Casualty Insurance Principles, Policies, and Coverages
CGL architecture
The commercial general liability policy has Coverage A (bodily injury and property damage), Coverage B (personal and advertising injury), and Coverage C (medical payments). Know the limit structure: each occurrence, general aggregate, products-completed operations aggregate, damage to premises rented, and medical expense per person. Coverage is written on an occurrence basis (injury during the policy period, claim later) or a claims-made basis (claim reported during the period, subject to a retroactive date and an extended reporting period). Exclusions candidates miss: expected or intended injury, your product, your work, damage to your own property, employee injury (workers' compensation), pollution, and aircraft/auto/watercraft.
Other casualty lines
- Umbrella/excess: an umbrella drops down over a self-insured retention; excess sits strictly above underlying limits.
- Business auto: covered-auto symbols (1 any auto, 7 scheduled autos, 8 hired, 9 nonowned) drive the coverage; the personal auto policy has Parts A–D.
- Workers' compensation: Part One pays statutory benefits with no dollar limit; Part Two is employers liability; exclusive remedy limits employee lawsuits.
- Minnesota no-fault: PIP pays regardless of fault, and tort thresholds and UM/UIM interact with it.
- Others: professional liability/E&O, employment practices, liquor liability (dram shop), cyber.
Traps
Occurrence vs claims-made triggers; the per-occurrence limit does not multiply per claimant; a certificate of insurance is evidence, not a coverage grant; additional insured status requires an endorsement.
Worked example: defective work installed in 2023 injures someone in 2024 under the 2023 CGL; the 2023 policy responds even though the claim is filed in 2025 - occurrence trigger.