Commercial General Liability (CGL) Insurance
One Policy For Your Everyday Business Liabilities
A visitor slips in your showroom, a contractor’s crew damages a client’s ceiling, or a product you supplied injures someone months later. Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance pays the compensation and legal costs when a third party holds your business responsible. MILES helps companies across India choose the right limit, the right trigger and the right extensions, and then places the cover with an insurer whose wording actually matches how the business operates.
What A CGL Policy Covers
Third-Party Bodily Injury
Compensation awarded to visitors, customers or members of the public injured because of your premises or business operations.
Third-Party Property Damage
Damage your business accidentally causes to property belonging to others, including client sites where your teams work.
Products And Completed Operations
Claims arising after goods have left your hands or a job has been handed over, subject to the chosen limit.
Legal Defence Costs
Lawyers' fees and court costs to defend a covered claim, usually payable with the insurer's prior consent.
Personal And Advertising Injury
Allegations such as defamation or wrongful eviction, where the insurer offers this section and it is selected.
Contractual Liability Extension
Liability you assume under client contracts, where the wording extends to it, helping you meet tender and lease conditions.
What is Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance?
Commercial General Liability insurance protects a business against legal liability to third parties for accidental bodily injury and property damage arising from its premises, operations or products. It pays the compensation the business is legally bound to pay, plus the cost of defending the claim. In India, CGL is widely used by multinational subsidiaries, manufacturers, IT parks, service companies and contractors, often because a client, landlord or foreign parent insists on it.
CGL sits within our wider range of liability insurance. It is broader than a basic public liability policy because it bundles premises, operations, products and completed operations into one form, usually with a single combined limit.
What a CGL policy covers
- Premises and operations: injury or damage caused at your offices, factories, warehouses or shops, and by your staff while working elsewhere.
- Products and completed operations: claims caused by goods you make, sell or distribute, or by work you have finished and handed over.
- Personal and advertising injury: offered by some insurers, covering allegations such as defamation or infringement in advertising.
- Medical expenses: some wordings pay small medical bills for injured visitors regardless of fault, to settle matters quickly.
- Defence costs: legal fees for covered claims, either within or in addition to the limit, depending on the wording.
What is not covered
A CGL policy is not a catch-all. Typical exclusions are injury to your own employees (handled by employees’ compensation insurance), professional advice and design errors, damage to your own property, gradual pollution, product recall costs, fines and penalties, and deliberate acts. Liabilities you accept under contract are only covered if the wording extends to them. Exports to the USA and Canada are frequently excluded or rated separately, so export businesses need to declare them.
Occurrence basis or claims-made basis
This is one of the most important choices in a CGL programme.
| Trigger | How it works | Points to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Occurrence | Responds if the injury or damage happens during the policy period, even if the claim arrives later. | Old policies must be kept safely; limits are tied to the year of the incident. |
| Claims-made | Responds if the claim is first made during the policy period, for incidents after the retroactive date. | Continuous renewal matters; a lapse can lose cover for past work. |
How the limit and premium are decided
You choose a limit of indemnity per occurrence and in the aggregate for the year. Insurers price the policy on turnover, the nature of the activity, the territory and jurisdiction, product types, export share, claims history and the limit selected. A software firm with a single office will pay far less than a chemicals distributor with nationwide dealers. Limits are often driven by client contracts or a group policy, so we start there. Where a large limit is needed, it can be split into a primary layer and excess layers placed with different insurers.
Who needs CGL cover
Manufacturers and traders, IT and ITES companies in shared campuses, facility management and security agencies, event organisers, hospitality businesses, retailers, warehousing firms and contractors all face regular third-party exposure. If you make or sell goods, compare CGL with a stand-alone product liability policy to see which structure suits your exports and distribution.
How MILES helps
- Map the exposure: we review your activities, contracts and export markets before asking for quotes, so the proposal is accurate.
- Compare insurers: we approach several of the 16+ insurers we place business with and set out limits, deductibles and exclusions side by side.
- Check the wording: we look at the trigger, retroactive date, contractual liability, cross liability and jurisdiction clauses line by line.
- Align with contracts: we make sure the certificate satisfies your client’s or landlord’s insurance clause, including named additional insureds where allowed.
- Support claims: when a notice or legal claim arrives, we help you notify the insurer on time and manage the documents through our claims team.
What we need for a quote
- Business description, locations and number of employees.
- Annual turnover, with any export turnover split by country.
- Products handled, if any, and how they are distributed.
- Required limit, deductible preference and any contract clauses asking for cover.
- Current policy and five years’ claims history, if you are already insured.
Cover, exclusions and premiums depend on the insurer’s policy wording and underwriting. MILES Insurance Brokers Pvt. Ltd. is an IRDAI-licensed direct broker (Life & General, Reg. No. 954); the insurance is issued by the insurer. Insurance is the subject matter of solicitation.