Casualty Insurance Basics and Policy Coverages
Liability fundamentals
Liability insurance responds to the insured's legal obligation to others for bodily injury or property damage. The CGL provides Coverage A (bodily injury/property damage), B (personal and advertising injury), and C (medical payments - no-fault, no negligence needed), plus supplementary payments outside the limits. Key limits: each occurrence, general aggregate, products-completed operations aggregate, damage to premises rented, and the fire legal limit.
Occurrence vs. claims-made
The occurrence form responds when injury or damage happens during the policy period, no matter when the claim is filed. The claims-made form responds when the claim is first made during the policy period, subject to a retroactive date and an extended reporting (tail) endorsement.
Worked example: a patient is injured in 2023; the malpractice claim is filed in 2025. An occurrence policy written in 2023 responds; a claims-made policy written in 2023 responds only if the claim is reported during that policy period or a tail applies.
Excess and umbrella
Excess follows the underlying form; an umbrella may drop down over a self-insured retention and broadens coverage (e.g., worldwide, personal injury) while sitting above scheduled underlying limits.
Workers compensation
Part One pays statutory benefits with no dollar limit; Part Two is employers liability (bodily injury by accident, by disease, each employee); Part Three covers other states. Benefits are exclusive remedy for the employee.
Auto and specialty lines
The personal auto policy has Parts A–D: liability, medical payments/PIP, uninsured/underinsured motorists, and physical damage (collision and other-than-collision). Study no-fault, financial responsibility, commercial auto symbols, professional liability, EPLI, and D&O. UM/UIM is not the insured's liability coverage - it stands in the shoes of the at-fault driver.