Commercial Lines Coverages
CGL architecture
A standard commercial general liability policy has Coverage A (bodily injury and property damage), Coverage B (personal and advertising injury), and Coverage C (medical payments). Limits are structured as each occurrence / general aggregate / products-completed operations aggregate / damage to premises rented. The occurrence form covers injury during the policy period however late the claim arrives; the claims-made form covers claims first made during the period, subject to a retroactive date and an extended reporting period.
Exclusions carry the exam weight: your work, your product, impaired property, recall, professional services, employment-related practices, and expected or intended injury. The subcontractor exception to the your-work exclusion is highly testable. Additional insured status comes only from the endorsement - never assume blanket AI treatment, and note that many AI endorsements are limited to ongoing operations.
Property and specialty lines
Commercial property adds coinsurance (same formula as homeowners), blanket vs. specific limits, and business income with extra expense, measured over the period of restoration and often subject to a 72-hour waiting period. Know commercial auto symbols (any auto, scheduled, hired, non-owned), garagekeepers, builders risk, inland marine, equipment breakdown, and umbrella/excess with its self-insured retention or drop-down feature. Workers' compensation Part One is statutory; Part Two (employers liability) is the tort-liability backstop.
Worked example - business income
A fire halts operations 90 days; net income plus continuing expenses is $30,000 per month. Business income responds for roughly $90,000, less the waiting period, plus extra expense to rent temporary space and expedite equipment.
Rule of thumb: in commercial claims, read the declarations, endorsements, and exclusions in that order before the insuring agreement.