Commercial general liability covers third-party claims against a business. Under the standard form, Coverage A pays bodily injury and property damage the business is legally liable for, including injury caused by its products or completed work; Coverage B pays personal and advertising injury such as libel, slander and copyright infringement in advertising; and Coverage C pays medical payments to people hurt on the premises without a finding of fault. Defense costs are paid in addition. CGL excludes employee injuries (that is workers' comp), professional errors, most pollution and, typically, data breach liability. Appetite is driven by the class of business and the exposure base the carrier rates on, usually gross sales or payroll and sometimes square footage. For contractors, carriers look closely at the trades performed, residential versus commercial work, subcontracted costs and whether subs carry their own insurance. Products and completed operations exposure matters for manufacturers, distributors and contractors. GL is hard to place for roofing, new residential construction, liquor-heavy hospitality, products with injury potential and anything with a pollution exposure. Contract requirements, such as additional insured, waiver of subrogation and primary and noncontributory wording, also need to be confirmed before quoting. Small accounts are often quoted in a BOP or as monoline GL through carrier portals and small-commercial quoting platforms. Larger or harder classes go to underwriters or the excess and surplus lines market on an ACORD 125 and 126.
Carriers with published appetite
From each carrier's own public appetite guide or product pages. Appetite changes: confirm with the carrier before you submit.
Contractors — Contractors get general liability with optional owners and contractors protective liability, blanket additional insured, free waiver of subrogation and crime cover for building service contractors. Inland marine covers tools, employee tools and builders risk. A package discount applies when the general liability and the tools, equipment or building are both insured with Auto-Owners (Contractor page, Oct 2026).
Retail — Retail and service package for businesses from barber shops to gas stations and boutiques. It includes general liability, commercial property, inland marine and business interruption, with optional professional liability, equipment breakdown, cyber and EPL (Retail/Service page, Oct 2026).
Quote it through: Semsee, or the carrier portal
Transportation — General liability, with employee benefits liability, is offered alongside auto and cargo for the same 1 to 14 power unit trucking risks (Berkley Small Business transportation page, 2026).
Contractors — Yes for GL, BOP and umbrella: carpentry, drywall, flooring, gutters, siding, concrete and masonry (2+ years in business if building new structures), HVAC, plumbing, electrical, fencing, glaziers and painting. Demolition, welding and land grading are out. WC is 'maybe' for every class and not available for many trades in FL, NY, NJ, MA and WI; roofing WC only in AZ, ND, NV, OH, WA and WY (biBERK Appetite Guide, Aug 15, 2024).
Hospitality — Hotels with no restaurant or with a full-service restaurant are a 'Yes' for GL, BOP and umbrella; casinos are out (biBERK Appetite Guide, Aug 15, 2024).
Quote it through: Bold Penguin, or the carrier portal
Professional services — Services guide lines: GL, commercial auto, property, inland marine, WC, cyber and umbrella. Strong fit: 3+ years in business, no bankruptcy, 3 years of loss runs, prior coverage with a standard (non-E&S) carrier and no monoline property. Ineligible: adult, alarm monitoring, apartments, cannabis, firearms, hotels/motels, laundries, pest control, tattoo/tanning and vacant buildings (Services Appetite Guide MK8595, Nov 2025).
Manufacturing — Acceptable on all six lines: beer and malt beverages, fabricated metals (other), machine shops, sign manufacturing, tool manufacturing and wire drawing. Most other manufacturing is 'will consider'. Not a market: chemicals, electroplating, petroleum refining, tobacco, transportation equipment and sand/gravel hauling (Middle Market Appetite Guide MK8592, Jan 2026).
Contractors — Contractor package includes contractor liability for operations and completed work. Optional add-ons: pollution liability, errors and omissions, tools and equipment (at the job site or elsewhere), and builders risk and installation. Workers' comp and business auto are separate policies, and workers' comp is not offered in Ohio (Contractors industry page, Oct 2026).
Retail — Retail package covers premises and product liability, contingent business income if a key supplier has a covered loss, and optional peak-season inventory and data breach liability. Workers' comp is not offered in Ohio (Retail industry page, Oct 2026).
Manufacturing — Manufacturers package covers product liability, equipment breakdown and off-premises utility failure. Optional add-ons include product withdrawal and manufacturer's errors and omissions. Workers' comp is a separate policy and not offered in Ohio (Manufacturers industry page, Oct 2026).
