What Is Public Liability Insurance?
- Someone tripping on a stray cable while visiting your office
- You accidentally knock a pedestrian or cyclist down while driving on business
- A tool falling from a scaffold and striking a member of the public’s car
- Accidentally damaging someone’s property while making a delivery
- Causing damage to a neighbouring property during building work
- Destroying a fence while felling a tree
These are just some common causes of the thousands of public liability cases brought annually in the UK. According to a report by Aviva, the number of these claims has risen sharply over the past few years, meaning ensuring you have adequate protection in place is increasingly seen as being business critical.
What Level of Cover Do You Need?
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this question – it will depend on factors such as:
- The size of your business
- The type of work it does – a scaffolder working mainly on buildings in town centres is likely to need higher levels than a shop owner, for example
- The size of the contracts your work on
- Who you do work for
- Where you work
- Your claims history
If you work in the public sector – for charities, local or central government – there are often requirements for public liability insurance levels of £5-£10m. A good way of finding out much cover you need is to contact your local Coversure office. They’ll be able to advise you as to what you need and create a package of protection for you. When you speak to them, be sure to let them know the following details:
- Whether you have any employees
- Who do you work for, and whether they have any specified liability minimums
- What sort of work do you do and if you have any particular working environments – above 10 metres in height or at sea, for example