As we mentioned earlier, most commercial leases (including those at many coworking spaces) require renters to have General Liability coverage. This is one way commercial landlords manage their risk. If you want to sign a lease for a workspace, you’ll likely have to show proof of coverage.

Whether you’re hoping to sign an enterprise client for your SaaS product or bring on a partner for the gadget you build, your business partners will likely state in their contracts that you’re required to have General Liability coverage.

Even if you don’t have any major contracts requiring you to carry General Liability insurance, as soon as you sell a product or service to the public, you’re at risk for lawsuits. Even having a social media page puts you at risk for advertising injury. A General Liability policy can cover the costs of the types of lawsuits outlined here.

Not all accidents lead to lawsuits, of course. But they might still cost money. A potential employee who slips on coffee in your coworking space after an interview and hits their head on the way down, for example, might need an ambulance ride and medical bills – and your General Liability policy may be able to pay for both.

If a visitor gets injured on your premises or because of your startup, your General Liability policy can cover the costs of their medical bills. If the visitor sues over their injury, your policy may also cover the associated legal fees, including any settlement or judgment, if your startup is found liable.

If your product or service is responsible for damaging the property of a third party, your General Liability policy may be able to cover the costs of repairing or replacing that property. Note that in order to make a claim, the value of the damaged property would likely need to be greater than your policy’s deductible.

We mentioned above that your policy might cover the injured client’s ambulance ride. This is thanks to a special coverage most General Liability policies have called Medical Expenses coverage. This coverage typically has a relatively low limit within the policy and is designed to encourage founders to play it safe and call the ambulance. For insurance companies, it’s less risky to have injuries checked out quickly than to let them potentially worsen over time.

If your startup manufactures, distributes, or sells a product, there’s a chance that it could harm someone. The product liability portion of your General Liability policy can cover the costs associated with that harm, including property damage or physical injury.

This includes accusations of slander, libel, defamation, and invasion of privacy associated with your advertisements or publications. In the days of social media, SEM, and blogs, even the smallest startups can have advertising injury exposure. Anything you publish, online or in print, could trigger accusations of wrongdoing by parties who feel they’ve been impacted. Luckily, the advertising injury portion of your General Liability policy can likely cover any associated legal costs.

For that, you’ll need Business Personal Property insurance. Note: you may be able to bundle your Property and General Liability into a Business Owner’s Policy (“BOP”).

These will likely be covered by Employment Practices Liability, Fiduciary, or Employee Benefits Liability coverage.

Workers’ Comp comes into play here. As mentioned earlier, most states require any startup with employees to carry this coverage.

For this, you’ll need Cyber insurance.

For claims that your professional work caused financial harm, you’ll need Errors & Omissions (also called Professional Liability).

For that, you’ll need the aptly named Directors and Officers (“D&O”) policy.