Premises, ongoing operations, products, and completed operations present different loss paths and can carry different exclusions.
Casualty and Excess
Commercial General Liability.
The class code gets the file opened. The operations narrative gets it quoted.
Commercial general liability can respond to covered third-party bodily injury, property damage, and personal or advertising injury arising from the insured's premises, operations, products, or completed work. The actual grant, exclusions, endorsements, territory, limits, and facts accepted by the insurer control the result.
Placement context
Facts to confirm before applying.
The fastest way to lose a casualty underwriter is to make them discover the hard operation after they have priced the easy one. Say what the insured does, where, at what height or depth, for which customers, with how much subcontracting, and under which contracts. Precision is more persuasive than adjectives.
Coverage scope
What the coverage may address.
Additional insured, waiver, primary and noncontributory, and contractual liability requests need the contract that creates the obligation.
Abuse, assault and battery, liquor, professional services, pollution, and residential work may be excluded, limited, or separately covered.
Account preparation
A useful first file for a new roofing business
A new company can have an experienced owner. Show both facts clearly so an underwriter can assess the work rather than infer experience from the incorporation date.
Prepare the first file
- Describe the owner’s prior roofing work, supervisory experience, licensing and planned operations. Distinguish experience from loss history for the new entity.
- Break out residential and commercial work, new construction and repair, maximum height, roof types, and any torch, hot work, or waterproofing exposure.
- Reconcile payroll, receipts, subcontractor use, certificates and contracts across the application and supplemental. Identify the entity seeking coverage.
- Provide the requested limits, effective date, any expiring coverage, available loss records, and a clear explanation when no prior business policy exists.
Review the resulting terms
- Read residential, roofing, height, subcontractor and designated-operations exclusions against the actual work.
- Review the deductible, minimum earned premium, additional insured wording, and required documents before treating a quote as suitable.
- If an application changes, identify the revision and ask the underwriter to confirm which quote and forms apply.
Confirm the account-specific position
New-venture status does not establish eligibility. A quote must be reviewed against the work the contractor actually performs.
Reviewed 2026-09-09 by Hedge Specialty.
Real account work
Related case studies.
A first liability policy for a new roofing business
A newly established roofing business obtained an issued general liability policy. Hedge handled the file through the quote, binder and policy handoff, and the retail agent confirmed receipt of the documents.
General and liquor liability for a bar after a lapse
A bar that reported a lapse in insurance obtained a binder for general and liquor liability. The binder included assault-and-battery exclusions on both lines, so the placement required attention to the actual coverage terms.
Reading a commercial property quote before binding
A retail agent asked about reducing liability on a property quote. Hedge clarified that the quoted limit applied to building and contents, explained the valuation terms, and handled the file through policy issuance.
Correcting a residential-care policy after issuance
For a residential-care facility, Hedge gathered outstanding underwriting documents and then identified a mismatch between the issued policy description and the state license. The underwriter sent an endorsement, and the agent confirmed the correction looked right.
Placement factors
Facts that affect placement.
- Residential or higher-hazard contracting operations
- Material subcontracted work or difficult completed-operations exposure
- Assault and battery, abuse, liquor, or other class-specific liability concerns
- Loss experience, new ventures, or requested terms outside standard appetite
Coverage and access are separate questions
Coverage guidance does not confirm a current market route, quote, policy terms, or bind authority for a particular account.
Submission preparation
Prepare a consistent underwriting file.
Account narrative
Put the hardest operation in the first paragraph, quantify it, explain the controls, and show exactly which liability terms the insured needs for its work and contracts.
Include these facts
- Detailed operations narrative and class splits
- Revenue, payroll, subcontractor cost, and geographic breakdown
- Currently valued loss runs and an explanation of material claims
- Requested limits, contracts, additional-insured needs, and project details
Resolve these questions before market review
- What work is performed and for whom?
- How much work is subcontracted and how are subcontractors controlled?
- What height, depth, residential, or structural exposures exist?
- Which claims, contracts, or requested endorsements may change the placement?
Submission errors
Avoid these three issues.
- An operations description copied from a website or class-code label
- Sales, payroll, and subcontractor cost that disagree across the application and supplemental
- Requesting blanket contract endorsements without sending the contract language driving the request
Hedge resources
Forms and class guidance.
Hedge forms
Review the form and download a fillable PDF.
Contractors Supplemental
A fillable Hedge supplemental for contractors and construction operations.
Roofing Contractors Supplemental
A fillable Hedge supplemental for commercial and residential roofing contractors.
Loss and Claims Supplement
A fillable Hedge supplement for organizing prior losses, claims, and open-claim detail for wholesale review.
Class guidance
Public, directional appetite to help prepare for account-specific review.
Related coverage
Review related exposures.
Casualty and Excess
Commercial Umbrella and Excess Liability
More limit is not the same as more coverage.
Open coverageCasualty and Excess
Products Liability
The product is the exposure. The supply chain tells us who owns the failure.
Open coverageCasualty and Excess
Liquor Liability
Alcohol sales are only the first number. Hours, service model, security, and incident control tell the rest of the risk.
Open coverageHedge review
Send the account for review.
You do not need a perfect packet to start. Send the account, requested line, effective date, current applications, available loss information, and the fact making the placement difficult. Hedge will separate missing information from market-ready information before any account-specific route is confirmed.