Ben owns an appliance and furniture store and is insured under a commercial general liability (CGL) policy written on an occurrence basis. Explain whether Ben’s CGL policy would provide coverage for each of the following situations:
a. Ben forcibly detained a customer whom he erroneously accused of shoplifting. One month later, after the policy had expired, the customer sued Ben for defamation of character.
b. Ben's employees were delivering a large desk to a customer's house. The customer's front door was scratched and damaged when the desk hit the door.
The customer immediately filed a claim for the damage to the door.
c. An advertising firm sues Ben for using copyrighted material without permission when the material first appeared in a special holiday ad. Ben maintains that the ad material is original and belongs to him.
d. Unknown to Ben, an automatic dishwasher had a defective part. One week after the dishwasher was installed in a customer's house it malfunctioned and caused considerable water damage to the kitchen carpet. The homeowner sues Ben for the damage.
e. An employee accidentally knocked over a heavy lamp that injured a customer's foot. The customer later presents a bill for medical expenses to Ben for payment.