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Product Liability Insurance Companies

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Simply put, liability insurance protects you from lawsuits. This includes the any bodily injury or damage to another's property that occurs on your premises or as a result of you or your employee's negligence. In covers customers, suppliers, delivery persons, employees, vendors, visitors, in short, virtually anyone but you, the business owner.

Your General Liability (GL) policy covers you for a wide variety of situations. If you have a Business Owner's Policy (BOP), it likely includes a broad form GL policy in the package. It is your GL coverage that protects you against most of the losses mentioned above. It may also include some limited coverage for things like libel, slander and other specific causes of loss. It is important to read your policy carefully, especially the exclusions. These policies are written to cover a broad range of business risks but also carry exclusions that could be important to your business. All policies are not created equal. There is simply no substitute for reading and understanding the policy. Your agent should be able to help you understand what is covered and what is not.

If you are a manufacturer, you need Product Liability coverage. Should you have any doubt about this, I would encourage you to visit any retail store and read the warning labels on products on the shelf. Many of the warnings sound silly. A group called The Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch (M-Law) annually published a list of crazy warning labels. Last year's winners included a toilet brush with the warning "Do not use for personal hygiene." The point is that each of these crazy warnings came about because somebody sued the manufacturer of the product (perhaps even a lot of somebodys). Juries can award huge judgments against manufacturers even if there was blatant misuse of a product. Your Product Liability coverage will protect you.

When all other policy limits have been exhausted, your Umbrella Policy will cover any additional judgments, up to the policy limits. Because they usually require you to carry large limits on your other policies, like $500,000 or even $1 million, umbrella policies tend to be relatively inexpensive for the amount of coverage they provide. This is because it is rare for any lawsuit to reach $500,000. Given their nature, umbrella policies tend to offer very broad coverage, but as with any other insurance, read the policy carefully.

Different types of liability coverage have developed over the years do address specific business needs. When buying a liability policy, you should be aware that there are two types of coverage, occurrence coverage and claims-made coverage. Occurrence coverage is more expensive but covers you based on when the loss happened, even if it was many years ago. Claims-made coverage only covers you while the policy is in force and the claim is made. With occurrence coverage, as long as you always have some policy in force, you will not have gaps in coverage. With a claims-made policy, it is possible to have gaps when you have not coverage in force. Purchase an occurrence policy unless you have no other choice.

Product Liability Insurance Companies

When they do lawsuits ensue. When several people get involved in the lawsuit, class action lawsuits ensue which have the potential to be catastrophic, often costing manufacturers or their insurance companies millions or even billions of dollars.The following are major instances of Product Liability Claims, and they include recalls. Ironically recalls are often excluded from Product Liability Insurance Policies. Aside from severe cases, product Liability Suits can strike small jewelry designers, toy manufactures, clothing designers & manufacturers and to this day the thundering repercussions of paint manufacturing companies that used lead still echo through real estate owners looking for insurance. The following are the 6 of the largest Product Liability Suits, in order of smallest to largest by claim value adjusted for 2008 inflationary factors.

Number 6 Product Liability Suit

February 2002

Ford Motor Company Featuring Bridgestone Tires

Product Liability Suit - Faulty Tire Recall

Claim: Faulty Tires Causing Blow Outs, Roll Overs, Injury & Death by Having "Substantial Failure Risk"

Participants: 13.5 Million Vehicles

Individual Payment Range: $200 to $400

Claim Amount: Approx $1,100,000,000

Product Liability Cost adjusted for 2008: $1,285,400,000

Number 5 Product Liability Suit

December 1998

Owens Corning

Product Liability Suit - Asbestos Building Materials

Claim: Asbestos Building Materials Causing Mesothelioma, Cancer & Death

Participants: 176,000 Individuals

Product Liability Claim Amount: $1,200,000,000 - 1.2 Billion Dollars

Product Liability Cost Adjusted for 2008: $1,548,400,000

Number 4 Product Liability Suit

May 1995

Dow Chemical

Product Liability Suit - Silicone Breast Implants

Claim: Silicone Breast Implants Rupture Causing Injury, Bodily Damage, Scleroderma & Death

Participants: 400,000+ Women

Individual Payment Range: $105,000 to $1,400,000

Claim Amount: $4,250,000,000 - 4.25 Billion Dollars

Product Liability Cost adjusted for 2008: $5,863,000,000

Number 3 Product Liability Suit

August 1999

General Motors Corp

Product Liability Suit - Faulty Gas Tank on the 1979 Chevrolet Malibu

Claim: Faulty Gas Tank Caused Fatal Gas Tank Explosions

Product Liability Claim Amount: $4,900,000,000 - 4.9 Billion Dollars

Product Liability Cost adjusted for 2008: $6,183,000,000

Number 2 Product Liability Suit

March 2008

General Motors Corp (Again)

Product Liability Suit - Faulty Chemical Use - Recall

Claim: Dex-Cool Coolant Causing Leaks & Engine Damage

Participants: 35,000,000 GM Customers

Individual Payment Range: $400 to $800

Product Liability Claim Amount: approx $20,000,000,000 - 20 Billion Dollars

Product Liability Cost adjusted for 2008: $20,000,000,000

Number 1 Product Liability Suit

December 2002

Philip Morris

Product Liability Suit - Tobacco Products

Claim: Smoking Sickens & Kills People

Product Liability Claim Amount: $28,000,000,000 - 28 Billion Dollars.

Product Liability Cost adjusted for 2008: $32,720,000,000

What types of products need products liability insurance?

Essentially any product that is put into market or sold in any venue should have products liability insurance. Some examples are food, clothing, tools, energy products, furniture, stationary goods, beverages, baked products, luggage, pet items, heating & cooling apparatus, electronic goods, vehicles, toys (especially).

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About Author

Both Victor A. & Castle Rock Insurance Agency are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Victor A. has sinced written about articles on various topics from Finances, Dental Insurance and Liability Insurance. Victor A. is an expert author who writes for . Victor A.'s top article generates over 4400 views. to your Favourites.

Castle Rock Insurance Agency has sinced written about articles on various topics from Liability Insurance, Insurance and Liability Insurance. Brett LiptonCastle Rock AgencyProducts Liability Insurance419 Lafayette Street NY NY 10003212-360-2334. Castle Rock Insurance Agency's top article generates over 5400 views. to your Favourites.

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