Public liability insurance provides cover in the event that a member of the public is accidentally injured and your business is found to be liable. The cover will also protect you if you damage a member of the public’s property whilst working at their home.
If your business has made a mistake which leads to an incident causing damage to a customer or their property it’s likely that this will result in a public liability claim. Claims for trips, slips and falls are among the most common type of public liability claims.
The cost of legal fees and expenses is all included for both defending the claim and paying out should you be found to be at fault. Public liability will only cover third party damages and does not include injuries to employees. This is dealt with through employer’s liability insurance.
You or your business will have to be found at fault for a customer to receive compensation through your public liability insurance policy.
What level of public liability insurance do I need?
Whilst public liability insurance is not currently a legal requirement you may find that your industry or local authorities have specified levels they require you to hold.
If you hold government contracts for your work you may find the level of public liability insurance required is as high as £10 million. It’s always worth checking this before making a decision.
If there’s no set requirement you should still consider the likely risk to 3rd parties in the work that you do.
Potential public liability claims.
If you run a shop and have just taken delivery of some stock but have not cleared it away to a suitable area should a customer walk into the shop and trip over the boxes this could lead to a public liability claim if the customer suffers an injury.
As a painter and decorator you are at a client’s newly refurbished home. On a break you place a cup of tea on a rung of your ladder. The ladder gets accidently knocked and tea spills over your dust sheet onto the new carpet. Your customer may be entitled to make a public liability claim against you for the repair of the carpet.
At a coffee shop one of your staff spills a drink whilst waiting on a table. Before your staff has a chance to clean up the spill or put out a wet floor sign another customer slips over and falls hurting her back in the process. The customer may be able to claim compensation for the injuries and associated costs such as loss of income etc.
Cost of making a public liability claim?
The only costs of making a public liability insurance claim will be the designated excess set out by the insurer, this will be clearly shown in your documents.
