FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What does general liability insurance cover?

A person or business is said to be liable when the product or service they sell causes harm to another person or business entity. The injured party is able to recover for the harm they have suffered by filing a lawsuit. A typical liability insurance policy will provide coverage for covered causes of loss paying the cost of defense and any montary damages awarded up to the limits of the policy.

What is full coverage?

There is no such thing as full coverage because every insurance policy has a limit, which is the maximum amount the insurance company will pay for any one given claim.

What do I do if I am not sure whether or not I should file a claim?

You should always file the claim. It is up to the claims adjuster to determine if you have suffered a covered loss. You should not try and figure this out for your self and your agent should not try and figure this out.

If I file a claim will my rate go up?

Claims are but one of many pieces of data that the insurance company looks at when making adjustments to rates. It is not a given that just because you had a claim you will see a rate increase. However, if you have suffered a large loss on a policy with a small premium you can expect to see a rate increase since the carrier will want to try and recoup some of the loss expenses they paid on your claim.

What determines the rates that I pay for my business insurance?

If your business meets certain classification requirements then you are eligible for what are known as business owners policies (BOPs) which are underwritten using risk information for the entire group of businesses in that class rather than your individual company. Rates are typically more cost effective and there are more coverages provided for your premium dollars if your business meets the underwriting guidelines to be accepted into one of these classes

My business is a corporation and has as an insurance policy and I want to know if that policy covers me as an individual?

Look through the policy until you find a section labeled “Who Is An Insured” and read it. Typically a policy with a corporation as the named insured will cover the executive officers but only with respect to their duties as the corporations executive officers

I have tried to read my policy but it is very confusing. Is there any way to make sense of it?

You cannot approach the reading of your insurance policy like you would a novel. Use it more like you would a dictionary. A typical policy contains a page that is titled “Forms & Schedules” or something similar. Use this page like a table of contents with the number of the form on the left and the name of the form on the right. Look through this list for the name of the form you want to read and note the number to the left of the form. Then as you look through your policy you will see the number of the form displayed in the lower left or upper right corner. Use this number like a page number to find the form you are looking for.

In looking at my policy I noticed that there are certain words that are in quotes. What does this mean?

Words that are enclosed in quotes or are printed in bold have very specific meanings that are defined in the policy. Find the “Definitions: section of your policy and then you can read exactly what the word means. This is the definition that will be used in interpreting whether or not your policy will provide coverage under a given set of circumstances.

 
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