Your business is your livelihood, and you depend on insurance to protect you if something threatens the viability of your company. Like many other business owners, you may rely on multiple policies, including general liability, product liability, commercial property and other types of coverage.
According to Forrester, about 54% of small businesses had commercial general liability plans in 2018. If you are among these companies, you might assume your policy will protect you. However, your insurer can deny a claim for many different reasons.
Insufficient coverage
One of the most common reasons for a claim rejection is that you have insufficient insurance to cover the damage or economic loss. For example, you may not have coverage for damage caused by natural disasters like flooding. Alternatively, you might assume that your general liability plan covers property like commercial vehicles when such policies often do not.
Inaccurate or outdated business details
When taking out an insurance policy, you would have provided the insurer with details about your company and property so they could determine an appropriate premium based on the level of risk. Failing to supply accurate details or forgetting to inform your agent of changes to your business could invalidate your policy and cause the insurance company to deny any future claims.
Insurance companies rarely feel incentivized to pay out on claims and will often look for any reason to deny you the financial help you need. Even if your insurer has unfairly denied a claim, you may still have options to pursue compensation.
