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Liability Insurance

Liability Insurance

Definition

Liability Insurance — insurance paying or rendering service on behalf of an insured for loss arising out of legal liability to others.

Related Terms

Business Auto Policy (BAP)

A commercial auto policy that includes auto liability and auto physical damage coverages; other coverages are available by endorsement. Except for auto-related businesses and motor carrier or trucking firms, the business auto policy (BAP) addresses the needs of most commercial entities as respects auto insurance.

Casualty Insurance

Insurance that is primarily concerned with the losses caused by injuries to persons and legal liability imposed on the insured for such injury or for damage to property of others.

Commercial General Liability (CGL) Policy

A standard insurance policy issued to business organizations to protect them against liability claims for bodily injury (BI) and property damage (PD) arising out of premises, operations, products, and completed operations; and advertising and personal injury (PI) liability. The CGL policy was introduced in 1986 and replaced the "comprehensive" general liability policy.

Environmental Impairment Liability (EIL) Insurance

A specialized insurance policy that covers liability and sometimes cleanup costs associated with pollution. See also Casualty insurance; Insurance; Liability insurance; Pollution exclusion.

General Liability Insurance

Insurance protecting commercial insureds from most liability exposures other than automobile and professional liability.

Insurance

A contractual relationship that exists when one party (the insurer) for a consideration (the premium) agrees to reimburse another party (the insured) for loss to a specified subject (the risk) caused by designated contingencies (hazards or perils). The term "assurance," commonly used in England, is considered synonymous with "insurance." 

Professional Liability

A type of liability coverage designed to protect traditional professionals (e.g., accountants, attorneys) and quasi-professionals (e.g., real estate brokers, consultants) against liability incurred as a result of errors and omissions in performing their professional services. Although there are a few exceptions (e.g., physicians, architects, and engineers), most professional liability policies only cover economic or financial losses suffered by third parties, as opposed to bodily injury (BI) and property damage (PD) claims. This is because the latter two types of loss are typically covered under commercial general liability (CGL) policies. The vast majority of professional liability policies are written with claims-made coverage triggers. In addition, professional liability policies commonly contain what are known as "shrinking limits," meaning that unlike CGL policies (where defense costs are paid in addition to policy limits), the insurer's payment of defense costs reduces available policy limits. Accordingly, when attempting to determine appropriate policy limits, insureds must consider the fact that because defense costs are often a high proportion of any claim settlement or judgment, they may need to purchase higher limits than they would have for indemnity only. Note, however, that many professional liability policies (particularly for the medical, hospital, long-term care, and medical facility lines of professional liability) do provide defense coverage in addition to policy limits, an approach that is more in line with the structure of a CGL policy. The most common exclusions in professional liability policy forms are for BI, PD, and intentional/dishonest acts.

Umbrella Liability Policy

A policy designed to provide protection against catastrophic losses. It generally is written over various primary liability policies, such as the business auto policy (BAP), commercial general liability (CGL) policy, watercraft and aircraft liability policies, and employers liability coverage. The umbrella policy serves three purposes: it provides excess limits when the limits of underlying liability policies are exhausted by the payment of claims; it drops down and picks up where the underlying policy leaves off when the aggregate limit of the underlying policy in question is exhausted by the payment of claims; and it provides protection against some claims not covered by the underlying policies, subject to the assumption by the named insured of a self-insured retention (SIR).

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