by constructaquote - 1 June 2016
Business liability insurances are designed to protect you and your business against risks including accident, injury and property damage caused by your business activities.
The type of liability insurances you may need will depend on the nature of your business and whether or not you have employees.
What does Employers’ liability insurance cover?
When you are just starting out you may not have employees, but if you do then the first and most important kind of liability insurance to put in place is employers’ liability insurance.
Employers’ liability cover is a type of liability insurance that could protect your business in the event of a successful compensation claim for injury or illness suffered by one of your employees during the course of their employment with you.
It may also cover you against claims by employees who become ill as a result of their employment, even if it is a long time after they have worked for you.
Unlike other kinds of liability insurance, employers’ liability insurance is compulsory by law – unless your employees belong to your immediate family.
You will need to display your current employers liability insurance certificate otherwise known as an ELIC within your workplace in a place visible to all your employees.
It is worth noting, if you fail to ensure you have employers liability insurance then you could be fined for every day you have traded without it.
Public liability insurance
Public liability insurance on the other hand is not mandatory; however it is still considered an essential type of cover.
Public liability insurance could cover you against claims from members of the public arising from accident, injury or illness as a result of contact with your business.
If you come into contact with the public during the course of your normal business practice, then you may wish to consider having a public liability insurance in place. If a successful claim were to be made against you and you did not have public liability insurance then your business would still be liable for the costs.
Could you afford the legal fees and compensation? Essentially most businesses will need to weigh up the cost of the insurance premium versus the risk of paying out after a claim.
It’s also worth remembering that as well as claims from the public, public liability insurance also protects your business against claims made against you by other businesses.
Do you need them both?
Employers’ and public liability insurance in essence both protect your business against risks you can’t foresee. If you have employees the two policies are commonly sold together and often as part of a business insurance package.
Here at constructaquote we work hard to make sure you are provided with all the information in order for you to be able to make a decision about the right insurance for your business.
This guide is part of our series on employers liability insurance. For product information, links to guides or to get a quote, visit our employers liability section here. You can also call our UK based sales team on 08081686868.
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