What general liability covers
The Small Business Administration's definition applies in every state: general liability protects against financial loss as the result of bodily injury, property damage, medical expenses, libel, slander, defending lawsuits, and settlement bonds or judgments — for any business. The Texas Department of Insurance's commercial general liability explainer, describing the standard ISO form used in Louisiana too, puts it the same way: commercial general liability protects a business owner against claims of bodily injury, property damage, and personal and advertising injury, split between premises and operations cover and products and completed operations cover.
It does not cover employee injury — that is workers' compensation and employers' liability — and it does not cover damage to your own work or your own product.
Who must carry it in Louisiana
Louisiana has no general state law requiring every business to carry general liability. The requirement bites through contractor licensing: residential, home-improvement and mold-remediation contractors must prove general liability (and workers' compensation) to the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC) at application, at each renewal, and at every policy renewal. Cover must be continuous while licensed, and certificates must be submitted by the insurance agent, with the LSLBC as certificate holder.
The regulator to check is the Louisiana Department of Insurance (LDI), and the licensing board is the LSLBC — both are named in the sources below.
The $500,000 minimum under Act 757
Act 757 (Senate Bill 326, 2026 Regular Session), signed by the Governor on 2 June 2026 and effective 1 August 2026, raises the minimum general liability insurance for residential, mold-remediation and home-improvement contractors from $100,000 to $500,000. Licensees must also provide proof of coverage for a minimum of six months covering all licensed scopes of work. That is the figure this page leads with, and it is confirmed against the Louisiana Legislature's own résumé digest for Act 757, which states the increase from $100,000 to $500,000, the six-month proof requirement, and the LSLBC as certificate holder (La. R.S. 37:2156.1).
The old figures are superseded. The LSLBC notice effective 1 November 2024 set the minimum at $100,000 for residential and home-improvement contractors and $50,000 for mold-remediation contractors; those figures applied before 1 August 2026 and no longer govern. Mention them only as history: the minimum was raised from $100,000 on 1 August 2026.
Commercial contractors: no statutory minimum
Commercial contractors remain without a statutory insurance requirement in Louisiana — Act 757 does not set one for them. What they face instead is contract practice: project owners and general contractors commonly require $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate, and that figure is a contract term, not a statute. Read the contract, not the statute book, for the number a commercial job will actually demand.
Workers' comp proof
Contractors must also prove workers' compensation cover to the LSLBC, with no exceptions or exemptions under the board's notice — there is no minimum amount for workers' compensation, but proof of cover is required. Louisiana requires workers' compensation from the first employee generally. The full state workers' compensation programme is outside this guide's scope; what matters here is that the board will not license or renew without that proof alongside the liability proof.
Where to verify
Rules change, and the board's current application instructions are the last word. Check the Louisiana Department of Insurance at ldi.la.gov and the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors, and confirm the Act 757 text in the Louisiana Legislature's résumé digest linked below before you apply or renew.