Businesses of all sizes need to take steps to ensure they don’t hit any roadblocks on their journey toward success. This can include analysing the competition, conducting market research, and keeping your digital and intellectual property yourself. It also includes having adequate insurance. This may not be the most exciting aspect of running a business, but it’s certainly important. There are many different types of commercial policies available, including public liability insurance, an insurance type that is often overlooked. In this blog, we’ll run through everything you need to know about what it is and how it can benefit your business.

What Is Public Liability Insurance and How Does It Work?

Public liability insurance is designed to protect you against potential claims made against your business by members of the public. Nobody wants to cause harm to their customers, contractors, or clients, but it does happen from time to time.

While you can’t always prevent damage to another person’s property or injury to customers, with public liability insurance, you can ensure that it doesn’t negatively impact your business operations. This type of insurance offers financial protection if a member of the public seeks compensation against your business.

Who Needs Public Liability Insurance?

As with most insurance types, businesses don’t need to have public liability insurance. However, it is recommended if, through the course of your business operations, you directly interact with the public (examples: customers, clients, and contractors). It becomes of even greater importance if you interact with members of the public each day (you run a shop or work in the trades) since the chances of something going wrong are more likely.

What Could Happen If You Don’t Have It?

There is a cost associated with getting public liability insurance, but it might just end up saving you many thousands of pounds worth of liability fees. If someone has an accident at your work premises or you’re responsible for any activity that causes a person to seek compensation against you, then you could be solely responsible for paying those fees unless you have protection from public liability insurance.

Benefits of Having Public Liability Insurance

Peace of Mind

Business owners have enough on their minds without worrying about what would happen if something went wrong. Public liability insurance ensures you’re protected in case of an accident.

Social Responsibility

Business owners have a duty to look after their customers. By getting public liability insurance, you can ensure that anyone injured due to your business gets the financial compensation they deserve.

Potential Job Opportunities

Some contractors, clients, and trade organisations require that a business has public liability insurance. In this sense, the insurance policy doesn’t just protect your business, but can also result in new job opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t be available.

Final Thoughts

Businesses should hope for the best but expect the worst. While you’ll hope that you never need to use your public liability insurance, if you do, you’ll be thankful that you took the time to obtain a policy.