Commercial General Liability (CGL): Five Essential Endorsements Most Policies Miss

Commercial enterprises frequently purchase standard Insurance Services Office (ISO) Commercial General Liability (CGL) coverage believing that a $1,000,000 per occurrence / $2,000,000 aggregate policy shields them from corporate exposure. In practice, standard unendorsed policy jackets exclude key exposure categories—including contractual liabilities, independent contractor actions, and electronic data liabilities.

To achieve institutional-grade protection, corporate risk managers execute specific manuscript endorsements that expand the definition of 'who is an insured' and eliminate statutory coverage exclusions.

• 1. Blanket Additional Insured (CG 20 10 & CG 20 37): Protects general contractors and commercial clients from third-party claims arising from both your active operations and your completed work.
• 2. Primary & Non-Contributory Endorsement: Mandates that your CGL policy pays out defense and indemnity expenses without demanding equitable contribution from the additional insured's own commercial carrier.
• 3. Blanket Waiver of Subrogation (CG 24 04): Bars your insurance carrier from seeking subrogation recovery against your clients or landlords after paying a claim.
• 4. Per-Project / Per-Location Aggregate (CG 25 03 / CG 25 04): Restores the full $2,000,000 aggregate limit to each individual job site or commercial property location, preventing one single incident from wiping out your entire annual corporate coverage limit.
• 5. Stop-Gap Employers Liability: Essential for enterprises operating in monopolistic workers' compensation states (Ohio, Washington, North Dakota, Wyoming) where state funds exclude common-law employer liability.

Before executing vendor contracts or corporate master services agreements (MSAs), risk officers must verify that insurance covenants explicitly list these endorsements. Issuing a standard ACORD 25 Certificate without verifying that the underlying policy has been formally endorsed creates personal liability for breach of warranty.