Commercial General Liability (CGL) protects business owners from bodily injury, property damage, and advertising injury claims arising from daily operations.

1. Occurrence vs. Claims-Made Policy Forms

• Occurrence Policies: Cover incidents that occur during the policy period, regardless of when the claim is officially filed in court.
• Claims-Made Policies: Only cover claims that occur AND are reported while the policy remains active, requiring 'tail coverage' (Extended Reporting Period) if the policy is cancelled.

2. Understanding CGL Coverage Limits

Standard commercial policies enforce two primary limit ceilings: the Each Occurrence Limit (e.g., $1,000,000 per incident) and the General Aggregate Limit (e.g., $2,000,000 maximum payout across all claims during the annual policy term).

3. Commercial Excess Umbrella Layering

High-exposure businesses (contractors, retail storefronts, logistics fleets) layer commercial umbrella policies ($1M to $10M+) above primary CGL, commercial auto, and employer liability policies to prevent catastrophic lawsuits from bankrupting the enterprise.