General Liability Insurance for LLC

What general liability insurance is designed to do

General liability insurance (sometimes called GL or CGL) is designed to help address certain claims made by third parties — people outside your business, like customers, vendors, or members of the public — related to:

• Bodily injury

  A customer, client, or visitor is injured in a way connected to your business operations — for example, a slip-and-fall at your location or an injury during a service call.

• Property damage

  Your business operations damage property that belongs to someone else, such as a client’s home, a rented venue, or a third party’s vehicle or equipment.

• Personal and advertising injury

  Certain non-physical harms like libel, slander, or copyright infringement in your advertising, depending on the policy’s specific wording.

A policy can also help with certain legal defense costs tied to a covered claim, even if the claim is ultimately found to be without merit — those legal costs can add up quickly on their own. Coverage is always subject to the specific policy's terms, conditions, limits, and exclusions.

What general liability insurance does not typically cover

It's just as important to understand the boundaries. General liability insurance is generally not designed for:

• • Employee injuries — that's the role of workers' compensation insurance.
• • Allegations about the quality of your professional advice or services — see professional liability insurance.
• • Damage to your own business property or equipment — see commercial property insurance.
• • Data breaches or cyber incidents — see cyber insurance.
• • Vehicles owned or used by the business — that typically requires commercial auto coverage.

Why LLCs commonly consider general liability insurance

Forming an LLC can create certain legal separation between a business and its owners, but it does not pay a customer's medical bill or an attorney defending a property damage claim. Those costs come out of the business (or, in some circumstances, potentially further) unless insurance is in place to help respond to them. That gap is exactly what general liability insurance is designed to address.

It is also one of the most commonly requested types of proof of insurance. Landlords, event venues, property managers, and corporate clients frequently require a general liability certificate of insurance — often naming them as an additional insured — before allowing work to begin.

Who typically considers this coverage

General liability insurance is broadly relevant across many industries, including consultants who meet clients in person, cleaning and landscaping businesses that work on other people's property, photographers and event professionals who work at venues, and contractors and handymen who perform physical work on client sites. What you specifically need still depends on your operations — see examples for consulting, cleaning, and landscaping businesses.

What it costs

Pricing depends on your industry, location, revenue, claims history, and the limits you select — there is no flat, universal rate. See LLC insurance cost for a full breakdown of what drives pricing, or start a quote below to see options for your specific business.

General liability vs. a business owner's policy

If your business also owns equipment, inventory, or operates out of a physical location, a business owner's policy (BOP) may be worth comparing — it can combine general liability with commercial property coverage for eligible businesses. See our full comparison: General Liability vs. BOP for LLCs.