WHAT DOES PUBLIC LIABILITY INSURANCE COVER?

WHAT IS PUBLIC LIABILITY INSURANCE?

Public Liability Insurance is a very important policy and is the most common form of trade insurance taken out by self-employed trades people. Rhino Trade Insurance has worked hard with our underwriters to offer cheap public liability insurance to a wide range of trades and industries. If you’re wondering, “what does public liability insurance cover” then look no further as we’ve detailed the main points for you below.

 

POLICY INFORMATION

The insurance covers the policyholder in the event that injury or death is caused to a member of the public as a result of the work being carried out by the policyholder. The policy is also designed to pay out if damage is caused to third party property and a claim is made against you. Having this kind of Insurance in place offers peace of mind that if a contractor or tradesman were to cause an error that results in a claim being made against them, they will have the financial security to pay out.

 

EXCESS

Policy excess is a very important factor that must be considered when taking out an insurance policy. The excess is the amount of money that must be paid by the policyholder in the event of the policy being claimed upon. Unlike motor insurance, public liability excess is not something that can be increased or decreased as a way of affecting the overall policy premium.

At Rhino Trade Insurance, Public Liability Insurance has a £500 excess as standard. That means that in the event of a claim the excess to pay is £500, regardless of the value of the claim. The only scenario that would affect this excess is in the event that the claim is being made as a direct result of the use of heat. In these instances, the excess would increase to £1000. Again, it is important to remember that this excess increase is only relevant for claims resulting directly from the use of heat.

 

TYPE OF WORK

As a busy professional working in the trades industry, you may find yourself working in different types of environments. It is important that you make sure that whatever professional environment you find yourself in, your public liability insurance still covers you. Unless stated otherwise, Rhino’s liability insurance policies cover both Commercial & Domestic work being carried out. An example of when this wouldn’t be the case would be if the work being carried out is that of a specific Domestic Window Cleaner or Domestic Cleaner. This means that in most cases, as a Rhino Trade Insurance customer, you can operate in both domestic and commercial environments, safe in the knowledge that the work you are carrying out is covered.

 

LOCATIONS

As a self-employed trades person looking to take out public liability insurance, it is vital that you are aware of the locations that you are and are not covered for. Operating in certain locations may affect whether your cover is valid or not so understanding the locations your policy is covered under, and any exclusions your policy may have, is extremely important.

Rhino Trade Insurance is valid subject to the policy holder’s business being domiciled in, and most of the work of being carried out in the United Kingdom only. Any work carried out outside of the UK and overseas will not be covered, so please make sure that if you are going to be working outside the UK, you have sufficient cover in place.

There are some locations that are excluded from Rhino’s public liability insurance, and I have listed these here: docks, harbours, railways, watercraft, offshore gas or oil installations. Also, chemical or petrochemical works, oil or gas refineries or storage facilities aircrafts, airports, airfields, collieries, mines, quarries, power stations, and any installation where nuclear processing is undertaken. Of course, these locations are what would be considered ‘extreme’ or ‘hazardous’ locations, therefore it is rare that these locations would be required to be worked by trades people.

For more information about the specifics of cover, all public liability insurance policy information is found on the policy documentation found on our website and a set of FAQs can be found here. If you have any questions about what this policy covers, please do not hesitate to contact us.