Public Liability Insurance - Is your business covered?

Public liability insurance will cover your business if you are sued by a third party for accidental bodily injury or property damage. It will cover your company in the unfortunate event of injury or even the death of a third party. This type of cover would also cover the legal costs of defending any claim (such as legal fees).

Although there is not a legal requirement to take out this type of insurance, in many industries clients will insist on suppliers having adequate public liability cover before any work can commence.

Companies may find it hard to secure business deals without adequate insurance cover in place. You can take out various levels of cover - typically from £1m up to £10m. The cover you require will depend on the size of business you run, and the trade or industry you specialise in.

There are a wide number of insurance suppliers out there - so you should shop around before taking out public liability cover. You should carefully research the benefits and features of each product you get a quote for - as well as the headline price for the policy.

Examples of Public Liability Claims

Here are some typical examples of how this type of insurance would cover your business:

1) A company employed to refurbish a retail outlet accidentally punctured a water pipe during the refit, causing extensive water damage to the property as well as neighbouring shops. The costs of putting right the damage as well as legal fees would be covered.

2) An employee of an IT company hired to install new servers in an open plan office accidentally left some equipment and wiring in the middle of the main office walkway. A member of staff tripped on the wires and broke his leg causing him to be out of work for several weeks. Public liability insurance would cover the IT company for the expenses related to this claim.

Getting a Public Liability Quote

We have several long term insurance partners on Bytestart who will be able to provide you with a Public Liability Quote - simply click on the links below:

• Simply Business - Compare Business Insurance Quotes - Get a Quote
• Hiscox - Public Liability Insurance Cover - Get a Quote

Other Types of Business Insurance

Alongside Public Liability, your company may also be interested in looking at other types of business insurance, such as employers' liability cover, shop insurance, office insurance and professional indemnity insurance. You can read our extensive guides to business insurance cover here.