need to purchase both general liability insurance and commercial property insurance, consider getting a business owner’s policy (BOP). This insurance package bundles these two policies at a lower rate than if you purchased each coverage separately.

General liability insurance doesn’t cover employee injuries and illnesses. If one of your workers gets sick or hurt on the job, and that employee files a work-related injury lawsuit against your business, you would need employer’s liability insurance to provide coverage for this.

Employer’s liability insurance is typically included in workers’ compensation insurance. A workers’ compensation policy can also provide reimbursement for medical treatment and lost wages while an employee is recovering from an on-the-job injury or illness.

Complete Insureon’s easy online application today to get free quotes for general liability coverage from top-rated U.S. companies.

You’ll need to provide basic information about your business, such as revenue and the number of employees. While many business operational factors affect the cost of general liability insurance, with several outside your control, there are still ways to find affordable general liability insurance coverage.

If you need help choosing policy limits for your general liability policy or any other type of business insurance, you can consult with a licensed insurance agent at any point in the process. Once you find the right policy, you can usually begin coverage and get your certificate of insurance in less than 24 hours.