General liability insurance is an important tool for your business. But it doesn't protect you from everything. There are several important exclusions that you will need to find other types of insurance to cover.
Workers Compensation
General liability insurance generally covers harm you cause to your clients and to third-parties. But it provides little or no protection to claims filed by the people who work for you. If one of your workers gets hurt on the job, that claim would almost always fall under workers compensation insurance. Most states require you to carry workers compensation coverage. Your general liability insurance doesn't meet this obligation.
Professional Liability
Assume you're a lawyer meeting a client in a coffee shop. You make a mistake in their contract that will later cost them $1 million. On the way out, they trip over your bag and end up with a $50,000 hospital bill. Assuming you have high enough limits, your general liability coverage would probably cover the $50,000 hospital bill, but not the $1 million contract mistake.
Keep in mind that some insurance packages sold to specific professions will include professional liability claims. These are bundled policies, which are separate from default general liability policies. So, be sure you know what you're buying.
Car Accidents
Car or truck accidents are almost never covered by general liability policies. This includes both accidents sustained while driving down the highway to a job location and those sustained while driving around a site. To be covered for auto claims, you'd need a commercial auto insurance policy.
Employee Claims
Employee claims of harassment, discrimination, and other illegal practices generally won't fall under general liability either. As with workers compensation, these are internal claims, They are not the external type of claims general liability insurance usually covers.
Your Own Property
Damage to or theft of your own property also isn't covered by general liability insurance. Again, you would have no liability to others if you lost your own property. Even rented property that you'd need to pay for is technically under your name at the time it's rented. So, it wouldn't be covered.
You'd need separate property insurance for these types of claims. General liability insurance would cover any harm your property caused to others when it broke. But that would be for their costs, and not your repair bills.
