Business Insurance / General Liability
General Liability Insurance for Texas Businesses.
General liability is the foundation of any business insurance program. If your business operates, serves clients, or works on someone else's property, you need it — and you need it written right. We help Texas businesses get the coverage that actually holds up when a claim happens.
What Is General Liability Insurance
The coverage that protects your business from third-party claims.
General liability insurance — also called commercial general liability or CGL — covers your business when a third party claims that your business caused them bodily injury or damaged their property. It pays for legal defense, settlements, and judgments up to your policy limits. Without it, those costs come directly out of your business.
Most commercial leases require it before you can move in. Most clients, general contractors, and commercial properties require proof of it before you can work on-site. Many licensing bodies require it to operate. It's the baseline that makes your business credible to the clients and partners you want.
"GL is the foundation. Without it, one claim from a customer, a client, or a bystander can put a business under. With it, you defend the claim and keep operating."
Understanding what GL covers — and equally important, what it doesn't — is the difference between businesses that are actually protected and businesses that just think they are.
What general liability covers:
- Bodily injury to third parties — A customer injured at your location, a bystander hurt during your operations
- Property damage to others — Damage caused to a client's property, a job site, or third-party property during your work
- Personal and advertising injury — Libel, slander, copyright infringement, defamation in your marketing
- Legal defense costs — Attorney fees and court costs to defend a covered claim, even if unfounded
- Completed operations — Claims that arise after a job is finished for work you performed
- Medical payments — Immediate medical costs for minor injuries to third parties, regardless of fault
Texas Doesn't Require GL — But the Market Does
Texas law doesn't mandate GL for most businesses. But commercial landlords, GCs, commercial clients, and licensing bodies routinely require it. Operating without GL doesn't just create legal risk — it limits the contracts you can bid and the clients you can serve.
Texas Has a Significant Litigation Environment
Texas is one of the more litigious business environments in the country. Liability claims — especially in construction, contracting, and service industries — are common and can be significant. Adequate GL limits aren't just a formality. They matter when a real claim lands.
Additional Insured Requirements Are Common
Most commercial contracts and GC relationships require you to name the other party as additional insured on your GL. The endorsement language matters — we make sure it's structured correctly so you're not creating a gap when you sign a contract.
Who Needs General Liability
If your business interacts with the public, clients, or other people's property — you need GL.
Contractors & Trades
Required by virtually every GC, commercial client, and job site in Texas. Must cover completed operations and the specific types of work you do — not all GL policies are written the same way for contractors.
Landscaping & Outdoor Services
Every crew working on a client's property has GL exposure. Mowers, irrigation, chemical applications, and equipment operation all create third-party liability that requires proper coverage with the right exclusions verified.
Service Businesses
If your employees work on client property — HVAC, plumbing, cleaning, repair, inspection — you have liability exposure every time someone is on a job. GL covers incidents that happen during your operations.
Retail & Storefront
Any business with customers on premises needs GL. Slip-and-fall claims, property damage, and advertising injury are real exposures. Most commercial leases require proof of GL before you can occupy the space.
Restaurants & Hospitality
Required by most commercial leases. Covers customer injuries and property damage. Restaurants serving alcohol need liquor liability alongside GL — standard GL excludes alcohol-related incidents.
Professional & Office-Based
Even desk-based businesses have GL exposure — client visits, advertising claims, property damage. GL covers the physical and operational side; E&O covers the professional advice and service side.
Real Risks. Real Scenarios.
What general liability actually protects you from.
These are the kinds of claims that happen to real businesses — and what GL is designed to do about them.
A customer slips and falls at your location
A spill, a wet floor, an uneven surface — slip-and-fall claims are among the most common in business insurance. Medical bills, lost wages, and legal fees add up fast. GL covers the claim and your defense costs so you don't have to choose between paying the claim and keeping the lights on.
Your work damages a client's property
A contractor breaks a window during installation. A landscaper clips a gas line while digging. A service tech damages equipment during a visit. GL covers repair or replacement for property damage you cause to others in the course of your work — within the terms and limits of the policy.
