Public Liability Insurance

Public Liability Insurance may be a necessary requirement before licences for certain trades are issued. It is one of the most basic insurance products needed by businesses. In our opinion, if your work interacts with members of the public in any way, or if you have a physical business site where members of the public can attend, then Public Liability Insurance is highly recommended.

Professional Indemnity Insurance provides cover for claims made against your business by third parties claiming that your professional services or advice caused them loss.

Public Liability Insurance covers the costs associated with a third party’s claim for personal injury or property damage or due to products that are sold or supplied through your business.

If you work from home, and only perform your work online (without any physical interaction with members of the public), then you may not need public liability insurance.

Public Liability Insurance is highly recommended if you're self-employed and have a physical business premises where clients or other members of the public can visit you. Even if you don't have clients visiting you on your premises, you may also require it if you have any form of contact with members of the public.

If you’re an employee of an organisation and your employer has public liability insurance in place, you may not need to take out your own policy, however it’s always a good idea to ask your employer to check their insurance policy to ensure it is current, and covers actions of employees.

According to the Australian Taxation Office, you may be able to claim the cost of any premiums you pay for insurance against the loss of your income. You should always speak to your accountant to check your eligibility to claim expenses.

If an employee suffers an injury while working for your business, public liability insurance will not provide any coverage for this. If your business employs staff, you will need to take out Workers' Compensation to cover staff members.

Public liability insurance can be taken out as a standalone policy, or as part of a business insurance policy. If you’ve selected public liability when taking out your business insurance policy, then you don’t need to take out another public liability policy separately.

Public Liability insurance covers your legal liability caused directly by your business activities or on your business premises during the course of your work. Product Liability insurance covers loss or damage caused by products your business sells.

For example, if you operate a catering business, and food you serve makes someone sick, you could be held liable to pay damages and the cost of their treatment. If you are a professional providing a service, Product Liability may not be applicable to you. Instead, if a client alleged your service or advice caused them financial loss or injury, you would need professional indemnity insurance to help cover this.

If you’re a builder, tradie or subcontractor, Aon can arrange public liability insurance as part of our joint venture with Housing Institute of Australia – click here to visit the HIAIS website.

Depending on your profession, and the nature of the work you carry out, there are several different policies you may need to consider.

For example, if you have an office and have clients visit you, you can take out a [Business Insurance pack](https://www.aondirect.com.au/insurance/business-insurance-pack ""Business Insurance pack"") to help cover the cost to repair your premises if your office is damaged by fire, storm or other event, as well as [Public and Products Liability](https://www.aondirect.com.au/insurance/public-liability ""Public Liability"") to help cover you if someone is injured on your property or by your products. Cyber Insurance also offers important protection, which can help protect your business against cyber threats and other internet-based risks.