What is Public Liability Insurance?
Public Liability Insurance is the gold standard of cover for tradespeople, so why not find out what it covers, what it doesn't and whether you need it or not.
What is Public Liability Insurance?
Public Liability Insurance is a type of insurance cover which protects you financially if somebody has an accident, their property is damaged, or you cause loss of life as a result of your business activities.
It covers the costs associated with compensation claims, which can cause potentially significant financial losses, therefore offering valuable protection for trades business owners.
Public Liability Insurance Key Points
Public Liability Insurance protects you financially if someone is injured or their property is damaged by your business.
This cover matters because accidents in the trades are common and can lead to costly compensation claims against your business.
Getting cover that adequately protects your business is the key. It must provide enough cover to accurately reflect the level of risk your business faces.
What does Public Liability Insurance cover?
Public Liability Insurance covers the cost of compensation claims made against your business, including legal costs and other related expenses. These claims might come as a result of accidents, injuries, or accidental death to 3rd parties and property damage to 3rd party properties which occur as a result of your business.
The exact amount you can claim on your Public Liability Insurance depends on your policy and the level of cover you've chosen – but it should be enough to properly cover the risks faced by your business.
Tradespeople face risk every single day and accidents can and do happen. An accident could look like a customer falling over your toolbox and breaking their leg. It might be a brick wall you’re building falling and writing off a new car parked next to it. Or even a gas leak, fire or water damage you caused by accident while on a job, causing serious damage to a customer’s home. In each of these scenarios, the other party bears a cost which legally, you will be liable for.
Take the first example. If your customer breaks their leg tripping over your tools, they will want compensating for things like time off work, taxis to the hospital and general pain and inconvenience. The other two examples are more obvious – you’ve caused a load of damage, and you need to pay for it. But there’s no need to sweat it. With Public Liability Insurance, you can cover these costs for them smoothly without causing a dent in your business finances.
You check out some real-world examples of Liability Insurance claims from Rhino customers here.
How does Public Liability Insurance work?
When an accident occurs in the course of your work, the injured or aggrieved party is entitled to make a claim against your business for compensation. This will be to cover their own costs incurred because of the unfortunate incident.
Once you receive notification that someone has made a compensation claim against your business, this is Public Liability Insurance’s time to shine. You simply get on the phone to your insurer (or fire off an email) and kick off the process of making your claim. Your insurer will pay out to the claimant up to your cover limit, which will smooth things over nicely and keep the third party happy, and your business’s reputation intact.
There’s be a small excess to pay, £500 in Rhino’s case, rising to £1000 if the claim is a direct result of the use of heat, but it is a tiny drop in the pond compared to the total cost of a claim (Rhino’s cover goes up to £5m for good reason!).
Take a deep-dive into Public Liability Insurance.
How much is Public Liability Insurance?
Public Liability Insurance with Rhino starts from £62.50 per year or £5.21 per month. However, each business is a different size and shape, and the risks you face are unique to your business operation.
Your personalised quote will consider things like:
the number of employees you have
your business activities
your turnover
your work’s proximity to the public
your claims history.
Do I need Public Liability Insurance?
Unlike motor insurance, Public Liability is not a legal requirement for a UK business. However, if you’re a trades business owner, no matter how small, having Public Liability cover in place gives you a valuable financial safety net. Accidents, accidental death or property damage are realistic risks in the trades, and when they occur, there’s usually a big bill to pay. Not to mention that most customers won’t work with you unless you have it in place. Liability Insurance only becomes a legal requirement if your business has employees, in which case holding Employers Liability Insurance becomes the legal requirement of the business.
Public Liability Insurance is your business’s safety net, ready to catch you when something unexpected happens. In fact, the financial protection and peace of mind provided by Public Liability Insurance is the reason most business owners sleep at night!
When wouldn’t Public Liability Insurance apply?
Public Liability Insurance is the gold standard insurance policy for tradespeople, but there’s certain scenarios when it won’t apply.
For example:
Staff injuries or damage to staff property (that’ll be a job for Employer’s Liability Insurance)
Theft of your tools (Enter Tools Insurance)
Financial loss incurred by a customer due to your poor advice or designs (Professional Indemnity Insurance, step right up)
You are injured while working (Personal Accident Insurance is your best friend)
Who needs Public Liability Insurance?
If you’re a sole trader, director or co-owner of a trades business, then Public Liability Insurance offers real protection your business’ finances, not to mention peace of mind of the policyholder that should the worst happen, they are covered.
Businesses that don’t hold the correct liability insurance are running an enormous financial risk should they ever be in a scenario that they need to make a claim.
How to get Public Liability Insurance?
Talk to Rhino. We make it ridiculously straightforward to get Public Liability Insurance cover. We’ve got an instant quote generator on our website that’s ready for action 24/7, and a phone line where you can talk to a human (from our Leicester HQ) during business hours 8:30am – 5:30pm Monday – Friday on 0116 243 7904.
