General Liability Insurance.
In plain English
General liability insurance is the basic business policy that pays out when your work causes bodily injury or property damage to someone outside your company. If a customer slips in your shop, or your crew accidentally cracks a client's window, this policy can cover the medical bills, repair costs, and your legal defense if you get sued. It also typically covers certain advertising harms, like accidentally using someone's slogan. It does not cover your own injuries, your own property, or mistakes in your professional advice.
01Why it matters
A single injury claim can run into tens of thousands of dollars in medical and legal costs, and many landlords and clients will not sign a contract with you unless you carry this coverage.
02The math, step by step
A client visits your studio and trips over a cord, breaking a wrist. Their medical and physical-therapy bills come to $18,000 and they hire a lawyer. Without a policy you pay that out of pocket plus your own legal defense. With general liability coverage, you pay your deductible and the insurer handles the rest up to your policy limit. What a policy costs scales with your industry's risk and your revenue, so a low-risk, low-revenue business pays much less than a higher-risk or higher-revenue one, and the price comes from the quotes you gather from insurers.
03What this is NOT
General liability covers physical harm, like injuries and damaged property. Errors and omissions covers financial harm from your professional work or advice, like a missed deadline or a costly mistake in your service. Many businesses need both because they cover completely different risks.
04Receipts
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Plain-English answers from our glossary. Receipts included. Never advice.
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