10.2 CGL Coverage B: Personal and Advertising Injury, Coverage C: Medical Payments

Not every liability claim involves a broken bone or a burned building. The Commercial General Liability policy splits non-physical and goodwill injuries into Coverage B — Personal and Advertising Injury Liability and Coverage C — Medical Payments. Together they complete the CGL's three-lane design: Coverage A for physical BI/PD, Coverage B for enumerated offenses, Coverage C for quick medical settlements without a fault finding. National casualty items on the Nevada P&C exam love to hand you a defamation fact pattern and ask whether Coverage A or B responds — if you reach for Coverage A first, you have already lost the point.

Coverage B: Offense-Based, Not Occurrence-Based

Coverage B pays sums the insured is legally obligated to pay as damages because of personal and advertising injury caused by an offense arising out of the insured's business, committed during the policy period. Notice what is missing: there is no occurrence requirement. The trigger is commission of a listed offense during the policy period, not an accident.

Personal and advertising injury is a defined term — not everyday English. It means injury arising out of one of seven offenses:

Memorize the list. The exam frequently tests one offense in isolation. It also loves distractors: patent infringement and trademark infringement are not covered offenses. Only copyright, trade dress, and slogan infringement in the insured's advertisement make the list.

Coverage B Limits and Defense

Coverage B has its own Personal and Advertising Injury Limit — often $1,000,000 per person or organization, matching the Each Occurrence limit on many declarations pages. Payments also erode the General Aggregate. Like Coverage A, defense costs are supplementary — paid in addition to the limit.

Trap: Coverage B is not a general intellectual-property policy. A software company sued for patent violation in its core product needs specialty IP coverage, not Coverage B.

Coverage B Exclusions You Must Recognize

Even listed offenses are narrowed by exclusions:

Advertising Nexus

For offenses 6 and 7, there must be an advertisement — a notice broadcast or published to the general public about the insured's goods, products, or services. A private memo to one client is not an advertisement.

Nevada scenario: A Reno furniture retailer runs a television spot using a competitor's trademarked jingle. Trademark infringement is not a Coverage B offense — wrong lane. If the same spot copies the competitor's copyrighted script or slogan in the retailer's ad, Coverage B offense 4 or 7 may respond.

Nevada scenario: A property manager changes locks and removes a tenant's belongings without following Nevada eviction law. The tenant sues for wrongful eviction — Coverage B offense 3. No bodily injury is required.

Coverage C: Medical Payments — No Fault Required

Coverage C is the CGL's goodwill lane. The insurer pays medical expenses for bodily injury caused by an accident:

• On premises the insured owns or rents;
• On ways next to those premises;
• Because of the insured's operations;

Regardless of fault. The goal is to settle minor injuries quickly and reduce the chance of a negligence lawsuit.

What Coverage C Pays

Reasonable expenses for:

• First aid administered at the time of the accident;
• Medical, surgical, dental, and ambulance services;
• Hospital, professional nursing, and funeral services.

Expenses must be incurred and reported within the time stated in the policy — typically medical expenses must be incurred within one year of the date of the accident, and the accident must occur during the policy period.

Coverage C Limits and Aggregate

The Medical Expense Limit is a low per-person sublimit — commonly $5,000 (sometimes $10,000 by endorsement). Coverage C payments are subject to the General Aggregate.

Worked example: A customer slips on a wet floor at a Sparks grocery store and incurs $4,200 in emergency-room bills. The Medical Expense Limit is $5,000 per person. Under Coverage C, the insurer pays $4,200 without any liability determination. If the customer later sues and wins $75,000 for negligence, Coverage A responds to the judgment. Any Coverage C payment is typically credited against damages so the victim is not paid twice for the same bills.

Second worked example: The same slip produces $6,800 in medical bills and a $5,000 per-person Coverage C limit. The insurer pays $5,000 under Coverage C regardless of fault. The remaining $1,800 is not payable under Coverage C; the injured person must pursue a Coverage A liability claim if they want more.

Who Is NOT Covered by Coverage C

Coverage C excludes payment to:

• The named insured;
• Employees of the named insured (workers' compensation territory);
• Tenants of the premises;
• Persons injured while participating in athletics on your premises;
• Anyone eligible for workers' compensation benefits.

Trap: Coverage C is for members of the public, not your own workforce. An employee hurt on the job goes to workers' compensation, not Coverage C.

Coverage A vs. B vs. C — Decision Table

How Coverages B and C Fit the Nevada Exam

Combo-exam casualty items often describe a Strip hospitality business, a warehouse operation along Interstate 80, or a small professional office. Label the injury type before you label the coverage part: physical harm with damages points to Coverage A; listed offense without requiring BI/PD points to Coverage B; minor medical bills, no fault points to Coverage C.

Producers who confuse Coverage B with a general "reputation harm" policy create errors-and-omissions exposure at renewal. Clients in media, publishing, or software development may need endorsements or separate professional lines beyond the standard CGL offense list.

Memory anchors: seven offenses · no occurrence for Coverage B · patent and trademark are traps · Coverage C is no-fault and capped per person · employees and tenants excluded from Coverage C.