The baseline policy every contract references.
General Liability covers bodily injury, property damage, and personal and advertising injury caused to third parties by your operations.
- The question it answers
- “Why does every contract ask for $1M / $2M?”
- Typical limit
- $1M / $2M + $5M umbrellaat Enterprise contracts
- Usually bought with
- CyberUmbrellaProperty / BOP
What General Liability actually does
Commercial General Liability is the foundational business policy. It responds when someone who isn't an employee is physically injured or has property damaged in connection with your business — a visitor injured at your office, damage caused at a customer site, an injury at an event you hosted. It also covers personal and advertising injury: libel, slander, and certain advertising-related offenses.
For a software company, GL is rarely the policy that pays a real claim. It is, however, the policy every landlord, conference venue, and customer procurement team requires evidence of, almost always at $1M per occurrence and $2M aggregate. It is inexpensive and it unblocks contracts, which is reason enough.
Most technology companies buy GL as part of a Business Owner's Policy alongside commercial property, which is both cheaper and simpler to administer than separate policies.
Buy it when
- You signed an office lease or coworking agreement
- A customer contract requires $1M/$2M and additional insured status
- You are exhibiting at a conference and the venue requires a certificate
- You hired field, sales, or implementation staff who travel
What it covers
Grants vary by carrier and form. These are the components we look for when we place it.
Bodily injury to third parties
Injuries to visitors, customers, and members of the public arising from your premises or operations.
Property damage
Damage you cause to property belonging to others, including at customer or vendor locations.
Personal and advertising injury
Libel, slander, invasion of privacy, copyright infringement in advertising, and misappropriation of advertising ideas.
Products and completed operations
Injury or damage arising after your work or product is delivered.
Medical payments
Small no-fault medical expense payments regardless of liability, which often prevents a claim from escalating.
Additional insured status
The endorsement that lets you extend coverage to landlords, customers, and venues as contracts require.
What it doesn't cover
We put this in front of you at binding — the only moment you can still do something about it.
- Financial loss from a software or service failure — that is Tech E&O
- Data breaches and privacy claims — that is Cyber
- Employee injuries — that is Workers' Compensation
- Auto liability — see Hired & Non-Owned Auto or Commercial Auto
- Professional services of any kind
- Intentional acts and expected or intended injury
Three ways this policy earns its premium
Composite scenarios drawn from how these losses typically develop. Illustrative, not case files.
A visitor is injured in your office
A candidate slips in the lobby of your leased space. Medical costs and a liability claim follow. GL responds and the landlord's additional insured status is what keeps you out of a lease dispute.
Equipment is damaged at a customer site
An implementation engineer damages hardware during an onsite installation. Property damage liability responds.
A competitor alleges advertising injury
A comparative marketing campaign draws a disparagement claim. Personal and advertising injury coverage funds the defense.
What limit is normal
Ranges we commonly see for technology companies. Your contracts and exposure decide the answer — this is where the conversation starts, not where it ends.
| Stage | Typical | |
|---|---|---|
| All stages | $1M / $2M | Per-occurrence and general aggregate. The near-universal contractual standard. |
| With office space | $1M / $2M + property | Usually written as a Business Owner's Policy with contents and business income. |
| Enterprise contracts | $1M / $2M + $5M umbrella | Higher requirements are satisfied by an umbrella sitting over GL, auto, and employers liability. |
Companies that need this
- Any company with a lease
- Any company signing a customer contract with an insurance exhibit
- Companies that attend or host conferences and events
- Companies whose staff visit customer sites
What we need to quote
- Revenue and employee count
- Locations, square footage, and lease requirements
- Whether staff travel to customer sites
- Any events you host or sponsor
- Prior general liability loss history
Most of this is collected once in the Atlas submission and reused across the markets we approach.
Start a submissionSituations that put this policy on your desk
General Liability, answered
Usually yes, because customer contracts require it. It's inexpensive and removes a procurement blocker.
It extends your policy to another party for liability arising from your operations. It's standard in leases and customer MSAs. We add it and issue the certificate the same day.
For most technology companies under about $10M in revenue, yes — a Business Owner's Policy bundles GL with property and business income at a lower total cost.
Find out what general liability costs for your company.
Tell us about the business once. A broker reviews it the same business day and comes back with a plan and a timeline.