What Is a Tort?

A tort happens when one party's conduct causes injury or damage to another party outside of any contract between them. A customer slipping on a wet floor, a contractor's crew damaging a neighboring property, or a product that injures the person who bought it are all torts. This is the distinction that actually matters for insurance: liability policies are built to cover tort claims, and they typically exclude claims that arise purely from a breach of contract.

The Three Categories of Torts

• Negligence — failing to exercise the level of care a reasonable person or business would under the same circumstances. This is by far the most common basis for the liability claims businesses actually face.
• Intentional torts — a deliberate act that causes harm, such as assault or defamation. Most liability policies exclude intentionally caused harm, which is why intent matters so much in how a claim gets defended.
• Strict liability — liability that attaches regardless of fault or intent, most commonly seen in product liability cases involving a defective product.

Why This Matters

Every general liability, professional liability, and product liability policy exists to respond to tort exposure. Understanding that distinction is what separates coverage that will actually respond to a real-world claim from coverage that leaves you exposed because the underlying claim was contractual, not tort-based, and therefore excluded. This is exactly the kind of gap a generic policy misses and a properly structured one is built to close.