These two get confused constantly, and the mix-up matters — each covers a genuinely different kind of claim, and having one doesn't mean you're covered for the other.
General liability responds to claims involving bodily injury or property damage caused by your business — a customer slipping at your location, your crew damaging a client's property. It's about physical harm to a person or their property.
Professional liability, often called errors and omissions (E&O), responds when a client claims your advice, service, or work caused them a financial loss — a missed deadline, a documentation error, advice that didn't hold up. No one needs to be physically hurt for this kind of claim to happen.
If someone got hurt or something got damaged, that's general liability territory. If someone lost money because of advice you gave or work you performed — with no physical injury or property damage involved — that's professional liability territory.
A consulting firm that meets clients in its office needs general liability for that physical space, and professional liability for the advice it gives — the two aren't redundant, they cover completely different scenarios. This is common for firms that sell expertise but also maintain a physical location.
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