Public liability insurance is a must if your business comes into contact with the public, including customers and clients. It protects you if you’re found responsible for injuring a member of the public or causing damage to their property.
Typically public liability insurance covers costs including compensation, plus any associated medical bills, repairs, loss of income and business disruption – giving you reassurance. Public liability insurance is flexible and can be tailored to meet your business needs. If you’re not sure what insurance is appropriate for your business, then speak to an experienced insurance advisor.
You need to protect your customers
Crucially, public liability insurance covers you whether you’re coming into contact with the public on your property or elsewhere. Do customers visit your business premises daily? Are you a café or shop owner, with numerous people popping in throughout the day? Then public liability insurance is a must. Conversely, are you out and about every day meeting your customers? Do you primarily provide a service at your client’s property? If this is the case, then public liability insurance is also a must.
Public liability insurance usually covers ‘invitees’ – that’s customers you invite onto your property, ‘licensees’ that’s when your business carries out work on other sites and also ‘trespassers’ or those who enter your property without invitation. You need to be prepared to cope with all three should an accident happen – so take out public liability insurance today.
Ultimately, having this insurance allows you to go about your day-to-day business with confidence, knowing you’re covered. Remember, though, that if you have employees, you’ll also need employers’ liability insurance. If you’re setting up a new business and need advice about taking on employees, then take a look at the Acas website for a handy guide about how best to approach this.
Public liability insurance is essential for some contracts
Thirdly, though public liability insurance is a not a legal requirement, it is increasingly a prerequisite for contracts, especially those in the public sector. In fact, many public sector contracts specify the amount of liability your insurance needs to cover, and this could be as much as £10 million pounds. Also, public liability insurance is often required by industry regulators and membership associations.
Check with your industry body which insurance is a requirement for your business. If you’re new to business and you’re not sure which are the most appropriate associations for you to join, visit the British Associations website for more information, as it provides a helpful guide for anyone working in the construction, building, home, horticultural and related industries. Ultimately, having public liability insurance will give your business a better competitive edge and may even help you to win new business and develop your customer base.
All in all, having public liability insurance could be vital for your business, providing you with peace of mind at a potentially difficult time, giving you confidence and ultimately increasing your competitive edge. Why would you want to be without it?