General Aggregate Limit
The maximum total amount a CGL policy will pay for all covered claims during the policy period, excluding products-completed operations.
What It Is
The General Aggregate Limit is the maximum total amount the CGL policy will pay during the policy period for all claims falling under Coverage A (bodily injury and property damage from premises and operations), Coverage B (personal and advertising injury), and Coverage C (medical payments) combined — excluding claims that fall under the Products-Completed Operations Aggregate.
The standard general aggregate is typically twice the per occurrence limit. For a policy with a $1,000,000 per occurrence limit, the general aggregate is usually $2,000,000. Once the general aggregate is exhausted, the policy will not pay any further claims for the remainder of the policy period.
For contractors, a per-project aggregate endorsement can be added, which provides a separate aggregate for each project or job site. This prevents one large claim at one project from exhausting the aggregate available for other projects.
Why It Matters for Brokers
Brokers must monitor aggregate erosion, especially for clients with high claim frequency. A general contractor with multiple active projects faces the risk that a single large claim could exhaust the aggregate, leaving no coverage for subsequent incidents. Per-project aggregate endorsements are increasingly required by project owners and GCs. Brokers should proactively recommend them for any contractor working on multiple simultaneous projects.
Real-World Example
A landscaping company has a $1M/$2M CGL policy. In January, a worker damages a client's irrigation system causing $180,000 in property damage. In April, a pedestrian trips over equipment and settles a bodily injury claim for $350,000. In September, a tree removal goes wrong and causes $600,000 in damage to a neighbor's home. The three claims total $1,130,000, all within the $2M general aggregate. But if a fourth incident occurs causing $1,000,000, only $870,000 of aggregate remains — the $1M per occurrence limit would not be fully available.
Common Mistakes
- 1Not recommending per-project aggregate endorsements for contractors with multiple simultaneous projects, allowing one project's claims to exhaust the aggregate for all projects.
- 2Failing to monitor aggregate erosion mid-term — a client could be operating without effective coverage if the aggregate is nearly exhausted.
- 3Confusing the general aggregate with the products-completed operations aggregate — they are separate buckets that exhaust independently.
How brokerageaudit.com Handles This
Policy Checker extracts both the general aggregate and products-completed operations aggregate and displays them separately. It flags per-project aggregate endorsements when present and alerts brokers when contract requirements specify a per-project aggregate that is not endorsed on the policy. COI Manager accurately maps aggregate limits to the correct fields on ACORD 25 certificates.