No matter what your business’s daily operations consist of, unfortunately there’s no way to eliminate all the potential risks that come along with the trade. That’s why successful business owners know that the best way to protect themselves against possible mishaps is through having the right coverage. A Mississippi independent insurance agent can get you set up with adequate liability insurance protect your business and customers/clients. But first, here’s a handy guide.

What Is 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. Coverage for unintentional or accidental harm by a business that results in injury, illness, or property damage to customers or other members of the public is included in Mississippi commercial general liability insurance.

What Does 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. Liability insurance has five major categories when it comes to protecting businesses.

The main coverage components of Mississippi liability insurance 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, for example, maids and electricians who perform company tasks 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 liability coverage, business owners in Mississippi can seriously reduce their stress load.

What Does 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 Liability Insurance in Mississippi?

Honestly, yes, you really do. Having adequate liability coverage for your business is crucial, and it comes with several important benefits. Liability claims can cost well into the hundred-thousands (or more) and have the potential to bankrupt a business without the proper insurance. Because of the risks involved in operations, business owners need commercial general liability coverage to protect both themselves and the public.

Having adequate liability insurance helps to protect not only you as the business owner and your company, it also helps protect your customers/clients and your team members. Unfortunately no business is immune to potentially dangerous elements that can cause injury or property damage, and resulting lawsuits can be ruinous on all sides. Causing unintentional harm is tragic enough, but with the right coverage, it doesn’t have to mean financial ruin.

How Much Does 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 smaller, safer business to several thousand dollars or more for risky 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.