General Liability Markets For Agents

General liability, placed across admitted and specialty markets.

The line every commercial account starts with, and the one declined most. Send the application, a prior policy, or the contract that triggered the requirement.

Cennairus is a licensed wholesale insurance broker: retail agents send us the accounts their own markets cannot place, stay the agent of record, and we take each account to the markets on our panel of 145 carriers that write it. General liability answers for the harm a business does to other people and their property, and it defends first, then pays. It is usually written on an occurrence basis and rated on revenue or payroll by class. Cennairus places it across admitted and specialty markets: a licensed broker takes the account to the markets that write the class.

Appetitethe class one market refuses, another writes

Declinedthe account we want to see

Formsadditional insured, waivers, certificates

Admittedfirst — specialty when the class needs it

One account, one file, one contact.

Appetite is the hard part of this line.

A class one market will not touch is routine for another. We are a licensed wholesale broker, nationwide, so you reach that appetite without your own appointment paperwork.

The endorsement work comes with the placement.

Additional insured status on the endorsement a contract names, waiver of subrogation, primary and non-contributory wording, per-project aggregates and the certificates behind them — worked with the account, not after it.

You keep your commission.

Settled monthly, on everything placed through us.

The insured stays yours.

You remain the agent of record and we do not approach them.

How do I place general liability through Cennairus?

Send the account as it stands.

A completed application, the expiring policy, the loss runs, or the contract behind the requirement.

We read it and set the class.

Class of business, receipts or payroll, locations, years trading and prior losses come off the documents so nobody re-keys them.

A producer works it against the markets that write that class.

You hear who is interested, who wants more information, and who has passed — each named as what it is.

What does general liability not cover?

A mistake in the work itself. Bad advice, a faulty design or a missed deadline is a professional liability claim — general liability answers for injury and damage, not for professional error.

A data breach or a ransom demand. Lost records, notification costs and extortion belong on cyber, whatever the general liability limit is.

An injury to the insured’s own employee. That is workers’ comp; general liability answers to third parties, never to staff.

An employment claim from staff. Wrongful termination, discrimination or harassment is EPLI — the employment decision, not the accident.

Damage to the insured’s own building, stock or equipment. That is commercial property, or the property half of a BOP.

Declined is the account we want.

A decline tells you one market’s appetite, not whether the risk is insurable. The file that came back “outside appetite” is ordinary business for a specialty market that writes that class.

Admitted first, specialty second. If the risk fits an admitted appetite, that is where it goes. Specialty answers the class, the losses or the limits that put it out of reach; it is not the default.

The classes declined fastest are the ones a wholesale desk exists for. Exterior trades, habitational, anything with a products or completed-operations history, and accounts whose losses read worse than they are.

What we will not tell you. That a market will take it. Some accounts do not place, and you hear that early.

What does general liability cover, and what decides whether it places?

It answers for the harm a business does to other people and their property. A customer slips on a wet floor, a crew puts a ladder through a client’s window, a finished installation fails and damages the room around it, an advertisement is said to have copied a competitor’s.

It defends first, then it pays. The policy pays to defend the business and pays what the business is legally obliged to pay, up to the limit bought. The defense half is usually the half that matters, because a claim with no merit still costs real money to end.

Three parts, and completed operations is the one contractors are short on. Premises and operations for the location and the daily work; products and completed operations for the claims that arrive after the job is finished; personal and advertising injury for libel, slander and advertising exposures.

Usually occurrence, occasionally claims-made. On an occurrence form the policy in force when the incident happened responds, even if the claim arrives years later. Claims-made general liability exists in particular classes and changes what happens at renewal, so it is worth confirming which one a quote is.

It is rated on revenue or payroll, by class. Which is why the class of business and the receipts or payroll are the first facts a market asks for — contractors and trades, retail, restaurants, habitational and light manufacturing are the accounts that come our way.

The contract usually decides the shape of it. Additional insured status, the endorsement the contract names, waiver of subrogation, primary and non-contributory wording, a per-project aggregate. One million per occurrence and two million aggregate is the common ask, but the contract governs and it is the first document to read.

Who buys it: contractors and anyone signing a contract before work starts; retail, restaurants and any shop the public walks into; offices and professional services with client visits; habitational, property managers and associations; light manufacturing and distributors with products in the field; events, venues and anyone signing a facility contract.

	General liability	Business owner’s policy	Professional liability
What triggers it	Harm to a third party or their property	The same harm, plus damage to the insured’s own building and contents	A mistake or bad advice in the work itself
Typical claim	A visitor falls on the premises	The same fall, plus a fire that closes the shop	Advice that costs the client money
Who buys it	Contractors and anyone signing a contract	Small retail, offices, habitational	Anyone paid for judgement
Key difference	Liability only	Liability packaged with property	No bodily injury or property damage

General liability

Business owner’s policy

Professional liability

What triggers it

Harm to a third party or their property

The same harm, plus damage to the insured’s own building and contents

A mistake or bad advice in the work itself

Typical claim

A visitor falls on the premises

The same fall, plus a fire that closes the shop

Advice that costs the client money

Who buys it

Contractors and anyone signing a contract

Small retail, offices, habitational

Anyone paid for judgement

Key difference

Liability only

Liability packaged with property

No bodily injury or property damage

General Liability, answered

Do I need my own appointment?

No. We are a licensed wholesale broker, nationwide, and the appetite is reached through us. You bring the account, remain the agent of record, and keep your commission.

Admitted or surplus lines?

Admitted where the risk fits an admitted appetite — simpler paper, simpler forms. Specialty when the class, the losses or the limits put it out of reach. We tell you which one a submission is heading for rather than letting it arrive as a surprise.

What classes are in appetite?

It varies by market and it changes, so we publish no list that goes stale. Send the class and the loss history and you get a straight answer: ordinary business, a specialty placement, or an account that will struggle.

Can you write a declined account?

That is the account we want. A decline is one market’s appetite, not a verdict on the risk. What we will not do is promise it places — you will hear early if it does not.

What documents do you need?

A completed application, or a prior policy, plus loss runs where there is history. If a contract triggered the requirement, send it too. Its insurance section decides whether a quote is usable.

Can you get the additional insured wording a contract demands?

Send the contract with the submission and we read its insurance section with you: the limit it requires, who must be named, whether it wants ongoing operations, completed operations or both, and whether it asks for primary and non-contributory wording or a waiver of subrogation. Those endorsements are requested as part of the placement, and which ones a market will attach comes back with its answer. An account that buys the right limit on the wrong endorsement still fails the certificate review.

Occurrence or claims-made?

Most general liability is written on an occurrence basis: the policy in force when the incident happened responds, even if the claim arrives years later. Claims-made general liability exists in particular classes and changes what happens at renewal, so which form a market is quoting comes back with its answer.

Do you place the umbrella over it?

Yes, and it is worth sending both together. An umbrella is underwritten off the primary, so a market that sees the whole account can price the excess properly instead of guessing at what sits underneath.

How is commission handled?

Your commission is yours, settled monthly on what you place through us. Rates are not published on a public page. Your agency remains the agent of record and we do not approach the insured.

General liability, placed across admitted and specialty markets.