One of the main priorities of a successful business owner is to protect their customers/clients and other members of the public against unintentional harm. Sadly however, mistakes can and do happen, sometimes resulting in property damage or injury. That’s why it’s important to protect not only your customers, but your business as well. Luckily a Mississippi independent insurance agent can get you equipped with the right business liability insurance for your needs.

What Is Business Liability Insurance?

Formally called commercial general liability insurance, it’s basically an agreement between the business and an insurance company in which the insurer agrees to cover financial losses pertaining to accidental harm or damage to the public caused by your business/team members. Unintentional or accidental harm by a business that results in injury, illness, or property damage to customers or other members of the public is covered.

What Does Business Liability Insurance Cover in Mississippi?

Commercial general liability insurance coverage in Mississippi is essentially the same as everywhere else. Different aspects of a business carry their own potential risks of doing harm to the public. Business liability insurance has five major categories when it comes to protecting businesses.

The main coverage components of business liability insurance in Mississippi include:

• Business premises: This aspect provides coverage against customers or other visitors getting injured or having their stuff damaged due to conditions present on your premises. Common examples include a customer who slips and falls on a wet floor, or a customer who gets injured due to products being stacked on an unsteady shelf. 
• Operations: This coverage aspect pertains to business that takes place off-premises, such as the tasks maids and electricians perform away from the business’s home office, such as in customers’ homes. Workers may still cause injury or property damage to the public while performing business operations remotely.
• Products: This aspect of coverage protects a business against selling harmful products. A business that manufactures and sells products may get sued if they cause bodily harm or property damage to customers. Defective or faulty products can cause serious diseases or extreme destruction, depending on the product.
• Completed operations: This coverage aspect protects a business against work that causes injury or damage after it’s completed. Once a job has been finished, it may still cause harm or property damage to a customer or client. A business can be sued if it performs defective work, such as a botched hair dye job that ends up burning someone’s scalp.
• Personal/advertising injury: This aspect of coverage provides legal protection for a business if they are sued for libel, slander, false arrest, copyright infringement, malicious prosecution, wrongful detention, invasion of privacy, or use of another business’s advertising data without permission.

Commercial general liability coverage is designed to protect every aspect of a business that has the potential to do harm to the public in any way. Really, every stage of a business’s operation carries potential risks of injury/illness or property damage. Luckily with the right amount of business liability coverage, business owners in Mississippi can seriously reduce their stress load.

What Does Business Liability Insurance Not Cover in Mississippi?

While commercial general liability insurance provides coverage for many potential sources of harm by a business, it doesn’t cover everything. As with all other types of insurance out there, general liability insurance in Mississippi comes with its own set of non-covered perils, including:

• Intentional harm: Liability coverage extends only to accidental or unintentional harm or property damage. This includes bodily injury or illness as well as emotional or psychological upset, and property damage.
• Employee injury: Employee injuries are typically covered under Mississippi workers’ compensation insurance and are therefore excluded under liability insurance.
• Injury/damage caused by pollution: Because harm due to pollution is less common, a separate category of insurance called pollution liability exists to provide coverage for potential damages.
• Injury/damage caused by automobiles: Business/auto liability is a separate category of a business insurance package and not included under general liability coverage.
• Damage to your personal property: Your personal property is covered under the property insurance aspect, and therefore excluded from the general liability category.
• Product recall: Special endorsements are required to cover the costs of recalled faulty or defective products.

If you’re concerned that your business is lacking in any area of liability protection, a Mississippi independent insurance agent can help you get set up with all the coverage your business needs.

Do I Need Business Liability Insurance in Mississippi?

Basically, yes, because having adequate liability coverage for your business is crucial, and comes with several important benefits. For starters, business liability insurance protects business owners from collapsing under the weight of hefty legal fees. Liability claims can cost well into the hundred thousands (or more) and have the potential to bankrupt a business without the proper insurance.

Additionally, because of the risks involved in operations, business owners need commercial general liability coverage to protect themselves and the public. Each business comes with its own unique risks, but virtually all businesses have the potential to cause harm. But while causing unintentional harm is already tragic, with the right coverage it doesn’t have to mean financial ruin for your business.

How Much Does Business Liability Insurance Cost in Mississippi?

It really depends on the specific business. Factors that influence the cost of liability coverage range from the size and type of your business to its gross revenue. Basically, the riskier a business’s operations and the more people it has the potential to harm, the more expensive the coverage will be. Mississippi liability insurance can range from just a couple hundred dollars per year for safer, smaller business to several thousand dollars or more for riskier corporate giants.

Why Work with a Mississippi Independent Insurance Agent?

In order to get the protection you need and deserve, you’ll want to work with a trusted expert. And who could be better for the job than a local agent who shares your area code? Independent insurance agents act as your own personal insurance shoppers, offering you tons more options than one-policy companies. With just one call, they’ll hook you up with multiple quotes.

Mississippi independent insurance agents are armed with knowledge on what coverage is needed in your area, and they’ll get you set up with just enough of it — not too little, not too much. They’ll handle all the heavy lifting, so you can rest assured you’ll be set up with the right coverage at the right price.

They’re not just there at the beginning either. If disaster strikes, your Mississippi agent will be there to help walk you through the claims process and make sure you’re getting the benefits you're entitled to. Now that’s thinking ahead.