The short answer is – everybody.
Liability can be used to describe a debt owed, or a burden of responsibility. Liability insurance covers you for negligent acts, where you may have caused injury to another person or their property.
When you are found negligent of causing harm, usually by either a court of law or the findings of a police report, the tort law system allows the injury party to sue you for damages. There are numerous examples of how this could occur:
While driving a car, you disobey a traffic signal and strike another car that had the right of way. You have a tree in your yard that has died off. The truck is starting to rot. One day, a gust of wind breaks the trunk, causing the tree to strike your neighbors home. You have an employee of your business mopping the floor by the entrance to your business. He does not put up a wet floor sign since you have never purchased one. While he left to get clean water in his pail, a customer comes in and slips, breaking their wrist. You dog attacks a neighbor child, sending them to the hospital for stitches.
These are a few instances where liability would come into play. The unfortunate truth is that we live in a litigious society, where some people are looking for a place to fall down. Even if you have taken reasonable precautions to prevent injury, you may still find yourself open to a lawsuit.
There are a variety of liability produces available for purchase. A homeowners, or similar, policy provides personal liability for accidents around the home. Auto insurance is designed to protect you in cases arising out of the use of you car. Business insurance can be tailored to cover your business under either a Business Owners policy or Commercial Package. Umbrella policies can provide additional insurance value and possibly cover some gaps the other policies miss.
The best way to make sure you get adequate liability insurance is to be forthcoming with your agent. Tell him about yourself and what kinds of things you own. You will find that boats are not automatically covered, but a trailer while being towed by an insured car would likely have liability coverage extended from the auto policy.
By both taking care of obvious risks and insuring against accidents, you will have peace of mind that if a liability situation arises; you will have the coverage in place to take care of it.