Contractors — Mid-Continent's admitted GL appetite covers building construction, heavy construction and specialty trade contractors, focused on small to mid-sized businesses that struggle to find severity-driven GL. Homebuilders and commercial general contractors are quote-and-bind or quote-request products on the agent portal (Mid-Continent Group products page, Oct 2026).
Manufacturing — Admitted appetite list includes lumber and wood products, furniture and fixtures, rubber and plastic products, primary and fabricated metals, industrial and commercial machinery, transportation equipment and miscellaneous manufacturing (Mid-Continent Group products page, Oct 2026).
Wholesale — Admitted appetite includes wholesale trade in durable and non-durable goods. Risks that don't fit admitted appetite can go to Mid-Continent Excess and Surplus, licensed in 48 states (Mid-Continent Group products page, Oct 2026).
Retail — Non-admitted GL appetite through Mid-Continent Excess and Surplus includes miscellaneous retail, business services, amusement and recreation services and membership organizations. Submissions need applications, loss runs and operations descriptions (Mid-Continent Group products page, Oct 2026).
Contractors · FL — Artisan Contractor Program: commercial general liability for trade contractors working in Florida, with medical payments, damage to rented premises, a range of additional insured forms and optional inland marine for tools and equipment (Artisan Contractor Program page, Oct 2026).
Offices — Offices are a strongest-appetite class for Markel's small commercial package (property and GL). Recent accounts include a physical therapy office on property and GL and a tutoring service on GL (Markel preferred US and Bermuda retail appetite guide, June 2026).
Quote it through: Tarmika Bridge, or the carrier portal
Contractors — Artisan contractors doing residential and light commercial maintenance and remodeling: tile, flooring, painting, electrical, plumbing/HVAC, landscaping, fencing, paving. GL up to $1.5M payroll. Contractors get GL, CP and IM rather than a BOP. New York not eligible for contractors (Appetite Guide, Aug 2026; National Appetite Flier CMO-2054AO.7, Sept 2026).
Quote it through: Bold Penguin, Semsee, Tarmika Bridge, or the carrier portal
Healthcare — The Commercial Small Business Unit quotes niche package accounts at $20,000 premium or less ($30,000 for non-profit human services and driving schools), including home health care and hospice, day care centers, and health and fitness facilities. Underwriters respond in 48 to 72 hours (PHLY Commercial Small Business Unit page, Oct 2026).
Contractors — Contractors page names general, heavy and trade contractors, including carpenters, electricians, commercial roofers and plumbers. GL, commercial auto, inland marine and commercial property are offered, plus subcontractor agreement templates (product page, Oct 2026).
Quote it through: Tarmika Bridge, or the carrier portal
Contractors — Hanover Contractors Advantage targets commercial, industrial and institutional general contractors, public works, heavy construction (roads, bridges, sewer and water mains) and interior and exterior trades such as carpentry, electrical, plumbing/HVAC, masonry, framing, concrete and excavation. Out: dam, dredging, environmental remediation, power line, pipeline and residential building construction. WC, auto and umbrella are offered alongside (Hanover agent construction appetite page, viewed Oct 2026).
Quote it through: Semsee, Tarmika Bridge, or the carrier portal
Contractors — Middle market targets established full-time contractors working mostly indoors (no roofing, street or road work) who sub out under 25% of their work, such as electricians, concrete flatwork and HVAC, with contractors E&O available on the package (Middle Market flyer 9-A-3031, Feb 2023).
Offices — Westfield's Commercial Offices Segment Guide removed restrictions on higher general liability and umbrella limits. It also dropped 13 controlled-substance questions from the quoting process (Commercial Offices Segment Guide, Mar 4, 2026).
Quote it through: Semsee, or the carrier portal
Before you submit
- Detailed description of operations and the GL class codes that apply
- Annual gross sales or payroll, current and projected
- For contractors: percentage residential versus commercial, new versus remodel, and subcontracted costs
- Certificates of insurance and contracts for subcontractors
- Three to five years of loss runs
- Contract requirements: additional insureds, waiver of subrogation, primary and noncontributory, required limits
Sources
- Triple-I: Commercial general liability insurance
- IRMI: Commercial general liability policy (CGL) definition
- IRMI: The hazards of products and completed operations
Updated Oct 30, 2026