Public liability insurance covers compensation you have to pay a client, contractor or member of the public due to accidental injury or property damage. This could be something that happened at your business premises, such as a client slipping on a wet floor, or something outside your workplace, such as an employee spilling coffee over a client’s computer when visiting their premises.
Getting a public liability insurance quote is the first step in providing your business with important protection if you:
- deal with the public
- have clients visiting your business premises
- or an employee visits your clients’ offices
Get an employers’ public liability insurance quote
As an employer, you are responsible for your employees whilst they are at work. If they suffer an accident in the workplace, such as an injury while lifting or any physical or mental illness brought on by work, they could bring a claim against you for compensation.
It is a legal requirement if you employ staff to have a minimum of £5 million of employers’ liability cover.
Park Insurance specialise in the arrangement of public liability insurance. We can cover anything from Fairground Rides to Mobile Hairdressers at highly competitive terms, offering a range of products from leading underwriters and insurers. We have an extensive list of standard occupations but can offer terms for almost every risk.
Get a high-risk public liability insurance quote
We have considerable experience, contacts and facilities with both the company and Lloyds market for most types of high-risk liability insurance.
We can place anything involving height work, depth work or heat work. Including:
- Heavy Engineering with products to the USA/Canada
- Toolmaker
- Plastic Mouldings
- Products that go into high-risk industries, such as motor factors or aviation
- Construction – project specific, practice and ‘wrap-up’ policies; residential and commercial. Contractors and sub-contractors
- Rail and transportation – railways, urban transit systems and long-haul trucking
- Products exposures – examples include manufacturers of autos, chemicals, industrial machinery, electrical equipment, heavy engineering, tyres, medical devices and critical components
- aggregates, primary metal products, rubber, stone, clay, glass, forestry, and steel fabrication
Coverage:
- Risks domiciled anywhere in the world, including USA and Canada
- Employers’ liability
- Public liability
- Products liability
Why is public liability insurance so Important?
There’s no escaping the fact that we live in a culture of claims. No matter what type of business you run, claims for personal injury or property damage could be made against your company by members of the public, clients or customers, or anyone who interacts with your business in some way. That means that claims can arise from incidents within your business premises, for example, in a shop or restaurant, or when staff members are performing their duties, for example, visiting a client in their office or home.
Health and safety could be at the top of your list of priorities, but accidents can still happen on your business premises or as a result of your business activities. If you think you run a low-risk business and therefore aren’t vulnerable to such claims, think again. Common scenarios that result in a business needing to use their sole trader public liability insurance cover include:
- Trips or falls on business premises (including stairs, steps and external grounds), resulting in injury.
- A service you provide leading to an adverse physical reaction, illness or injury.
- An employee visiting a customer’s home accidentally causing an accident due to the placement of their equipment.
- An employee accidentally damaging third-party property during the course of their work – for example, a decorator spilling paint on a carpet or a cleaner spilling soapy water onto a tablet.
As you can see, just because an incident doesn’t arise on your business premises doesn’t mean a third party can’t raise a claim against you.
What does public liability cover?
When you get a business public liability insurance quote, you must ensure it offers all the protection your business needs. Each business needs to set the right level of cover to ensure it can meet any compensation claims made by a third party and the associated legal costs of defending such a claim.
The three key areas that will be covered are:
- Injury – when any member of the public is accidentally injured on your business premises or due to an activity relating to your business, that individual can make a claim. Whether they’re a paying customer, a courier or just a passerby – if they can prove that an injury they sustained occurred due to your business, they can pursue you for compensation.
- Damage – if you accidentally damage something belonging to a third party, they could ask you to pay to repair or replace it. Though this may represent only a small financial outlay in many cases, your business could face a hefty bill depending on what has been damaged.
- Compensation, expenses and costs – if the matter is taken to court. If you are deemed liable, you could face paying compensation, third-party legal costs and expenses, and your own. This can include medical expenses in the case of personal injury.
What isn’t covered by public liability insurance?
Though you’ll be covered for accidental injury, accidental damage and legal damages, business liability insurance may not cover as standard:
- Staff injuries – if an employee becomes injured on your business premises or during the course of their working day, rather than turning to public liability, you will need to call upon your employer’s liability cover to deal with any claims made.
- Injury to yourself – if you’re hurt as the business owner during your work duties, you’ll need personal accident coverage to counter any financial losses incurred.
- Business property damage – if your premises or items pertaining to your business are accidentally damaged, you’ll turn to the likes of building, content, equipment, tool or stock coverage to compensate for your losses.
- Environmental claims – if your business has a claim made against it for damage caused by contamination, pollution or a hazard such as asbestos, public liability will not cover this.
- Fines and penalties – relating to a third-party claim cannot be covered by public liability insurance.
- Repair or damage costs – claimed by a third party relating to a product you supplied or work you carried out are not dealt with using public liability.
- Your excess – when you take out a policy, you’ll agree on an excess with your insurer. This cannot be reclaimed through your claim, so always make sure you set an excess you can afford.
Contact us using the form below for a public liability insurance quote. We have over 30 years’ experience in liability cover and work with businesses across a wide range of industries.