General Liability is not required by law in most cases, however, any potential customer has the right to require you to show evidence of insurance before hiring your company to provide a service for them.  In fact, it’s usually a prudent thing for customers to do. There are some cases where a license may be required by law.  For example, a state or municipality may require that a certain type of contractor or service provider maintain General Liability insurance in order to hold a particular license. Maintaining insurance is also considered to be financially prudent, so if you find yourself in a legal battle where you have caused damage or injury and are uninsured, the lack of an insurance policy may affect the judge or jury’s perception of you. In legal terms, what is “reasonable” or “expected” is often quite different than what is required or permissible by law.