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Public Liability Insurance

Public Liability Insurance Quotes

B Portwood  & Co Ltd can offer public liability insurance for contractors and self employed, covering public material loss and damage due to negligence.

Compare current public liability insurance rates with our quotation system. Quotes online for the self employed, contractors and businesses in the UK and Northern Ireland. Compare the rates of the various companies.

For actions in your personal capacity:  insurance providing indemnity for actions in a personal capacity is usually covered under home contents policy - check this.

To obtain a demonstrable comparison for public liability insurance for the self employed / small businesses use our Public Liability insurance quote page. As well as public liability insurance, employers liability is available if required. (Legal requirement is for any firm employing staff other than family members or sole share owners)

Sums Insured on public liability insurance

A key public liability insurance rating factor is the sum insured. Typical indemnity limits for material loss and damage, start at £1,000,000. Rates available online for £2,000,000 , £5,000,000 and £10,000,000. Additional public liability is purchased through another policy (excess layer) for higher sums insured. Excess layer policies are usually called 'excess of loss' : the cover will be for an amount 'in excess of' the sum insured on the standard policy'. e.g. for £50,000,000 cover insurance is effected for £10,000,000 and then an excess of loss policy for "£40,000,000 in excess of £10,000,000."

Common Law negligence and public liability insurance

Public liability insurance protects policyholders from Civil rather than criminal claims. This means that awards of costs can only be of a pecuniary nature in a civil rather than criminal court - and the public liability insurance protects policyholders from them. Of course the defendant may have culpability in relational criminal offences also e.g. breach of current health and safety legislation.

In order for a claim of negligence to succeed in a civil court it is not sufficient for a loss to be established. The rules are:

  • The defendant must owe a duty of care to the plaintiff 

  • The defendant is in breach of that duty of care

  • The plaintiff must have suffered a loss

  • The loss must be due to the breach of duty.

The provider of public liability insurance will often appoint solicitors to defend their clients as the costs that can be awarded (especially if personal injury) can run into thousands if not millions of pounds. They will indemnify the defendant if they lose, subject to contribution (excess) - typically ranging from £100 to £1000 depending on size and hazardous nature of business.

Partnerships must be aware: public liability insurance discriminates against one partner injuring another. Complete cover may require 'injury to working partners' extension. This addendum may be included or additional premiums maybe required.

Rating Factors

Indemnity premiums for public liability insurance depend on the type of business - a high-risk roofing contractor utilising heat for instance is more likely to be a defendant claimed against (e.g. by someone falling from a roof!) than, say, a florist upsetting a bowl of petunias or chrysanthemums onto sitting-room Persian carpet! Premiums take into account the business size. For larger firms premiums are based on Turnover (public liability) and wages paid to employees (Employers liability). The premium for the self employed and smaller trader, however, are now frequently based on the number of workers/ employees, which makes calculations easier to evaluate.

Exclusions and limitations should be verified. A height limit may be imposed e.g. a height limit of 10 meters. There may be no height limit. Similarly for ground workers a maximum excavation depth may apply e.g. maximum depth of 1,2,3 or 5 meters or restrictions on shoring/ shuttering. Premiums reflect these limitations so ensure policies elected wont be affected by such limitations and exclusions.

Public liability insurance is often inbuilt within a commercial combined / shopkeeper / office policy. These may be extended including material damage to furnishings, plate glass, high risk / normal / frozen stock,  goods in transit and personal accident.

Quotations

We can now provide online public liability insurance quotes for many trades. For the smaller contractor we can provide an instant indication and we also provide a form to allow the larger contractor to request terms. Quotes subject to verification as to qualification and endorsements accepted.

Public liability insurance quotes Obtain premium indication, or use this Insurance Quotation link.

Public liability insurance for specific trades.

The following are specific trades for which a quote for public liability insurance can be obtained. In general these are per-capita  insurance policies suitable for the self employed and small business. We are only too happy to provide quotes for  insurance for larger firms and for tradesmen in other occupations. We recommend, however you just click the quote button above to go straight to our quotation system

Contractors All risks 

Some insurers allow an insurance policy to be extended to include contractors all risk. The public liability insurance policy is extended to cover: contract works, hired in plant, own plant. Click here for our contractors all risks rates.

If you want more information on public liability insurance please ring 0844 8262618 and we can discuss your needs further.