Public Liability Insurance

Compare Public Liability Cover

Public liability cover can pay compensation and legal costs if a customer, client or member of the public claims your business injured them or damaged their property. Guidance on business.gov.uk lists it as cover you may need if you work with the public, visit clients or have clients visit you.

On Quotezone, you fill in one short form and providers from our panel can then contact you with quotes to compare.

If you’re a small business owner or sole trader that comes into contact with members of the public during the course of business there is a risk that you might be hit with a public liability claim at some point if someone is injured and you are held liable.

But it’s not just claims for physical injuries that this type of policy can protect you against – if a member of the public sues you because their property or belongings were damaged or destroyed this type of insurance can cover the resulting legal expenses and compensation pay-outs in those cases too.

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What public liability cover pays for, and what it does not

This cover deals with claims from people outside your business. A typical policy can pay the compensation you’re found liable for, plus the legal costs of defending the claim.

Examples of claims it’s designed for:

• a shopper slips on a freshly mopped floor in your shop or cafe
• you spill paint on a client’s carpet while decorating
• a passer-by is hurt by a tool dropped from your ladder
• a visitor trips over a cable at a stall you run

It doesn’t usually cover:

• injury or illness suffered by your own employees, which is what employers’ liability is for
• damage to your own premises, tools or stock
• claims that your professional work or designs cost a client money, which professional indemnity covers
• harm you cause on purpose
• penalties or extra promises you’ve agreed to in a contract
• work you didn’t tell your insurer about

Policies vary, so read the exclusions before you buy. As business.gov.uk puts it, if something is not mentioned, it will not be covered. Our guide on what this cover is and who legally needs it goes into more detail.

How much public liability cover do you need?

You pick a limit when you buy, often from options such as £1 million, £2 million, £5 million or £10 million. The limit is the most your insurer will pay out if you claim (business.gov.uk).

Check your policy schedule to see whether the limit applies to each claim or to a total for the policy year.

Often the figure is set for you. Clients and venues may require this cover in a contract (government guidance), and that contract may name a minimum limit.

Some schemes set a limit too. Firms that subcontract chargepoint installations under the government’s grant schemes must apply as an authorised installer representative. That application needs a public liability certificate showing at least £2 million of indemnity (GOV.UK).

“Check every contract, venue agreement and licence before you pick a limit. Your cover should meet the highest figure any of them asks for. If a bigger job needs more, ask your insurer to raise it before you start,” says Lee Evans, Quotezone’s Business & Leisure Insurance Expert.

If nobody sets a limit for you, think about the most serious accident your work could realistically cause. A higher limit usually adds to the premium, so weigh the cost against the size of claim you could face.

How much does public liability insurance cost?

Some SMEs and sole traders have a higher risk of public liability claims than others, so the exact nature of your business will have a significant impact on the cost of your insurance.

A range of other variables will also be used to calculate your premium, many of which are specific to you (your location, the amount you’d like to be covered for, whether or not you’ve claimed on a public liability insurance policy in the past) so it’s difficult to provide any sort of meaningful figure without comparing real quotes.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that there are a wide range of add-ons that can be bundled with your core PLI policy, and those can have a significant impact on your insurance premium too.

What affects the price

Quotes usually take into account:

• your trade, and the work you carry out
• your annual turnover
• how many people work for you
• the limit of cover you choose
• any claims you’ve made before
• where the work happens, such as your own premises, clients’ homes, building sites or events
• the excess, if your policy has one

Your quote should include Insurance Premium Tax, which is charged on general insurance premiums. Since 1 June 2017, the standard rate has been 12% (HMRC on GOV.UK).

Paying monthly spreads the cost, but check the yearly total and whether interest or a fee is added.

What small firms say they spend

For a rough guide, Public First asked 1,002 decision-makers at small and medium-sized firms what they spend, for a January 2026 report for the Association of British Insurers.

Firms with 10 to 49 employees reported average spending of £500 to £999 on public liability. Sole traders reported a median of £250 to £499 for all their business policies combined, and 47% said they spend under £250 a year.

These are self-reported price bands, not quotes. The report also notes that many firms buy bundled policies, so they may not know what a single cover costs.

Worked example: a painter and a cafe

Illustrative example, not real quotes. A sole-trader painter and a small cafe both choose a £2 million limit, but their insurers look at different risks.

The painter works in clients’ homes, often on ladders, so the insurer is likely to ask about work at height and damage to clients’ property. The cafe has customers on its premises every day, so its insurer is likely to ask about visitor numbers and turnover, and about the food it sells.

The same limit can be priced quite differently, which is why comparing quotes for your own business is the clearest way to see what you’d pay.

