What public liability insurance usually does not cover

How this applies to the work

Your invoices and diary will usually describe the business more accurately than a broad label. They show the tasks, sites and customers that the policy has to accommodate.

A public liability policy is concerned with certain claims from people outside the business. Your own tools, an employee’s injury or the cost of redoing poor work can fall elsewhere.

The day-to-day exposure is easier to judge through examples. For this subject, look at: the tile you fitted has to be replaced because it was fitted badly; your own drill is stolen from a van; and an employee is hurt while working for you. Each example can involve different facts and exclusions. Mention it if it forms part of the work you undertake.

Do not rely on memory if you can check: the exact cause of the loss, not just the result; whether you supplied a product or only a service; and which person or business suffered the loss. Read the answer back as though you were checking somebody else’s form.

Set the certificate beside the full policy documents. The certificate confirms useful basics, but it cannot show every condition. An unexplained clause is a reason to ask a question, not to guess.

Points to think through

The following examples are worth discussing if they occur in your work:

• The tile you fitted has to be replaced because it was fitted badly
• Your own drill is stolen from a van
• An employee is hurt while working for you

The cause, timing and people involved can all change the outcome. Keep that in mind when reading the wording.

Think about a recent job where “your own drill is stolen from a van” might have arisen. The customer, premises and method of work are often more informative than the occupation name alone.

The point about “an employee is hurt while working for you” may follow a different policy route. Check it rather than assuming that every loss connected with the business belongs under public liability.

Read the proposed wording against those real examples. Query a gap before accepting the cover.

What to check before starting the form

A hurried estimate can cause confusion later. Check:

• The exact cause of the loss, not just the result
• Whether you supplied a product or only a service
• Which person or business suffered the loss

Set aside a few minutes for “the exact cause of the loss, not just the result”, “whether you supplied a product or only a service” and “which person or business suffered the loss”. Accurate answers now make it easier to check the schedule and business description when the documents arrive.

Do not send sensitive records merely to prove a simple figure unless the provider asks for them through a suitable route. Usually the answer itself is enough at quotation stage.

Two reminders from this page are “business motor cover sits elsewhere” and “advice errors can fall under professional indemnity”; keep them beside the documents when you check the quotation. If the policy takes a different approach to “the exact cause of the loss, not just the result”, ask about it before the cover is needed and retain any written reply.

If the provider asks for an estimate, make a fair one and note how you arrived at it.

Look closely at these points

• Business motor cover sits elsewhere
• Advice errors can fall under professional indemnity
• Pollution and gradual damage often have tight wording

Pay attention to instructions that use words such as “must” or “always”. Ask what happens if a condition cannot be followed on a particular job.

One last read-through

Keep the quotation answers, schedule, wording, endorsements and certificate together. They are parts of the same record.

If the business changes during the policy period, ask whether the provider needs to be told rather than waiting for renewal.

Put the renewal date somewhere it will be noticed before any long-running contract passes through it. A customer may need an updated certificate, and the renewed policy may not use exactly the same terms.

Keep one further reminder with the quotation: pollution and gradual damage often have tight wording; check how this affects the jobs you accept and ask for clarification if the policy takes a different approach.