What does Public Liability Insurance Cover?
Public liability insurance covers your business when someone else suffers injury or property damage because of your work. It’s there to handle the legal and compensation costs if, say, a customer slips on a wet floor, or a contractor gets hurt because of your equipment.
Public liability insurance shouldn’t be treated as a luxury. Accidents do happen, and this insurance is part of the foundation that keeps your operation secure when the unexpected happens. The trick is knowing what kind of protection you actually need.
Most coverage typically includes:
- Third-party bodily injury: Claims made if a customer or member of the public who isn’t associated with your business (eg. not an employee) are directly injured due to your operations.
- Property damage: The costs incurred if a third-party property is damaged in some way by your work.
- Legal defence costs: If a covered claim is taken to court, this will cover your legal fees and expenses.
- Compensation payments: If an agreement is made in or out of court to resolve an outstanding claim, this will cover the costs of the settlement.
What is typically NOT covered:
- Employee injuries: Anyone on your payroll who is injured at work should be covered by workers’ compensation, not public liability insurance.
- Professional errors: If financial losses are incurred due to misguided advice or services, public liability will not cover you and you will need professional indemnity instead.
- Intentional damage: Any malicious acts that are deliberately carried out by you or your employees will not be covered.
