Public Liability Insurance

Public liability insurance covers you for any legal liability arising from your business activities. It can cover damages to third parties, including property damage and personal injury, as well as legal costs. Public liability insurance is an essential form of protection for any business, large or small.

There are a number of different types of public liability cover and business insurance policies available, so it’s important to choose the one that best suits your needs. You may also need to consider taking out additional cover for certain types of businesses, such as those that involve working with children or animals.

Having public liability insurance could be the difference between your business flourishing or going bankrupt. There’s no telling when an unpredictable accident will take place, and if your company has to pay damages for causing injury or damage, you could be put in serious financial trouble. Public liability insurance is very important as it protects your business from such unforeseen expenses.

For example, public liability insurance protects your business or trade, and can even cover your legal fees, any compensation payments or medical fees you might be required to pay out and any other unforeseen costs arising from your negligence or simple accidents for which you might be liable.

No, public liability and business liability insurance are not the same. Public liability insurance provides protection for your business against claims made by members of the public for personal injury or property damage arising from your business activities. Business liability insurance, on the other hand, protects your business against claims made by other businesses for losses they have incurred as a result of your business activities.

In the past, the two terms have been used interchangeably, but they are different policies, which cover different things.

The amount of public liability insurance your business requires depends on the work you do. When deciding, it’s vital that you consider the size of compensation you could potentially be demanded to pay. For instance, tradesmen need to consider how dangerous the tools they work with are, and how safe their typical work environment is. It’s also helpful to discuss public liability insurance with possible clients to see whether they expect a particular degree of cover.

Here at Tradesman Saver, we offer an indemnity limit of £1 million, which is the most we will pay out in a single claim. However, you have the option to increase this to £2 million, £5 million or £10 million to accommodate the needs of a particular customer — for instance, certain types of business insurance or local authorities typically need £5 million worth of cover. Please contact us if this sum will not be enough to meet your requirements, and we will arrange appropriate cover.

UK businesses are not legally required to have public liability insurance and you will not be subject to criminal proceedings if you decide against it. Nevertheless, the importance of this cover cannot be stressed enough.

While public liability may not be a legal requirement, it can still be a good idea to have in place.

Not only will this make your business look far more professional, but it keeps you in the black financially too. Public liability insurance may also impact the jobs you are able to do, as many customers will request certain levels of cover before agreeing to work with you.

Yes, all of our policies come complete with public liability cover as standard, in addition to financial loss, products liability, legal fees, and accidental death. You can find more information on the covers we automatically include in the dedicated section above.

If you prefer, we can also provide public liability insurance quotes independent of other insurance policies.

You will need to purchase employers liability insurance to cover any injuries caused to your staff. This cover can be added when you receive a public liability insurance quotation from us.

Employee injuries can be catastrophic as not only will they be out of work, therefore denting your profits, but you could also face extortionate compensation claims from staff members themselves.

Employers liability insurance protects you from these possibilities, as we will be responsible for covering any consequent costs. Please note that it is actually a legal requirement if you employ staff.

Even if you work from home, public liability insurance is a sensible option should customers or members of the public come to your property, or you visit them at their own premises. For example, anything from an accidental spillage in the kitchen to an uneven step on your staircase could unwittingly cause injury or property damage.

The majority of home insurance policies won’t cover business-related claims, and even if they do, the protection may not be enough to keep your business safe. Taking out public liability insurance means you won’t be responsible for the costs involving unexpected accidents in your home.

Yes, public liability can be tax-deductible. This kind of commercial insurance can count as an “allowable expense”, meaning you could potentially offset some of the cost against your taxable profits.

While you’re better off speaking to your accountant if its something you need to take into consideration, most of our clients are able to claim the tax back on public liability cover.

For more information on whether you can make your public liability insurance tax deductible, you can call our free tax and legal helpline. Details of how to access this service will be contained in your policy booklet.

