Public Liability Insurance

It's not a legal requirement to take out public liability insurance but many business owners see it as an essential business expense, and it's required by many trade associations.

In many cases, you may find that you're asked to show proof of public liability before you're permitted to trade. Tradespeople will often need to show proof of cover before they're allowed to set foot on a client's premises and start work. Similarly, if you're a retailer selling products at a craft fair, you may be asked to show your policy documents before you're allowed to set up a stall.

Even a quick meeting in a coffee shop holds liability risks. If you're a freelance journalist, for example, and you knock hot chocolate over your interviewee's laptop, you could be liable for the cost of replacing it and their loss of income while they're waiting for it to be repaired.

There are also risks if you work from home. For example, if a delivery person falls down your staircase because the damaged handrail comes off in their hands, and they suffer an injury, they could make a claim against you.

There are several factors that impact the cost of public liability insurance. These include but are not limited to:

• The industry you work in
• The number of people who work for the business
• Your health and safety record
• The size of your business
• Where you work
• Any previous claims

Our insurance specialists develop and price our policies based on a detailed understanding of each sector and the risks that come with your specific line of work.

You may sometimes be asked to provide proof of your public liability insurance. This is to assure the people you are working with and for - e.g., a client, event organiser or venue owner - that you have a suitable level of cover for the work you are being asked to do. We provide instant proof of cover, with your policy available to download as soon as you take out insurance with us.

You may also need to provide a schedule of insurance. This is also available online, and sent out to you via email, as soon as you have purchased your insurance policy.

We include product liability within our public liability cover, so if you make or sell items, you'll be covered if one of your products causes injury or damage to a member of the public or their property.

A customer could suffer a product-related injury, or damage, weeks or even months after purchasing the product. E.g., if an electric lamp overheats a month after the customer has purchased it, causing a fire and damage to the customer's house. For this reason, we offer product liability cover on an annual basis.

Read more about product liability insurance.

Public liability insurance won't cover your tools, but you can insure your tools and your other equipment, e.g., laptops and smartphones used for work, with our tools cover. If your items are stolen or damaged because of an insured event, e.g., a fire, flood, storm or accident, we can cover the cost of replacing them, so you can concentrate on keeping your business running.

From public liability to tools cover, you can include a range of different cover types within a single policy.

Read more about our tools cover.