Bodily injury to a third party
Pays compensation, medical and loss-of-earnings costs when a customer, visitor or member of the public is injured because of your business activities.
e.g. A customer slips on a wet shop floor and breaks a wrist.
Public & employers’ liability cover
Public and Employers’ Liability Insurance
Two policies most UK businesses need together. Public liability covers third-party claims (customers, suppliers, the public). Employers’ liability is the statutory cover required once you have staff. Placed by a named broker, £1m to £10m of PL, statutory £5m of EL.
Around 2 minutes to startBroker callbackFCA regulated, secure submission
How it works
Quote in two minutes, broker on the file from day one.
Three steps. A named broker on the file from quote through to claim, no hand-off.
01
Tell us about your work
Trade, turnover, cover level you need and the contracts you are targeting. Two minutes online or a call with a broker, your choice.
02
We approach the panel
Your named broker takes your details to specialist insurers we already work with and selects the option that fits your trade and contracts.
03
Cover in place
Documents emailed, payment by direct debit or card. Your broker stays on the file at renewal and at claim, same person, every time.
What it covers
Three things drive most public liability claims.
Public liability insurance UK businesses buy responds when business activities cause harm or damage to someone outside your team. Each of the three areas below falls within a standard policy.
Damage to third-party property
Covers repair or replacement of property you do not own that is damaged by your work, plus any consequential losses the owner can prove.
e.g. A tradesperson cracks a client glass partition while installing cabling.
Legal defence costs
Covers solicitor and expert fees the insurer incurs investigating, negotiating or defending the claim, paid alongside any settlement up to the cover limit.
e.g. A drawn-out injury claim that takes months of solicitor work to resolve.
Cover limits
£1m to £10m, sized to the contracts you sign.
Choosing a cover limit is mostly a contracting decision. Your real-world exposure to a serious injury claim is rarely capped at £1m, but the level you actually buy is dictated by the contracts you want to win.
£1m
Sole-trader floor
Sole-trader work, occasional public contact, no contracted minimum required.
£2m
Small contractors
Small contractors and trades with public-facing premises and modest customer footfall.
£5m
Council + corporate
The working minimum for most council tenders, corporate suppliers and commercial contractors.
£10m
Construction + venue
High-risk trades, large venues, prestige construction sites and main-contractor frameworks.
If you are unsure, list the contracts you want to win in the next twelve months and pick the highest limit any of them require. Buying more public liability insurance than that is paying for headroom you cannot use; buying less risks losing the work.
Employers’ liability
The cover the law makes you carry.
Employers’ liability is the statutory companion to public liability. The moment you employ a single person, the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 requires you to hold cover with a minimum indemnity of £5 million, displayed at the workplace.
Most UK businesses buy public and employers’ liability together. We place them as a combined liability policy, on one schedule with one renewal date.
Who needs employers’ liability cover
Any UK business with one or more employees. The definition of "employee" is wider than people often assume, it includes subcontractors you direct on a day-to-day basis, volunteers in your control and family members on the payroll. Sole traders working entirely alone are exempt; everyone else is in scope.
The statutory £5m minimum
The 1969 Act sets the legal floor at £5 million per occurrence. Most insurers offer £10 million as standard at modest extra premium, and large-contract work (construction principal-contractor, manufacturing) often requires £10m by contract anyway. Going above £10m is unusual and tends to be specified by individual contracts.
Display, certificates and HSE enforcement
You must keep the certificate of insurance available for HSE inspection (display in the workplace or accessible electronically). Failure to hold valid employers’ liability cover is a criminal offence under the 1969 Act, with fines of up to £2,500 a day. We issue certificates the moment cover incepts.
How it works alongside public liability
Employers’ liability responds to claims from your staff; public liability responds to claims from third parties (customers, members of the public, contractors not directly under your control). The two policies overlap occasionally (a contractor working under your direction may have routes to both), so we structure them on the same schedule to avoid arguments at claim time.
Who buys it
If a member of the public can reach your work, you need this cover.
The trades and businesses we most commonly place public liability for. Each gets a tailored conversation rather than a one-size policy.
