What is public liability insurance?
If you are a UK business then you it is a good idea to get public liability insurance. Put simply if you have any dealings with any one outside of the company this cover is vital to stop you being sued.
This provides cover against any claims that the public can make if they have suffered injury or damage to property in connection with your business. So for example, if a customer slips on a wet floor while in your shop and you failed to put a sing up you may be held responsible. This means they can sue you for huge amounts of money.
This insurance cover is designed to cover any compensation claims that you could face. This could include cash for loss of earnings, any future loss of earnings and damages awarded to the claimant in addition to your legal cost in defending the claim and the claimants’ legal costs that you incur if you are found to be at fault. If they have a bad accident this could mean that you have to pay out thousands and thousands of pounds in compensation which is an expensive outlay for any business.
It is important to note that compensation claims can be made as a result of something that happened on your business premise or off it – so it could be on a sales visit or to a construction site. In fact some clients will expect you to provide proof that you have public liability insurance before agreeing to work with you. This is particularly common if you are working with a local authority so it is an important piece of cover to have, and tower gate insurance also offer product liability insurance, covering you against injury to your customers or their property as a result of the products you sell or supply. So if you sell a defective product and someone is injured you could face compensation claims so this insurance will cover you if that happens and save you from a hefty bill which could cripple your business without the right cover in place.