Public liability insurance is just as necessary for a self-employed individual as it is for a company owner. Just because you work for yourself doesn’t mean you don’t face the same risks as companies, making it sensible to have public liability insurance in place. Otherwise, you could end up in serious financial trouble.

You will only be fully protected if you have public liability insurance for each trade you work in. With Tradesman Saver you are able to select up to three trades or occupations when you complete our online quotation form. If you need more than this, simply contact us and we can arrange a bespoke cover to suit you. It’s vital that your public liability insurance policy covers all the business you undertake.

Quotations do vary from trade to trade as some professions involve higher risk than others. Public liability insurance cost also depends on factors including the size of your business, your claims history, and how much cover you require according to your circumstances. This will all be reflected in the price of your cover.

If your business offers advice on topics like design or specification, for example, this is covered by professional indemnity insurance. Professional indemnity protects you if your business is deemed professionally negligent, which could lead to claims for things like financial loss, infringement of intellectual property rights, and unintentional breach of confidentiality.

However, professional indemnity insurance ensures that we would cover all the legal costs associated with any of these claims. This can be added when you receive your online public liability insurance quote. If professional indemnity insurance is not available online for your trade, please contact us to arrange a separate public liability insurance policy.

However, by taking out tradesman public liability insurance with a reputable and experienced provider, you can rest easy knowing your business is always protected from any sudden and unwanted costs.

The main difference between public and employers liability is that public liability is insurance for claims made by members of the public, while employers liability is insurance for claims made by employees.

Employers liability is a legal requirement for most businesses with employees who aren’t directly related to the owner. If you’re not certain whether employers liability is a legal requirement for your business or trade, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our experienced team today.

At Tradesman Saver, we’re more than happy to help you to ensure you and your business are fully protected and insured, whether you require employers liability insurance, or any other kind of public liability.

If you already have public liability cover, you may not need product liability insurance as well. This is because public liability insurance will usually cover you for any claims made against you in relation to products that you have supplied. However, it is always best to check with your insurer to see if you are covered for product liability before assuming that you don’t need it.

Whether or not you require product liability insurance will depend on your business type and the kinds of products you supply. If you’re a tradesman, for example, and you offer a service rather than a product, then product liability insurance is likely unnecessary.

Your public liability cover will cover you whether you’re working off site, on site on a business premises. It’s important to remember that your cover will only apply if you’re legally liable for damages arising from your business activities. If you’re not sure whether your policy covers you for a particular activity, it’s always best to check with your insurer directly.

This is not recommended, as it can be very difficult to predict how much any given incident will cost you. The value of a claim will depend on all of the implications of the injury or property damage, and could set you back millions of pounds in the worst case scenario.

For instance, victims may not be able to work following a personal injury that your business is responsible for, meaning you’ll need to pay for medication, legal fees and other ensuing costs. This compensation could cause major financial problems for your business and, as accidents can happen without warning, you may not be financially prepared for such huge expenses. 

However, by taking out tradesman public liability insurance with a reputable and experienced provider, you can rest easy knowing your business is always protected from any sudden and unwanted costs.

You will receive your policy documents shortly after you’ve signed up for our public liability coverage. We will typically send these to our secure document portal for you to download. We’d recommend downloading and reading through your documents immediately to make sure you’re coverage is correct, and to show proof of your coverage should you be required to.

Over the years, we’ve helped thousands of people to resolve public liability claims. We provide specialist tradesmen insurance to those who need public liability insurance to protect themselves, their clients and the general public.

Our insurance team recently provided compensation to a member of the public who tripped and fell due to our client leaving materials on the pavement outside of a construction site.

Our experienced team can not only provide complete support, in many cases we can often liaise directly with the injured party (through their legal representatives) and help to resolve their public liability claims as quickly as possible.

While we don’t provide health insurance, we do offer practical personal accident insurance for tradespeople, in addition to accidental death insurance. That means, in most cases, we’re able to provide the compensation you require if you’ve been injured at work.