General Liability Insurance
General liability covers third-party injury and property damage tied to your premises and operations — a visitor hurt at your facility, damage you cause at a client site, or advertising injury. It's the baseline policy almost every contract requires.
General Liability for Manufacturers
General liability (GL) is the foundation of a manufacturer's insurance program. It responds to third-party claims of bodily injury and property damage arising from your premises and operations — the slip-and-fall in your lobby, the forklift that damages a customer's loading dock, or a contractor injured while visiting your plant.
What GL Covers
- Premises liability: Injuries to visitors, vendors, and delivery drivers at your facility
- Operations liability: Damage or injury your work causes away from your premises (installs, deliveries)
- Products-completed operations: Base coverage for product claims (layered with dedicated product liability)
- Personal & advertising injury: Libel, slander, and advertising-related claims
- Medical payments: Minor injury costs without a lawsuit
Why Manufacturers Need It
Beyond the everyday risk of an injury on a busy plant floor, GL is the policy your customers contractually demand. Distributors, big-box retailers, general contractors, and commercial landlords routinely require a certificate of insurance — typically $1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate — and to be named as additional insured before they'll do business with you.
What GL Does NOT Cover
GL does not cover your own building and equipment (commercial property), employee injuries (workers compensation), your vehicles (commercial auto), or large-scale product defect exposure (dedicated product liability). It's third-party premises and operations coverage — one piece of a complete manufacturing program we build around you.
What's Covered
Frequently Asked Questions
How much general liability does a manufacturer need?
$1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate is the standard most customers, distributors, and landlords require. Larger operations or those supplying national retailers often carry higher limits backed by a commercial umbrella.
Is product liability included in general liability?
GL includes base products-completed operations coverage, but manufacturers with meaningful product risk should carry dedicated product liability limits. We structure the two together so there are no gaps between premises, operations, and product exposure.