Casualty Insurance

General Liability Insurance (GLI) protects companies against third-party claims involving:

• Bodily injury: : If someone is injured on your client’s premises or as a result of their operations, GLI helps cover medical expenses, legal defense, and damages.
• Property damage: : This covers damage caused to third-party property by a business’ operations or employees.
• Personal and advertising injury: This includes coverage for claims such as libel, slander, and other reputational harm related to advertising or public communications. It can also be triggered by false arrest, detention or imprisonment, malicious prosecution, copyright infringement, and violation of privacy.

GLI is often a contractual requirement for companies that lease space or partner with enterprise or government clients.

If a business manufactures, distributes, or sells physical products of any kind, Product Liability Insurance is essential. It protects against claims resulting from injuries or property damage caused by a product. This could be due to defects, design flaws, inadequate warnings and other labelling issues.

Excess Liability Insurance offers added protection when the limits of a company’s underlying liability policies have been exhausted. It benefits any company facing higher-than-average liability exposures like those with large vehicle fleets, significant public interaction or large contracts. It’s especially important for those in high-risk industries like energy, manufacturing or transportation. Insureds should note that brokers will always advise on exact Excess Liability requirements.

Common exclusions include:

• Employee injuries: These are usually covered by Workers’ Compensation Insurance.
• Professional errors: Mistakes in professional advice or services are covered under Errors and Omissions (E&O) policies.
• Intentional acts: Claims arising from deliberate or criminal acts by directors or employees are not covered.
• Illegal activities: Damages resulting from illegal acts or legal violations are typically not included.

Not always by law, but often by contract. Especially when clients are large enterprises or government entities. Licensing authorities in regulated industries may also require minimum coverage levels. Even when not required, choosing not to have casualty insurance leaves a business exposed to a broad range of risks.

Almost every business can benefit. But it’s especially crucial for innovative companies in high-growth, high-risk, or heavily regulated spaces like:

• Cannabis: Product liability is a major risk. For example, if a product contains higher levels of THC than expected while consumers think it’s non-psychoactive, your client could be in trouble.
• Biotech: Likewise, a faulty medical device that harms patients could lead to costly lawsuits. Clinical trial risks and intellectual property disputes broaden exposure.
• Psychedelic therapeutics: Adverse reactions, incorrect dosing, and contamination during manufacturing can all lead to product liability claims.
• Aerospace and defense: One component failure can have monumental consequences.
• Tech: Liability is lurking around every corner in the form of data-related personal injury claims.