General Liability Insurance
General liability insurance will help protect your business. Compare multiple quotes instantly here with Savvy.
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General liability insurance provides vital cover for businesses across a wide range of industries. It protects against claims and legal troubles if someone gets hurt, property gets damaged, or if there are issues related to personal injury caused by your business. It gives businesses peace of mind so they can focus on running their operations, knowing they're protected from unexpected accidents and potential lawsuits.
Get your business the protection it needs by comparing a range of insurance quotes here with Savvy. Using our free service, you’ll quickly be able to consider a variety of options to keep your business safe. Get your no-obligation online quotes here today through Savvy.
What is general liability insurance?
General liability insurance is a type of business insurance which commonly bundles together two different types of liability coverage. The types of policy which can be offered as a general liability package include:
- Public liability insurance
- Product liability insurance
A general liability policy will contain elements of both of these types of insurance, although the cover you’ll receive may not be as comprehensive as if you were to take out two separate policies. Bundling these two policies together into a general liability package may be a cheaper way to get cover and can reduce the cost of your public liability insurance.
However, some companies will offer a general liability insurance product which is simply another name for public liability insurance, meaning it won’t necessarily cover product liability. As such, it’s important to compare as many insurers and policies as possible, which you can do right here with Savvy.
By considering a range of online quotes through us, you’ll be able to find an insurance package that’s just right for your business. All you’ll need to do is answer a few basic questions about your business and you’ll have multiple quotes from leading insurers to compare instantly.
What does general liability insurance cover?
In its broadest form, the word liability means ‘being legally responsible for.’ Therefore, general liability insurance offers you protection in situations where you are legally responsible, which results in harm to someone else.
Public liability insurance
Public liability insurance will cover the cost of defending your business in case someone launches a claim against your company. The areas it covers include:
- Legal fees to defend yourself
- Compensation payable to a third party for injury if the case goes against you
- Compensation for damage to another person’s property
It’s a very common type of insurance which can be compulsory in some situations. For example, if you wish to hold a public event such as a market, concert or public performance, you’ll have to take out public liability insurance before your council or local authority will issue a permit to hold the event.
The amount of cover available ranges from $5 million up to $20 million or more. Some tenders and contracts state that public liability insurance is mandatory for a submission to be accepted, so you may not have a choice about how much cover to take out. Luckily, the cost of cover for $20 million isn’t four times as expensive as $5 million cover.
However, it won’t cover the following:
- Personal injuries to you or your employees (which is covered by workers compensation insurance)
- Damage to your own business property
- Professional negligence (which is usually covered by professional indemnity insurance)
- Unlawful activity
- Reckless behaviour or failure to take care
- Anything related to asbestos
- Incidents that occurred before or after the insurance cover period
Product liability insurance
There are similarities between public liability and product liability, which is why they’re often offered as a bundle called general liability. Specifically, this cover concerns claims made of injury, illness or damage to a third party’s property due to a product you supply. However, the definition of a ‘product’ can be very broad. It includes anything which has been:
- made, constructed, created or manufactured
- installed, assembled, erected or processed
- grown, extracted, repaired or serviced
- bottled, labelled, imported, transported
- marketed, advertised or promoted
It encompasses anything that you had a hand in supplying (including labour). For example, a plumber’s ‘product’ may be a finished laundry with running water, so if pipes burst and flood the house, the plumber could be found liable for supplying a faulty product.
The same costs are covered by this insurance as for public liability, such as legal costs to mount a defence and compensation to the third party, and the same exclusions apply to both product and public liability.
How should I compare general liability insurance policies?
Compare the price
It’s important to compare the cost of different insurance policies to make sure you’re getting the best value. However, a cheap public liability insurance policy may not always offer the best value overall, so it’s important to compare other aspects of coverage too.
Look at the type of cover offered
Check the type of cover offered by the general liability policy. Does it include both public and product liability insurance? It’s crucial to read the product disclosure statement (PDS) and understand the different types of cover being offered and excluded before you purchase your policy.
Check limits to the cover offered
Make sure the policy does include the cover limits you’re after. For example, if you need $10 million worth of cover, make sure the policy you’re looking at covers you for that amount. Underinsuring your business can leave you vulnerable if an expensive claim is made against you.
Explore optional extras
Most business insurance packages offer a range of optional extras which you can choose to bundle with other forms of insurance. For example, glass breakage is a common exclusion which can be bought as an optional extra. Check what’s offered as optional extras and consider if they are important to you and your business.
Compare quotes often
Comparing a variety of insurance quotes with Savvy is free and comes with no obligation, so it makes sense to come back and consider your insurance options with us regularly.
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Disclaimer:
Savvy is partnered with BizCover Pty Ltd (ABN 68 127 707 975, AFSL 501769) to provide readers with a variety of business insurance policies to compare. Savvy earns a commission from BizCover each time a customer buys a business insurance policy via our website. We don’t arrange for products to be purchased from these brands directly, as all purchases are conducted via BizCover.
Savvy does not compare all business insurance policies or providers currently operating in the market. Any advice presented above or on other pages is general in nature and doesn’t consider your personal or business objectives, needs or finances. It’s always important to consider whether advice is suitable for you before purchasing an insurance policy.
For any further information on the variety of insurers compared by BizCover or how their business works, you can read their Financial Services Guide.
