What is Public Liability Insurance?

At Intasure we have years of experience arranging public liability insurance policies, so decided to share some of our knowledge and shed a little light on this particular area of insurance. First things first…

What is public liability insurance?

When it comes to public liability insurance, some of the most common questions people ask are:

1. What is public liability insurance?
2. Is public liability insurance compulsory?
3. Who needs public liability insurance?
4. How much does public liability insurance cost?
5. How much public liability insurance do I need?
6. How to get public liability insurance?

Public liability insurance protects both you and your business financially if a member of the public is injured or their property is damaged as a result of negligence. Compensation claims and legal expenses can be costly which could have a serious impact on your business, particularly if you are an SME.

Is public liability insurance compulsory?

The short answer is no. Whilst it does cover you for claims made by members of the public or other businesses, it will not cover you for any claims made by one of your employees. You would require employers liability cover for this, which is a legal requirement for any business with employees. That having been said, accidents are never planned and having a public liability policy in place could give you peace of mind in the event of an incident occurring.

Who needs public liability insurance?

Even though public liability insurance is not compulsory, when employing 1 person or 1,000, having a policy in place could provide peace of mind in the event of an incident occurring. It is even more important if your business has a higher than average chance of impacting on a member of the public or you use equipment which poses a risk to the public.

How much does public liability insurance cost?

If you have ever typed this question into a search engine, you will know that there is no single answer. Public liability insurance policies are unique to each customer, as everybody has their own individual needs. There is not a one-size-fits-all policy out there, instead it is calculated based on a number of different variables.

1. Your business/trade If your business involves using a lot of machinery or specialist equipment, it could drive up the price of your premium. This is because there may be a greater level of risk involved from an insurer’s perspective.
2. Public stall Market stalls or stalls located in public may cost more to insure than a stall at a private event. This is due to the number of visitors, and that a private event may be more controlled than a private one.
3. People visiting your premises, premises with a large footfall of visitors may have a higher priced premium. The type of equipment you use may also affect the price; if it is dangerous or poses a risk to the public the price could increase accordingly.
4. The size of your business larger business may pay a higher price for their premium. Depending on the type of business, the number of employees and a number of other factors

How much public liability insurance do I need?

As we said in the previous point, this figure will vary from business to business. Cover is generally available for £1m, £5m or £10m, and the amount you require is determined by the same set of variables as above.

How to get public liability insurance?

For more information about public liability insurance, check out our liability insurance page which goes into more detail about what our public liability insurance policy contains, as well as the other types of liability insurance we offer. If you have any questions, please get in touch and someone from our team will be happy to help you out. *The opinions and views expressed in the above articles are those of the author only and are for guidance purposes only. The authors disclaim any liability for reliance upon those opinions and would encourage readers to rely upon more than one source before making a decision based on the information.