They are both core business coverages, and they are easy to mix up — but they protect against opposite kinds of loss. Here is the clean line between them, and why most businesses carry both.
The cleanest way to keep these straight: general liability protects other people from your business. Operations protection protects your business from a disruption.
General liability answers the question “what if my business harms a customer, a client, or someone else’s property?” It pays third-party claims — the people who are not you.
Operations protection answers a different question entirely: “what if something stops my business from operating, and the revenue dries up while the bills keep coming?” It pays your losses. The two never overlap, which is exactly why most businesses need both.
General liability (GL) is built for third-party claims — situations where someone else is harmed and holds your business responsible. It typically covers:
The common thread is a third party — someone outside your business — bringing a claim against you. What general liability does not do is replace the income your own business loses when it cannot operate. That gap is exactly what operations protection fills.
Operations protection — also called business interruption or continuity coverage — covers your business’s own losses when a covered event interrupts operations:
A worked example makes the split obvious. A fire damages your equipment and you lose two weeks of operating: general liability would respond if a customer were injured in that fire and sued; operations protection responds to the two weeks of revenue your business lost and the payroll it still had to pay. Same event, two completely different losses, two different coverages. RMO BizOps Shield is the operations protection plan within RMO Protection.
General liability covers third-party claims — when someone else is harmed and they hold your business responsible. Operations protection covers your business’s own losses — lost revenue and continuing expenses when a covered event interrupts operations. One protects others; the other protects your business.
Most businesses benefit from both because they cover different risks. General liability handles claims from customers, clients, or other third parties. Operations protection handles the revenue your business loses when a disruption stops it from operating. Neither one substitutes for the other.
Generally no. General liability is built for third-party claims — bodily injury, property damage, and advertising injury caused to others. The income a business loses while it cannot operate is the role of operations protection or business interruption coverage.
They are closely related. Operations protection is built around business interruption and continuity — replacing lost revenue and continuing expenses during a disruption — and adds equipment downtime coverage and rapid response services. RMO BizOps Shield is the operations protection plan within RMO Protection.
Keep building your picture of operations protection:
