Commercial General Liability: Coverage C - Medical Payments
Coverage C pays reasonable medical expenses incurred within one year of the date of an accident, for bodily injury caused by an accident on premises the insured owns or rents, or on ways immediately adjoining the premises, or because of the insured's operations. It applies regardless of fault. The insured does not need to be legally liable; the payment is made to a person injured on the premises or by the insured's operations. Payments are typically subject to a per-person limit and do not reduce the Coverage A limit unless the policy states otherwise.
Key conditions matter. The injured person must submit to examination at the insurer's request, and the insurer may pay the injured person directly. The coverage does not apply to the insured or to persons hired to work for the insured, and it excludes injury arising from the insured's products or completed operations in many forms, and injuries to persons covered under workers' compensation. The insured must report the accident promptly.
Traps: treating Coverage C as fault-based; forgetting the one-year window for incurred expenses; assuming Coverage C pays pain and suffering (it does not - only reasonable medical expenses); and missing that Coverage C is often a goodwill coverage that can be paid without admitting liability, which is why insurers act quickly.
Rule of thumb: no fault, one year, medical expenses only, limited amount. Worked example: a customer trips in a store aisle and needs stitches. The store's CGL has a $5,000 medical payments limit. Even if the store was not negligent, Coverage C can pay the reasonable medical bills incurred within one year, up to $5,000, without a liability determination. If the customer later sues for lost wages and pain and suffering, those damages fall under Coverage A, not Coverage C.