Liability cover for small businesses and sole traders

Public liability is the cover small firms most often hold. In the survey above, 57% of firms said they have it, ahead of employers’ liability (50%) and professional indemnity (36%).

What is business liability insurance?

Providers use the name in different ways. It can mean public liability on its own, or a package that adds employers’ liability and product liability. Many business policies bundle several covers into one (business.gov.uk), so check the schedule to see what’s included.

Sole traders

If you work alone, you won’t usually need employers’ liability until you take someone on, because GOV.UK only requires it once you become an employer. That often leaves public liability as the main cover, sometimes with tools or professional indemnity alongside.

Tradespeople can also compare tradesman insurance quotes, and there’s dedicated cover for builders. If you run stalls at fairs or organise a one-off function, look at event insurance. For a single job or a few days’ work, short-term cover may suit you better than an annual policy.

How to compare quotes on Quotezone

Comparing on Quotezone takes one short form. It helps to have these details ready:

• a clear description of what your business does
• your yearly turnover
• how many people work for you, if any
• the limit your clients, venues or council ask for
• any claims or incidents in recent years
• the date you want cover to start

Step 1. Tell Quotezone about your business and the cover you want.

Step 2. Providers on Quotezone’s panel can then contact you with quotes.

Step 3. Compare the limit, excess and exclusions as well as the price, then choose the policy that suits you.

How to find cheaper cover

A few steps can help keep the cost down:

• choose a limit that meets your contracts and the claims you could realistically face, rather than paying for more than you need
• describe your trade accurately, so the quote matches the work you do
• agree a higher excess, as long as you could pay it if you claimed
• combine public liability with employers’ or product liability if one policy costs less than separate ones
• pay annually if you can, as monthly payments may add interest or a fee
• look after your claims record, as past claims feed into the price

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Is public liability insurance a legal requirement?

No, for most small businesses and sole traders public liability insurance is not a legal requirement. Some activities do need it, for example childminders registered with Ofsted, and some council licences ask for a public liability certificate. Clients and venues can also make it a condition of a contract.

However, if a member of the public was ever injured and you were held liable you would have to pay the resulting compensation pay-outs and legal fees yourself unless you had a PLI policy in place at the time of the incident, so this type of insurance usually is a wise investment.

Does public liability cover me if one of my employees accidentally injures a member of the public?

Yes, if one of your own employees accidentally injures a customer, a visitor, a delivery person or a salesperson your insurance should cover you if the incident results in a liability claim.

However, it’s worth bearing in mind that if your own employee is injured, that wouldn’t be covered by your public liability insurance policy – you’d have to rely on your employer’s liability insurance for that instead.

Does the accident have to happen on my own premises in order for it to be covered?

No, not necessarily.

If you’re insuring a retail, catering or hospitality business then any accidents that happen at your shop, restaurant, cafe or hotel should obviously be covered. However, if your business provides a delivery service, runs events at other venues or visits customers at their location then you could just as easily face a liability claim if something happens at one of those locations, but fortunately, your public liability insurance will usually cover you in those cases as well.

Public liability, employers’ liability and product liability

These three are easy to mix up, and one policy can include more than one of them.

Public liability covers claims from people outside your business, such as customers, clients and passers-by, for injury or damage to their property (business.gov.uk).

Employers’ liability helps pay compensation if one of your employees is hurt or falls ill as a result of their work for you. GOV.UK says it’s needed from the day you become an employer, with at least £5 million of cover, unless an exemption applies. You can compare employers’ liability cover if you have staff.

Product liability covers claims that an item you made, sold or supplied made someone ill or injured them (business.gov.uk). Some policies include it alongside public liability, so check before you buy it separately.

What other types of add-ons can I bundle with a public liability insurance policy?

There are a number of different add-ons you can bundle with your liability insurance, but some of the most popular ones include:

• Employers’ liability insurance: If your small business employs staff you usually have a legal obligation to take out employers’ liability insurance, even if those employees only work for you on a part time basis. You don’t need it if you only employ a family member, or someone based outside England, Scotland and Wales (GOV.UK).
• Product liability insurance: If your small business sells physical products and a fault with one of those products leads to a member of the public being injured in some way this type of insurance could cover the resulting legal fees and compensation claims.
• Directors and officers insurance: This type of add-on is specifically intended to protect the business’s senior management against the risk of liability claims, which could arise if it was argued that the business was mismanaged in some way and that in turn resulted in losses for third parties.

You might also need

Taking on staff? You’ll usually need employers’ liability insurance as well. And if a client could blame your work or services for a financial loss, look at professional indemnity insurance, which covers that risk.