General liability insurance helps protect your business when a third party claims your business caused bodily injury, property damage, or personal/advertising injury. It’s one of the most common policies small businesses buy because it addresses frequent, high-cost situations—like a customer injury at your location or accidental damage caused during a job.
What general liability insurance typically covers
Coverage varies by carrier and policy form, but general liability often helps with:
- Bodily injury: medical expenses and legal defense if a customer is injured and alleges your business is at fault.
- Property damage: damage to someone else’s property caused by your operations.
- Personal/advertising injury: certain claims involving slander, libel, or copyright/trademark issues in advertising.
What impacts cost the most
Pricing is usually driven by a small set of inputs:
- Industry risk: a contractor generally has different risk than an IT consultant.
- Revenue: more revenue can mean more exposure (more jobs, more customers, more transactions).
- Location: local regulations, claim environments, and risk profiles can influence underwriting.
- Coverage limit: higher limits typically increase premium.
- Claims history: prior claims can increase pricing and reduce carrier options.
How to use figflows for a realistic estimate
Use the General Liability Insurance Calculator in figflows as a planning tool:
- Start with your best revenue estimate for the next 12 months (not your “hopeful” number).
- Choose an industry that matches the work you actually do most of the time.
- Select your state, then compare coverage limits (e.g., $500k vs $1M vs $2M).
- If you’ve had claims recently, toggle claims history so you don’t underestimate.
Practical tips to avoid underestimating
- If you do multiple service lines, estimate based on the highest-risk work you perform regularly.
- If your revenue is seasonal, consider running a low and high revenue scenario and budget for the higher premium.
- Review your contracts: many clients require minimum limits (often $1M per occurrence).
Next step
Once you have a planning estimate, the best way to finalize pricing is to compare quotes with matching limits and deductibles. Use your figflows estimate to sanity-check quotes and ensure you’re comparing equivalent coverage.