Business liability insurance terms, like the business policy itself, are hard at first to understand.
No matter if you have a small business or a corporation, having business liability insurance protects your business, your employees, and any visitors such as vendors or mail delivery employees.
Need help understanding your business liability insurance policy? Contact our team today.
Basic Business Liability Insurance Terms
Insurance jargon is complicated, which is why we’re here to help. Take a look at some of the most common business liability insurance terms used by our agents every day:
- Compensatory damages: This is money awarded to a plaintiff to compensate for injury, damages, and other incurred loss and are awarded in civil court cases.
- Actual compensatory damages: These provide the necessary monetary amount to replace what was lost. Some examples of this are physical therapy, lost wages or lost employment income, medical treatments, medical and hospital bills, etc.
- General compensatory damages: This doesn’t involve an actual monetary expenditure, but it includes the estimates of loss. Additionally, sometimes courts use “per diem,” which attaches a monetary value to each day a plaintiff suffers. Some examples of this are future lost wages, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of opportunity, and more.
- Copyright infringement: This is when you produce or use copyright-protected material without the permission of the copyright holder. This is important as this can cover technology, visual assets, and even impact international laws.
- False or misleading advertising: False advertising is when advertising intentionally spreads false information in an effort to promote the sale of goods and services. Misleading advertising is when an advertisement deceives (or is likely to deceive) its audience in their decision to purchase a product or service.
- Libel: This is the publishing of a statement over a medium that’s untrue and threatens to harm the reputation and livelihood of a targeted person; however, not everything is libelous and can be protected against claims of libel. Some of these include pure opinions, true statements, and some criticisms of public figures.
- Slander: This is untrue verbal communication that defames or harms a person or business’s reputation.
Need help understanding your business liability insurance policy? Contact our team today.
Need More Help Understanding Insurance Terms? Contact Us Today!
Now that you understand the most important terms and definitions, find out what’s covered under a commercial liability insurance policy and get a quote today!
