BOP vs General Liability Insurance

Two questions a BOP answers at once

A business owners policy and general liability are not two versions of the same contract. A business owners policy, shortened to BOP, is one contract packaging general liability and commercial property together. General liability on its own is the liability half, with no property coverage attached.

A BOP therefore answers two questions: who the business can injure, and what the business can lose. Standalone general liability answers only the first.

Eligibility decides between them. A business owners policy is an eligibility product with a published class list and a size band, and a Texas business outside that band buys the liability and the property separately instead.

What a Texas business owners policy packages

A business owners policy carries three coverages in one contract, on one premium and one renewal date.

What a BOP includes:

• General liability for injury to someone outside the business and damage to property the business does not own
• Commercial property for the building, the stock, the equipment and the fit-out, owned or leased
• Business income and extra expense, which pays lost earnings and the cost of trading elsewhere while the damage is repaired

Business income is the coverage owners meet after the loss. A storm that shuts a Texas storefront for three weeks destroys three weeks of earnings, and a property payout rebuilds the premises without replacing any of them. Business Owners Policy Insurance in Texas sets out the form.

What standalone general liability leaves to other policies

General liability covers harm to people outside the business, which leaves the business’s own property and three other exposures uncovered.

What general liability does not answer:

• Damage to the building, stock or equipment the business owns or leases, which is commercial property
• Lost earnings while that damage is repaired, which is business income coverage
• An employee hurt on the job, which is workers compensation
• A mistake in professional advice or service, which is professional liability
• A crash in a vehicle the business owns or uses for work, which is commercial auto

A business owners policy closes the first two of those and leaves the last three where they are. Commercial Property Insurance in Texas sets out the property half on its own form.

A business owners policy and general liability compared

A business owners policy and standalone general liability differ on six points an owner can check before a renewal.

Criteria	Business owners policy	Standalone general liability
Liability coverage	Included	Included
Property coverage	Included	Not included
Business income	Included	Not included
Eligibility	A class list and a size band	Broader, class by class
Structure	One BOP per location	One policy, locations scheduled
Total insured value	Caps at $5 million per location	Not applicable

Both contracts leave workers compensation, commercial auto and professional liability outside. Neither one is a finished program for a Texas business with employees and a vehicle.

The eligibility a Texas BOP turns on

A business owners policy is written for a published profile, and a Texas business either fits inside it or buys the liability and the property separately.

The band Aulona Insurance Group places inside:

• Annual gross revenue under $5 million, and total W-2 payroll under $5 million
• Loss history under $20,000, with no more than two incidents in the past three years
• No prior carrier cancellation and no bankruptcy filing

New businesses qualify, with no minimum time in business, which matters when a landlord wants a certificate before the keys change hands. Each location needs a BOP of its own, and a business owners policy caps at $5 million of total insured value per location.

When standalone general liability is the structure

Standalone general liability is the structure when the property exposure is small, the class sits outside a BOP class list, or a contract asks for liability alone.

Where liability on its own fits a Texas business:

• A service business with no building, little stock and few fixed assets
• A construction trade, where liability plus an umbrella layer is commonly the structure rather than a package
• A class a BOP market declines and a liability market writes
• An account over the $5 million total insured value cap, which needs property on its own form

Texas contracts usually name general liability by itself, with a per-occurrence limit and a general aggregate. General Liability Insurance in Texas sets out both limits.

Where Aulona Insurance Group is not the right fit

Aulona Insurance Group places a business owners policy, general liability, commercial property and professional liability as its package lines. The classes below have no market on any of them.

Classes with no market:

• Roofing and siding, a no-market problem rather than a pricing one
• Night clubs, gas stations, towing operators and auto dealerships
• Hospitals and physician practices
• Marijuana and cannabis businesses
• Used-goods dealers and non-durable goods wholesalers
• Livestock operations and pet breeders

The size band two sections up rules out the rest: revenue, payroll, loss history, a prior cancellation, a bankruptcy filing. Commercial auto sits outside the package lines, and a commercial auto question is answered on the recorded call with Luka Cenaj. Texas Business Insurance lists the lines the agency places. Life, health, Medicare and disability coverage are not written at all.