A customer comes into your office to discuss goods that he needs hauled; he slips on the freshly mopped floor and suffers a head injury when he falls.  Another customer comes into your warehouse to discuss business; one of your employees accidentally hits him with a forklift (stranger things have happened!).  You rent some warehouse space and goods you are storing there ignite and cause a fire that causes significant damage to the warehouse and to goods belonging to other parties.  One of your employees publicly insults another trucking company and you are sued for slander.

In all of the above cases and many more, you need a general business liability policy if you want coverage (these policies are sometimes called CGLs, comprehensive general liability policies).

$1 million in coverage is recommended.  If you choose to have an umbrella or excess policy (see separate article), the general liability insurance should be included under the umbrella.