Liability Insurance Basics
Negligence, the engine of liability claims
Four elements must be proved: a duty of reasonable care, a breach of that duty, proximate cause, and actual damages. Defenses include comparative fault, assumption of risk, and lack of duty (for example, toward a trespasser). South Carolina follows modified comparative negligence: the plaintiff's recovery is reduced by the plaintiff's own percentage of fault, and a plaintiff whose fault exceeds the defendant's is barred. Other theories are vicarious liability (employers for employees), strict liability for ultrahazardous activities, attractive nuisance, and res ipsa loquitur.
Policy architecture
Coverage A pays third-party bodily injury and property damage for which the insured is legally liable. Coverage B pays personal and advertising injury. The duty to defend is broader than the duty to pay and generally sits outside the limit, along with supplementary payments such as bail bond and loss-of-earnings costs.
Occurrence forms respond to injury or damage that takes place during the policy period, whenever the claim surfaces. Claims-made forms respond to claims first made during the policy period plus any extended reporting period, subject to a retroactive date.
Limit structure
Each occurrence, general aggregate, products-completed operations aggregate, personal and advertising injury limit, and damage to premises rented to you. A self-insured retention is funded by the insured before coverage begins; a deductible is typically advanced by the insurer and billed back.
Traps
Confusing occurrence with claims-made; assuming limits restore after a claim; forgetting punitive damages may be uninsurable or restricted.
Rule of thumb
Find the trigger: injury happened during the period = occurrence; claim first made during the period = claims-made.