Product liability insurance may help protect a business against qualifying claims alleging that a product it manufactured, sold, distributed, supplied, or imported caused bodily injury or property damage.

Manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, importers, private-label businesses, retailers, online sellers, and other companies involved in placing products into the marketplace should consider their product liability exposure.

Retailers may still be named in product-related claims involving products they sold. Their actual exposure depends on applicable law, contracts, products, suppliers, and other circumstances.

Importers may have significant product liability exposure because they bring products into the domestic marketplace and the foreign manufacturer may have limited insurance or presence in the United States.

A manufacturing-defect allegation generally claims that a particular product was improperly produced, assembled, fabricated, packaged, or otherwise differed from its intended design.

A design-defect allegation generally claims that the design itself created a hazard even when the product was manufactured according to its intended specifications.

Yes. Claims may allege that instructions, labels, warnings, safety information, or directions for use were inadequate. Whether coverage applies depends on the policy and circumstances.

Depending on the policy, qualifying legal-defense expenses may be covered when the business faces an insured product liability claim.

Do not assume that standard product liability insurance covers the business’s own recall expenses. Product recall coverage may need to be purchased separately and can have specialized triggers and limits.

Product recall insurance may help with certain qualifying expenses related to notifying customers, withdrawing products, shipping, disposal, replacement, crisis management, or other covered recall costs.

Your business may still become involved in a claim even when another company supplied the defective component. Supplier contracts, insurance, additional-insured status, indemnification, and your own liability policy should be reviewed.

A private-label company sells a product under its own brand even though another company may manufacture it. The brand owner may still face product-related allegations and should review its liability exposure.

Many commercial general liability policies include products-completed operations coverage, but not every product or business is eligible and exclusions or restrictions may apply. Specialized product liability insurance may be needed for certain operations.

Products-completed operations generally refers to certain liability exposures arising from products after they leave the insured’s possession or from qualifying work after it has been completed.

Coverage for the insured’s own defective product, replacement costs, warranties, guarantees, or loss of market may be limited or excluded. The exact policy language should be reviewed.

Contractual warranties, guarantees, replacement obligations, refunds, and promises about product performance may not be covered in the same way as qualifying third-party bodily injury or property-damage claims.

Options may be available for qualifying online sellers. Insurance companies may review the products, manufacturers, source countries, sales volume, marketplaces, private labeling, prior claims, and quality-control procedures.

No. Selling through an online marketplace does not automatically eliminate the seller’s potential product liability exposure. Contracts, platform requirements, applicable law, and insurance should be reviewed.

Yes. Retailers, distributors, wholesalers, landlords, vendors, marketplaces, and other business partners may require specific liability limits, certificates of insurance, or additional-insured endorsements.

Commercial umbrella or excess liability insurance may provide additional limits above qualifying underlying product liability coverage, subject to eligibility, exclusions, and insurance company requirements.

Information may include product descriptions, annual sales, manufacturers, suppliers, country of origin, customer types, sales channels, quality-control procedures, warnings, contracts, prior claims, recalls, insurance history, and requested liability limits.

Pricing may depend on the products sold, potential injury severity, annual sales, manufacturing location, suppliers, import exposure, customer types, quality controls, prior claims, recall history, requested limits, and insurance company underwriting guidelines.