Tradespeople
Electricians, plumbers, builders, joiners, painters and decorators on third-party premises.
Motor traders
Workshops, MOT centres, dealers and forecourt operators, packaged as motor trade public liability insurance inside a combined motor trade policy.
Tailored coverCouriers and drivers
Self-employed parcel and same-day operators carrying courier liability cover alongside their goods in transit policy.
Tailored coverContractors and consultants
General contractors, project managers and site supervisors with on-site exposure.
Retail and customer-facing premises
Shops, salons, gyms and any business with walk-in customers.
Caterers and hospitality
Pubs, restaurants and event caterers with public footfall.
Landlords and managing agents
Tenants and shared common parts mean third-party exposure.
Specialist trades
High-risk trades, hot works, working at height, tree surgery, placed with markets that understand them.
If your work brings third parties into contact with your tools, your premises or the consequences of what you do, you need this cover. The way it is packaged depends on your trade, your broker will tell you whether to buy it standalone or inside a combined policy.
Keep premium down
Four levers that move the price.
Premium for public liability is set by the insurer, but a handful of choices on your side meaningfully change what you pay.
Right-size your cover
Match the limit to the contracts you sign, not to a number that sounds reassuring. Buying £10m when £5m is the contracted minimum is paying for headroom you cannot use.
Keep claims clean
Three to five years of claims history follows your renewal. Robust risk management, accurate record-keeping and prompt notification of incidents protect that record.
Take a voluntary excess
Choosing to carry the first slice of any claim yourself reduces the insurer’s exposure and the premium with it. Useful when cashflow allows and the trade has a clean history.
Combine related covers
Public liability bundled with employers’ liability, contents or stock inside a combined commercial policy usually prices below buying each policy standalone.
What's available, what isn't
Optional extras and common exclusions.
A standard public liability policy covers the three areas above. The list below shows what most insurers will add on, and what falls outside the cover by default.
Optional extras
Employers’ liability bolt-on
Statutory cover required from the moment you employ anyone, often combined with PL on a single policy.
Products liability
Adds cover for harm or damage caused by goods you supply, after they leave your control.
Professional indemnity
For trades that issue advice, designs or specifications alongside physical work.
Tools and equipment cover
On-site and in-transit cover for the tools you use to do the job.
Contract works / JCT cover
Work in progress cover for contractors carrying live construction or installation projects.
Common exclusions
Injury to your own employees
Sits on employers’ liability, which is statutory the moment you employ anyone.
Professional advice errors
Mistakes in advice, designs, drawings or specifications fall on professional indemnity, not PL.
Damage to property in your custody
Property you own, lease, hire or have taken charge of is handled by commercial property or contract works cover.
Contractual liabilities you accept
Liabilities you accept in a contract that go beyond the position at common law are usually excluded unless agreed in advance.
Deliberate or criminal acts
Loss caused intentionally or through criminal conduct is excluded by every insurer in the market.
When you are ready
Two minutes to start. A broker takes it from there.
Tell us your trade and the cover level you need. We come back with terms from a specialist insurer panel and stay on the file from quote through to claim.
Frequently asked
Questions before you click submit.
The questions we hear most often, with straight answers. Anything else, call the office.
It covers third-party bodily injury, third-party property damage, the legal defence costs your insurer incurs in handling a claim, and any compensation awarded by a court or agreed in settlement. It does not cover claims from your own employees, which sit on an employers’ liability policy, or claims arising from professional advice or design work, which sit on professional indemnity. The headline cover figure (£1m, £5m, £10m) is the maximum the insurer will pay for any one claim.
Cannot see your question? Speak to a broker on 0800 123 4567.
Why brokers, why us
FCA regulated
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
45 years broking
Long-standing relationships across the UK insurer market.
Named broker
A direct line to the same person at quote, renewal and claim.
Independent
No tie-ins. We use the market that fits your trade, not a panel of one.
● Cover that often sits alongside this
Ready when you are
Cover that holds up when it has to.
Two minutes to tell us about the work. Terms back from a specialist insurer panel. Your named broker on the file from day one.
Two minutes to startSpecialist insurer panelNamed broker, day one