Premises & Operations
Visitors, deliveries, vendors, demonstrations and daily operations may create third-party injury or property-damage allegations.
Manufacturing General & Product Liability Insurance
Protect the Operation and the Products It Sends Into the World
Build liability coverage around your premises, ongoing operations, completed work, contracts, products and downstream consequences.
General Liability for Manufacturers
Liability Begins Before the Product Leaves the Facility
Visitors, vendors, customer representatives and employees of other companies may enter the premises. Manufacturers may also perform installation, repair, demonstration or service work at customer locations.
General liability coverage should reflect the company’s premises, ongoing operations, contractual relationships and work away from the facility—not only the products it sells.
Manufacturing Liability Profile
Where Liability Can Develop Across the Product Lifecycle
Product Design
Responsibility may depend on whether the manufacturer designed the product, followed customer specifications or recommended changes.
Materials & Components
Material selection, supplier quality and component integration can affect performance and downstream severity.
Warnings & Instructions
Labels, manuals, safety information and intended-use guidance can become central to a product allegation.
Installation & Field Work
Work at customer sites can create ongoing-operations, completed-operations, auto and contractual exposures.
Downstream Use
A low-cost component may become part of a high-value system with severe bodily injury or property-damage potential.
Product Liability
The Selling Price Does Not Measure the Potential Severity
A component worth a few dollars can become part of a vehicle, medical device, machine, structure or production system worth millions. Product liability analysis should follow the part into its intended and reasonably foreseeable applications.
Coverage, limits and risk controls should reflect potential bodily injury, damage to other property, aggregation across production runs and the jurisdictions where products are ultimately sold or used.
Request a Product Liability ReviewProducts and Completed Operations
The Exposure Can Continue Long After Delivery
Products and completed work may create allegations months or years after leaving the manufacturer’s control. Installation, repair and field-service work can also create completed-operations exposure after the job is finished.
Review Products & Completed OperationsComponent-Part Risk
Understand What Happens After Your Part Is Integrated
A component manufacturer may have limited control over final assembly or use, but contracts and product allegations can still draw it into a downstream claim. Traceability and documentation help establish what was supplied, when it was produced and which specifications applied.
Review:
- Intended and prohibited uses
- Customer specifications
- Material and supplier records
- Lot and batch traceability
- Testing and inspection records
- Change-control documentation
Customer and Vendor Contracts
Insurance Requirements Are Only One Part of Contractual Risk
Agreements may address indemnification, defense, warranty, additional-insured status, design responsibility, intellectual property, delivery, consequential damages and completed operations.
Contracts should be reviewed by qualified legal counsel. The insurance review can then identify obligations that may be covered, limited or excluded by the program.
Contract review priorities
- Scope of work and design responsibility
- Indemnification and defense
- Warranty and performance terms
- Additional-insured requirements
- Required limits and completed operations
- Choice of law and jurisdiction
Related Product Coverages
Not Every Product Loss Is a Product Liability Claim
Traditional product liability generally centers on covered bodily injury or physical property damage. A product may still need to be recalled, replaced or corrected—or may cause a customer financial loss—without either occurring.
Product recall and manufacturers errors and omissions coverage can address different portions of that exposure. The policies should be evaluated together so leadership understands where one form stops and another may begin.
Explore Product Recall & Manufacturers E&OLiability Program Structure
Key Coverage Decisions for Manufacturers
Premises & Ongoing Operations
Third-party bodily injury and property-damage allegations connected to the facility and active work.
Products & Completed Operations
Covered allegations involving products or completed work after they leave the manufacturer’s control.
Additional-Insured Requirements
Contract-driven protection for qualifying customers, landlords or other parties, subject to endorsement terms.
Contractual Liability
Specified liability assumed in qualifying contracts, subject to definitions, exclusions and other policy provisions.
Defense and Claims Handling
Carrier obligations, counsel selection, cooperation requirements, deductibles and claim-reporting procedures.
Umbrella & Excess Liability
Additional limits structured around product severity, contracts, vehicles and other underlying liability exposures.
International Exposures
Territories, jurisdictions, exports, travel and locally required coverage for operations extending beyond the United States.
Discontinued Products
Ongoing liability considerations for products and operations that are no longer actively manufactured or performed.
Common Questions
Manufacturing Liability Insurance FAQs
What does product liability insurance cover for manufacturers?
Subject to policy terms, product liability insurance may respond to covered allegations that a manufactured product caused bodily injury or physical property damage. Coverage depends on the product, allegation, timing, territory, limits and exclusions.
What is completed-operations liability?
Completed-operations liability addresses certain covered bodily injury or property damage allegations arising after work has been completed or a product has left the manufacturer’s control, subject to policy terms.
Does product liability insurance cover the cost of recalling a product?
Standard general liability policies commonly restrict many costs associated with withdrawing, inspecting, replacing or rehabilitating a product. Manufacturers should evaluate dedicated product recall coverage for those expenses.
Does product liability insurance cover a product that fails without causing injury or property damage?
Pure financial-loss allegations may fall outside traditional product liability coverage. Manufacturers errors and omissions insurance may address certain claims involving a product or service that failed to perform, subject to policy terms.
Follow the Product Beyond the Loading Dock
Evaluate the Liability Built Into Your Products, Work and Contracts
We’ll help identify exposures, coverage gaps and contractual obligations that deserve closer attention.