What is the Difference Between General Liability and Business Owners Insurance?

When it comes to protecting your business, it's essential to understand the distinction between a commercial general liability policy (CGL) and a business owners policy (BOP). While CGL only covers liability losses, BOP covers both liability and property losses. This means that instead of taking out two separate policies, you can purchase one policy for business owners that gives you all the protection of general liability insurance, as well as protection for your property, equipment, and business. Depending on the needs of your company, a provider may offer additional coverage components or endorsements that can be added to general liability or BOP. A business owners insurance (BOP) policy generally combines general liability insurance, commercial property insurance, and business interruption insurance into a single policy.

Whether you choose a standalone general liability policy or a policy for business owners, you'll get that coverage. Both general liability insurance and the business owners policy (BOP) offer liability insurance for businesses. People looking for small business insurance can choose between buying general liability insurance as a standalone policy or as part of a more comprehensive business owners policy (BOP).General liability insurance protects your company by managing financial obligations that may arise when your company's negligence causes injury or damages property. For example, let's say that you use works of art for a business advertisement without permission or that you said something negative in a media interview about another company that damages its reputation.

Most insurers already included an exclusion for communicable diseases in their policies, so during the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies were denied requests for business revenues when they were forced to close. Meanwhile, a BOP is more comprehensive and offers coverage for the same things as general liability and self-coverage for your building and physical assets. Financial lenders, landlords, licensing boards and business customers may require that you have general liability insurance, so it's important for your business. To help you better choose between general liability or business owner insurance policies, we'll show you the differences and similarities between these types of coverage. It also has commercial property insurance, which is self-coverage, meaning that it covers the properties and assets of the company that are owned and used for the company. Insurance companies consider several factors when determining if a business is eligible for a BOP, including the size of its primary location, type of business, and revenues. With BOP coverage, you'll get both general liability and commercial property coverage to protect your company's finances.

There is also a form of BOP designed for domestic businesses that, like a traditional BOP, covers both general liability and property coverage.

Jenny Kizzia
Jenny Kizzia

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