Public liability insurance

Public liability is a type of business insurance designed to cover compensation and legal defence costs. If a member of the public claims they have been injured because of your work, public liability cover can help. The same applies if they claim their property was damaged as a result of your activities.  

This cover can help shield your business against unforeseen costs. It applies whether an incident occurs on your premises or when you or your staff are out and about.  

Even when you do everything right, accidents can happen. Any business can face compensation claims and related legal fees. Whether you’re a freelance professional, a sole trader using tools, or running a small business or start-up, the right cover can protect your business. 

Products liability insurance is normally included in this cover. This can help if you are subject to a claim relating to a product you supply, maintain, or sell.

For more information, you can read our guide: What is public liability insurance?

Public liability insurance covers a wide range of unexpected events. Choosing the right insurance can help you plan for key risks.   

Public liability insurance can be useful if a client or member of the public takes legal action against your business for injury to them or damage to their property. This may include anyone who doesn’t work for your business, such as a visitor, customer, or supplier.   

This includes claims relating to products your company supplied, distributed, modified, or sold. Products liability can help cover this and is normally included with your public liability insurance. 

Our public liability policy provides cover if:

• Someone is injured or becomes ill and blames you, your employees, or your business activities.
• There’s damage to a member of the public’s property because of your business.
• A courier leaves a building you own in a hurry and slips on the stairs.
• One of your employees causes damage to property at an off-site meeting.
• A third party makes a claim relating to trespass, nuisance, false arrest, or eviction.
• You require representation at any official investigation, inquiry, disciplinary, or criminal proceeding, provided you seek our prior agreement to cover any costs.
• You, your directors, or employees are required to attend court as a witness in connection with a claim. You can receive up to £10,000 in compensation. 

Public liability insurance does not cover:  

• Injury to your employees or damage to your own property. For these, employers' liability insurance or business contents insurance may be useful.
• Costs related to recalling, removing, repairing, reconditioning, or replacing a product you supplied.
• Losses dependent on contractual terms, where you wouldn’t bear responsibility without these.
• Claims related to any cyber attack or transmission of a computer virus. Our cyber insurance could help in this case.  
• Professional advice you provide. For this, professional indemnity insurance could help.
• Asbestos-related claims.  
• Deliberate or reckless acts you commit. 

Please refer to the policy documents for the full terms of this cover, including inclusions and exclusions. Policy documents are available when purchasing online. You can also contact our customer service team for more information. 

Public liability insurance isn’t usually a legal requirement in the UK, but it's often considered an important option.  

Every trade comes with its own set of risks. If you work around members of the public, public liability cover can help protect against related risks. It might be that your staff work off-site, you’re a tradesman, or customers visit your premises. In all these situations, injuries or property damage could result in a claim.   

For instance, if you own an office, a passer-by could claim a falling sign injured them. Someone might slip on winter ice that wasn’t properly cleared. Visitors to your hair salon or shop might slip on a wet floor. 

Alternatively, you could break something while painting a staircase. 

Gardeners in busy parks and plumbers who work in homes can both face costly claims. Even if you’re a freelance wedding planner, meetings and events can come with risks. 

The more contact your business has with third parties, the more chance there is of a claim against you. Your clients may require you to hold public liability insurance as a condition of their contract with you.  

Some companies need short-period public liability insurance for events. In this case, you can enquire about special event insurance. This covers liabilities and event-specific risks.   

Insurance for public liability helps cover legal defence costs and compensation if a client or member of the public makes a claim against your business. Anyone who works with people or other people’s property can face a claim.  

If you’re a tradesperson, your work could cause damage to a client’s property. For example, if you’re a plumber and you do something that causes a burst pipe, the resulting leak could rot your customer’s floorboards. Public liability insurance can help cover the cost of a claim. 

Another situation could involve a client injury. For instance, if you’re an IT contractor visiting a client’s premises and you leave your equipment lying around, one of your client’s employees could trip and get injured. If you’re a professional gardener, someone might collide with a loose fence panel while you’re mid-job.  

Whatever the case, the right insurance can provide support when you need it most. We can’t take away the headache of a claim, but we can help you cover the costs.  

This type of cover can shield freelancers, sole traders, or small businesses. It offers protection against legal defence costs and compensation.  

The value of the public liability cover you’ll need depends on the costs that could arise from claims. This can include any illness, injuries, or damage that might occur because of the work you do. 

If you host client meetings, annual cover can be useful. However, it’s also possible to buy a policy for just one day, which can be ideal for a one-off event such as a trade fair. 

Working in a higher-risk field might mean you buy £10 million in cover. A hands-on trade or regular contact with people might put you in this category. In other cases, you might feel £5 million is enough. 

Get a public liability insurance quote online and we’ll help you choose the right policy for your needs. With our broad cover, you can focus on running your business.  

With Hiscox, you can build your cover to protect against the specific risks facing your business. This can include covers such as:  

• Employers' liability insurance - which can protect you when an employee claims they have been injured or become ill as a result of their work for you, and may be legally required if you are an employer.
• Professional indemnity insurance - which can help protect your business against costs associated with defending or settling claims relating to professional negligence, errors, or omissions.
• Equipment breakdown insurance - which can help cover the cost of repairing or replacing business equipment that has suffered electrical or mechanical breakdown.  
• Portable equipment insurance - which can cover laptops, smartphones, and other specialist kit against theft, loss, and damage when you're out of the office.  
• Cyber and data insurance - which can help you get back up and running after a data breach, security failure, illegal threat, or cyber attack. 

Distinguishing one business insurance cover from another can be confusing, but these comparisons can help you understand the unique risks each cover is designed to address.   

At Hiscox, employers’ liability cover cannot be purchased separately, but public liability cover and professional indemnity cover are both available on their own.  

Public liability vs employers’ liability  

While public liability covers injury or property damage to third parties, such as clients and visitors, it does not typically cover claims made by your own employees. Employers’ liability can cover injury or illness claims made by employees due to work-related incidents. Employers' liability might also be legally required if you employ staff.

Employers’ liability is not available on its own. It must be purchased with public liability insurance.  

Learn more about the difference between public liability and employers’ liability insurance.  

Public liability vs product liability  

Hiscox public liability insurance is generally sold with products liability cover, but there are some important differences between the two. Public liability can cover incidents arising from your business activities, like someone slipping on a wet floor. Meanwhile, products liability covers harm caused by products you manufacture, sell, or supply, such as faulty appliances causing injury.  

Learn more about the difference between public liability and product liability insurance.  

Public liability vs professional indemnity insurance  

While public liability can cover physical injury or property damage claims made by third parties, professional indemnity covers claims related to professional errors, negligence, and omissions.

Learn more about the difference between public liability and professional indemnity insurance.