Washington General Liability Insurance
Quotes, Cost & Coverage

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Get Washington general liability insurance quotes, cost & coverage fast. Commercial general liability protects your WA business from another person's or entity's claims involving bodily injury or property damage.

WA Commercial General Liability

Washington General Liability Insurance ⋆ Quotes, Cost & Coverage

It may be hard for you to imagine how your business could cause another person serious harm or even death. But if you are ever found liable for someone harm or injury, general liability insurance can provide financial protection.

A business that purchases commercial Washington general liability insurance, is covered for the cost of defending and settling real or fraudulent claims pertaining to bodily injury, that may be faced by a customer at the place of business or injuries sustained by employees at the client's workplace; property damages; personal injury as a result of defamation; operations liability and advertising injury up to a maximum amount as stated in the contract.

Washington general liability insurance is the most foundational business insurance. It covers non-professional negligent acts.

Does My Business Need WA General Liability Insurance?

One of the most trying situations a business owner can face is liability claims for injury or damages to third party. Any business is exposed to bodily injury and property damage claims and the resulting litigation from the your business operations.

Legal fees and judgements can put small companies out of business. A Washington general liability insurance policy would provide defense costs for a covered claim and pay damages if the business is found legally liable.

What Does Washington General Liability Insurance Cover?

General liability is commercial coverage that is designed to provide financial protection for businesses from many types of risk exposures. A General liability insurance policy has 3 main parts of coverage; Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liability (Coverage A), Personal and Advertising Injury (Coverage B) and Medical Payments (Coverage C). Following are some of the most important coverages:

The cost of medical care claimed by the injured party. For example, if a customer slips and falls on your premises and requires medical treatment, your policy would cover the costs.
Restitution for death and loss of services.
Compensation for physical damage to other people's property and loss of use of the same. Even if you're careful it's still a possibility that something your business does, or doesn't do, could cause damage another person's or businesses property.
Compensation to consumers for loss on account of using company manufactured products and retribution for loss due to services rendered by the company. So if something your business manufactures or a service your company provides causes an injury, your policy can pay for any resulting damages including legal expenses.
Contractual liability coverage for any liability is assumed by entering into contracts like lease agreements for the building, elevator maintenance agreements or indemnity agreements.
Coverage for hired and non-owned autos. Hired would be liability coverage for rented vehicles and non-owned is if employees use their personal auto on company business - like running to the bank or office store for supplies.
Liquor liability if you do not sell, serve, furnish, manufacture or distribute, alcoholic beverages , your general liability insurance policy will cover you if are held liable for a liquor-related incident.
The costs of legal defense. These costs commonly include compensatory damages, nonmonetary losses suffered by the injured party, and punitive damages.
Coverage for advertising injuries as a result of publishing inaccurate information.
Protection for violation of someone's right to privacy and infringing on another company's copyright, title or slogan.

What Washington General Liability Insurance Doesn't Cover

General liability typically does not cover:

Professional mistakes - Only professional liability insurance (E&O) can cover lawsuits due to negligence and professional mistakes.
Damage to your property - General liability only covers third-party property damage. You need business property cover yours.
Employee injuries - CGL only covers non-employee bodily injuries. You will need workers compensation to cover employee injuries
Employment disputes - Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI), not general liability, covers lawsuits if an employee sues over harassment, wrongful termination, discrimination, and similar issues.
Damage to your vehicles - Commercial auto will cover damages to your vehicles.

Claims-Made vs Occurrence

When buying commercial general liability it's important know the difference between a claims-made or occurrence policy:

Claims-Made - Provides coverage over a specific time period, and only covers claims that are made during that time period - even if the claim happened at a different time. So if you had a policy that cancelled on January 1, 2020 - then a claim was filed on February 1, 2020 for an injury that happened on December 1st 2019 - you WOULD NOT have coverage.

Occurrence - This policy is different because it covers claims that occurred during a specified time period, and will not cover claims that occurred before the policy was effective. So if you had a policy that cancelled on January 1, 2020 - then a claim was filed on February 1, 2020 for an injury that happened on December 1st 2019 - you WOULD have coverage (if it wasn't exlcuded from the policy).

How Much Does Washington General Liability Insurance Cost?

How much does Washington general liability insurance cost? The premiums vary depending on the amount of risk exposure, and it depends on the endorsements and deductible selected. Following are some of the main factors that go into the price of a policy:

Type of business (contracting, service, retail etc.)
General liability classification code
WA business location
Years in business
Business experience
Annual payroll
Annual revenue
History of claims

Further Reading On Commercial General Liability Insurance

WA General Liability Insurance Quotes

Washington Insurance

Request a Washington General Liability Insurance quote in Auburn, Bainbridge Island, Bellevue, Bellingham, Bothell, Bremerton, Burien, Camas, Des Moines, Edmonds, Everett, Federal Way, Issaquah, Kenmore, Kennewick, Kent, Kirkland, Lacey, Lake Stevens, Lakewood, Longview, Lynnwood, Maple Valley, Marysville, Mercer Island, Moses Lake, Mount Vernon, Mountlake Terrace, Mukilteo, Oak Harbor, Olympia, Pasco, Port Angeles, Pullman, Puyallup, Redmond, Renton, Richland, Sammamish, SeaTac, Seattle, Shoreline, Spokane Valley, Spokane, Tacoma, Tukwila, University Place, Vancouver, Walla Walla, Wenatchee, Yakima and all other cities in WA.

Washington Insurance Rules & Regulations

In Washington State, there are certain types of insurance that you should be aware of. We will be covering the limits and regulations of insurance within the state. You should be aware of these because if you operate a business, there may be certain types of insurance that you are required to carry. In addition, even if you do not have a business, there may be certain types of insurance regulations that you should familiarize yourself with. We will be taking a close look at insurance regulations for both personal and commercial here.

WA Commercial Insurance

For business liability insurance, what you should be aware of is that Washington does not require businesses to carry business liability insurance in order to operate. Washington is a pure comparative fault state which means that an insurance adjuster must first assess fault and name the adjuster or a court will reduce the award proportionate to the fault of the plaintiff. Businesses may carry business liability insurance in order to protect themselves against these types of claims.

However, Washington does require anyone who employs at least one person full-time or part-time to carry Worker's Compensation insurance to protect them if they are injured on the job. Washington does not require any type of disability insurance for businesses nor do they require commercial vehicles to carry commercial auto insurance.

Washington Personal Insurance

There are two types of personal insurance that you should be aware of. The first is auto insurance requirements. In Washington State, you are required to carry $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident in bodily injury coverage. You are also required to carry $10,000 in property damage as well as uninsured/underinsured bodily coverage of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident.

There are two life insurance regulations to be aware of in Washington State. First, be aware that there is no free look period like there is in most states. If you sign up for life insurance, you are not able to cancel within 10 days in order to get a refund on your policy premium. However, there is a law that requires timely payment on insurance claims in the state of Washington. In fact, the state requires that the beneficiaries account start accruing interest on the day of death. That means that insurance companies will have to pay more for each day that they fail to pay the benefit. There is also a misrepresentation law when it comes to life insurance in Washington.