Insurance: Insider Tips and Facts

What a Business Owner Needs to Know About Public Liability Insurance

10 August 2016 by Brian Dunn

Public liability insurance may be one of the most important types of insurance for a business owner, and in some cases, it may be legally required. If you're a business owner, note a few factors about public liability insurance so you know when it's needed and can better determine the right amount of coverage for your business.

About the coverage

Public liability insurance covers the cost of any injuries sustained by a member of the general public, or damage to their property, when visiting your premises; this can mean a slip and fall, or having a worker on a forklift run into them or their car. It also covers the cost of damages if one of your workers is visiting another business facility and should cause damage to the property or injury to another person. If your worker should accidently drive their car into a building or parking structure while visiting on business, or cause someone else to trip and fall while on their premises, your public liability insurance would cover that cost.

However, note that this liability insurance does not cover your subcontractors. This is why it's vital that you check on the insurance coverage of any subcontractors you hire, as you may be liable for damage they cause but your standard public liability insurance will not cover those costs.

Defective work

If an injury or property damage to a member of the public is the result of defective work on your property, your public liability insurance should still cover the cost of that injury or damage. However, the insurance will not typically cover the cost of repairing that work or redoing the work that was defective. Note if you need to upgrade your property insurance itself to cover the cost of repairs to defective work.

Other forms of insurance needed

While your public liability insurance will cover the cost of damages or injuries to someone while on your or their property, it doesn't cover the cost of damages from poor professional service or advice you may give them, or from errors you make in your profession. Professional indemnity insurance may cover you from such liability, and errors and omissions insurance protects individuals like property appraisers. Medical staff should still be covered with malpractice insurance. Even if you work with the general public, don't assume that your public liability insurance covers all costs and all liabilities from that work, but consider additional insurance options for your professional services themselves.

For more information, contact companies like Westralian Insurance.

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