Public Liability Insurance for Contractors -
Freelance Insurance Essentials

Public Liability Insurance for Contractors

Public Liability Insurance provides protection in the event of a claim against you by a member of the public arising from an accident for which you are found to be responsible or to which you contributed.

Public liability cover will extend to include any damages that are ultimately awarded to the plaintiff plus the legal and court costs arising from defending the case.

Some examples of potential exposures:

• You are working in a the open-plan office of a client and an employee, coincidentally the PA to the Head of Facilities Management, trips on your computer cable and fractures her arm (bummer…)
• You are running a workshop with clients and you accidentally spill a flask of near boiling water from a refreshment trolley into the lap of the Head of Group Risk (it could happen to the best of us…)

I exaggerate to make the point, but it is not beyond the realms of possibility that there could be an accident, some injury and that a claim may arise which you would need to defend.

If you choose to entertain clients in your home (a practice that I would not recommend for a number of reasons quite apart from insurance considerations) then you also need to consider that public liability insurance will be required for such visits.