A completed job generates a claim months later
A client discovers a problem — a leak, a structural issue, damage that wasn't apparent at completion — and holds you responsible. Completed operations coverage is part of GL and protects you after the work is done. For any contractor or trade business, this needs to be included and adequately funded.
A bystander is injured during your operations
A neighbor is hurt by debris from a job site, a passerby is struck by equipment, a delivery driver trips over materials on your premises. GL covers third-party bodily injury regardless of whether the injured person was your customer or simply nearby.
A competitor claims your advertising caused them harm
A competitor claims your marketing contains defamatory statements or infringes their copyright. These are advertising and personal injury claims under GL — a coverage most business owners don't think about until it comes up, but one that can generate significant legal costs to defend.
You're sued even when you did nothing wrong
GL covers your legal defense costs even when the claim against you is unfounded. Defending a lawsuit you ultimately win still costs real money — legal defense alone can run $50,000 or more on a contested claim. Without GL, those costs come out of your business regardless of the outcome.
Common GL Coverage Gaps
What your current general liability policy might be missing.
Policy exclusions that carve out your actual work
A GL written for "general contracting" may exclude specific trades. A policy written for "landscaping" may exclude irrigation or chemical applications. GL policies are not standardized — exclusions vary, and the ones that matter most are the ones that match what you actually do. We read the policy before we place it.
Limits that don't match your contract requirements
$1M per occurrence and $2M aggregate are the minimums most commercial contracts require. Some clients, municipalities, and commercial properties require higher. Running minimums and then signing a contract that requires more creates a real gap — you may not find out until there's an incident on that specific job.
Completed operations not included or under-funded
Some GL policies have low sub-limits on completed operations or restrict how long coverage applies after a job ends. For contractors and any trade where work can be disputed after completion, this is the single most important detail to verify before you bind a policy.
Additional insured endorsements not properly structured
When a contract requires you to add someone as additional insured, the endorsement language matters. Getting it wrong can mean the contract requirement isn't actually met — or a coverage dispute when a claim happens on that project. We handle these correctly as a standard part of managing your policy.
Assuming GL covers what it doesn't
GL doesn't cover employee injuries, your vehicles, your professional errors, your own property, or alcohol-related incidents. Businesses that rely on GL alone — without workers' comp, commercial auto, or E&O where relevant — have significant uninsured exposure they may not recognize until a claim reveals it.
Classification code doesn't match your actual operations
GL premiums and coverage are tied to the classification code your business is written under. A misclassified business may have a policy that isn't structured for what it actually does. When classification doesn't match operations, gaps surface at claim time — not before.
Why Get Your GL Through McKnight
Not all GL policies are written the same. The language matters.
General liability is one of the most commoditized products in insurance — you can get a quote online in minutes. What those online quotes don't tell you is whether the policy you're buying actually covers the work you do. GL policies vary significantly in how they handle exclusions, completed operations, subcontractor work, classification codes, and the types of claims most common to your industry.
We work with contractors, service businesses, retail operations, restaurants, landscaping companies, and a wide range of Texas businesses. Our team comes from business ownership backgrounds in the trades, construction, and commercial operations. We read the policy language before we place it — not after a claim reveals a gap.
As an independent agency working with 100+ carriers, we shop the market to find the right program for your business type, industry, revenue, and risk profile. We also make sure your additional insured requirements are handled properly, your classification is accurate, and your limits match what your contracts actually require.
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Need proof of GL to land a contract, start a job, or meet a lease requirement today? We turn COIs around same day, every time.
Call 817.277.6166 →We read the policy before we place it
We verify exclusions, completed operations terms, classification codes, and additional insured language before binding — not after a claim reveals a gap.
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Independent means we're not tied to one carrier's product. We find the right GL program for your industry, operations, and risk profile.
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Understand GL certificates, audit triggers, and the coverage details that matter most for Texas businesses.
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Whether you're getting GL for the first time or reviewing a policy you already have, we'll make sure the coverage matches how your business actually operates. No pressure. No jargon. Just straight answers.
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