Liability Insurance - Exclusions and Inclusions

Liability Insurance - Exclusions and Inclusions

Exclusions within a liability insurance policy state the activities that will not be insured in the event of them happening. Inclusions are the activities that are included and are insured within your liability insurance policy. This is very important to check if you are setting up a new policy or still important to check your existing insurance and read the fine print as it may turn out that you are not covered for something you thought you were.

What are some of the exclusions to watch out for within liability insurance?

It is hard to check for specific exclusions within your liability insurance policy when you are not sure what to look for or what to check, here are a few things that you may want to consider as they may affect you and your business:

Ø Time Compensation – In all types of liability insurance check if you will be compensated or you will be covered for your loss of time away from the office and business in the event of a trial?

Ø Time frames – Check your policy will state specific times which you are covered in and if an accident occurs outside of these times.

Ø Expected or Intended Damages – most liability insurance policies will not cover loss or damage in the event of an accident which is obvious and expected as it could have been avoided. In order to be awarded such a claim a person would need to prove what the insured person was actually thinking at that time which is very hard and always subjective.

Ø Employer’s liability insurance – Check in your employer’s liability insurance that it covers you for emotional or mental distress of your employees. Often if mental diseases do not become evident in the body they are not covered by the insurance company. Again with employer’s liability insurance note that usually any claims of sexual harassment, criticism, harassment, or discrimination are not covered as standard.

Ø Professional Indemnity Insurance – Common exclusions that are included in professional Indemnity insurance include intentional dishonest or criminal acts, any claims of discrimination or sexual harassment, claiming against bodily injury or destruction of property (this comes under General Liability Insurance). Also these contracts must not be allowed to expire without a new policy in force as gaps in cover can erase many retrospective years of indemnity.

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