Public liability – what is it?

What is ?

‘What is public liability insurance?’ is a very important question for any business owner to ask when they are considering the best combination of insurance types to invest in.

Although it is not obligatory by law, it might be claimed fairly that only an irresponsible company would risk going about business without public liability insurance, since this investment could  protect them against considerable financial difficulties where damage to property might be incurred at work, or damage to persons could be incurred on a business premises.

Often purchased alongside other types of business insurance such as employer’s liability, public liability insurance is designed to cover against large legal fees and expenses incurred where an outside party is adversely affected by a business operation. In addition to this, it may also cover against damage to other people’s property when employees are going about their business.

Even though employees, more often than not, have everyone’s best interests at heart, accidents are common. Where these accidents are a result of something a particular business has done, members of the public, clients and contractors could be well within their rights in claiming compensation.

Such accidents may be as simple as a drink being spilt over technical equipment or a customer accidentally slipping on a surface on a business premises and, indeed, anybody operating within a business is potentially capable of incurring a public liability claim, if their actions while working have the potential to affect others.

Even where a person works for themselves and has control over all of their business operations, self-employed public liability insurance is worth serious consideration. In such situations, in fact, insurance may be of particular benefit.

Any business that operates with clients or customers visiting their premises would do well to look at the best public liability insurance deals on the market. However, some businesses or organisations run one-off events and do not necessarily exist in one premises for an extended period of time,

For these companies, cover is offered in the form of temporary public liability insurance as well as on a longer term basis. Temporary public liability insurance will offer the same level of cover to businesses as annual public liability insurance deals, and as such, it is still a must have.

Any occasion or event where potential exists for injury, illness or damage to property, should be considered as a one-off business venture and treated as such in terms of insurance. Moreover, in situations where temporary insurance is required, such as large events, it is likely that the number of unanticipated events occurring will be higher, given the especially large number of customers or visitors in attendance.

Policies are available in varying forms, often paying out up to £100’000 to defend a claim. They can often be tailored to combine public liability insurance with other forms of insurance to form a package deal, or can be purchased separately.

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