General Liability Insurance is a type of Business Insurance that's a must for all companies these days. It can provide the extra coverage needed to ensure your business is safe in any unfortunate event. It provides coverage for medical expenses, damages, and attorney fees, that your business is legally responsible for. General liability is often combined with a Business Owners Policy, but it can also be available to purchase as a solo policy also known as a monoline policy. 

​General liability insurance can help protect your business and your livelihood. Just one accident can be enough to result in a lawsuit that could end up costing more than you are able to pay. General liability insurance has many coverage options that can be tailored to fit the needs of any business. All of these coverage options provide coverage for different situations, including:
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• Lawsuits, investigations, and settlements: General liability will cover your business’s investigation and attorney expenses, any judgment settlement, and the medical expenses associated with the case.

 

• Injury damages: These can be associated with bodily injury, as well as any property damages that are the result of an accident on your premises, as well as a result of your products, operations, or advertising for your business. More on this below. 

 

• Miscellaneous: General liability can also cover many different situations that business owners do not typically think of, such as advertising for your business that violates someone’s copyright. It can also provide some protection for your business against some alcohol related incidents, as long as your business is not in the alcohol-related business

General Liability Insurance can cover many exposures. I have made a list to give you a good understanding of how it might help your business against certain exposures.

Premises Exposure: When there is ownership or occupancy of property (the premises). This type of exposure is also known as "slip and fall". If you are signing a lease, and your landlord is requiring insurance, this is probably why. 

Operations Exposure: This is usually associated with manufacturing, processing, or contracting. An example would be a contractor paving a road. If there is injury or property damage as a result of negligent construction activity while the project is underway, this would be operations exposure.

Products Liability Exposure: When someone is injured by the product. An example would be if you were using a hammer and went to hammer in a nail and the hammer head came back and hit you or someone in the head and caused injury. This would be an injury arising from product liability exposure. Products liability exposure comes into play after the product is sold. 

Completed Operations: Relates to items that are installed or constructed at a given location. An example would be a contractor that builds a deck. Maybe a railing isn't screwed in all the way or has faulty hardware. If someone is injured, this would be completed operations exposure. As the name implies, completed operations exposure exists after installation or construction and it's being used for its intended purpose. ​Some contractors might think insurance isn't needed after the job is complete. However, it's probably needed more once they walk away from the completed job. 

Policy limits for General Liability Insurance can vary anywhere from $1,000,000 all the way up to $10,000,000 and higher. Sometimes the carrier won't write over a certain amount. If this is the case an Excess Policy or Umbrella would need to be purchased. Every business, large or small, should consider General Liability Insurance. If you have any questions about General Liability Insurance or any other type of Business Insurance, like Excess or Umbrella, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. 

Jason Matison
Commercial Insurance Agent
Austin, Texas

When you have a Business Insurance policy it's not uncommon to have the insurance company conduct an inspection. It's actually written into the policy conditions that they have the right to conduct an inspection, and if the insured (business) does not comply, they (insurance company) can cancel the policy. These inspections are important in determining the insurability of the property and operations. I get asked about Business Insurance Inspections sometimes, so I thought it would make sense to write about it. The main question I get is, why are they doing an inspection? 

It might seem annoying, or unnecessary, but it can be a good procedure to verify what you told the agent or broker is what was told to the insurance company. Think of it as the verification process for your insurance. This way everyone is on the same page from a risk perspective. 

In addition to verifying information, they will also look for any safety concerns that your business might have. From a risk management perspective, it's another set of eyes looking at safety issues. However, the policy language clearly states that the carrier cannot be held liable for safety statements. Meaning, if they miss something, you cannot go back and sue them. This disclaimer has been included in the policy to protect the insurance company against such suits. 

Also note that some insurance companies outsource inspections, especially if the insurance company does not have an office in that city. The inspector might not even come out and do a physical inspection. They might just do an interview over the phone to verify information on the application and ask some other questions. I've had some clients request that I come out when the inspector is there, especially if the inspector doesn't work directly with the insurance company and is an outsourced contractor doing the inspection. If this would make you feel more comfortable, be sure to request it of your agent. 

The insurance company may inform you of recommendations or requirements that should be made, but please note, they are not required. If they do have such requirements, they must be completed within a certain time frame otherwise they might cancel the policy. If you have any questions about the inspection process or anything else related to Business Insurance please feel free to contact me.

Jason Matison
Commercial Insurance Agent
Austin, Texas

I've been working with several Engineers lately and this question seems to come up quite frequently. How much is Business Insurance for Engineers? It's one of those questions that has many answers and questions. Both of which I will discuss below. Hopefully it will help other engineers when pricing Business Insurance. 
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• What type of Business Insurance are you needing or wanting? Typically, Engineers have Professional Liability, General Liability and Workers Compensation Insurance. This is probably the minimum requirement for most contracts out there. Again, this is the minimum. In some cases, firms will also carry Umbrella and other policies.

 

• What type of insurance limits are you looking for? Are you wanting $1,000,000 limits or higher? The higher the limit (more coverage) the higher the premium. 


• Have you had any past claims or losses? If so, this might limit the number of carriers that will write your insurance and also increase the rate that you pay.   

 

• What are your gross sales? Insurance companies have to gauge not only the type engineering work you are doing, but also the amount of sales for each type. This is a very common question and should be asked. If it's not, you should be concerned.  *Some carriers may use payroll to calculate instead of sales. 

 

• How much experience do you have and how many years have you been in business? Carriers will most likely ask for past project experience as well as a resume, maybe even financial statements. 

As you can see there are several variables that come into play when it comes to obtaining a price for Business Insurance for Engineers. Believe it or not, these are just a few of the questions. To get a firm quote, you'll need to fill out an application. I have attached one below if you would like to review. To discuss the cost of Business Insurance for Engineers in more detail, please feel free to reach out to me. I am always happy to help. 

If you would like more information about Insurance for Engineers, feel free to check out a past blog post Insurance for Engineers. 

Jason Matison
Commercial Insurance Agent
​Austin, Texas