Archive for the ‘combined liability insurance’ Category

Business liability insurance – what does this mean?

Monday, August 9th, 2010

We get a lot of requests from people asking for business liability insurance. Usually, they have been requested as part of a contract they are working on, to arrange cover. There will usually be some form of document that they have been given which will ask numerous questions about the insurance they have in place.

But the question is, what exactly does this mean? Whilst every business in the land could potentially have liabilities that they will face which could be insured, there is no legal requirement upon them to have any form of insurance protection, except if they have employees.

Anyone who has ever run a business will know that there is a legal requirement to have employers liability insurance in force. If an employee gets injured, suffers illness or is diseased, and this is whilst under the control of their employer, then there can be a valid claim.

A common form of business insurance, is to combine the employers with public and products liability, to give you the business liability insurance. If you do not have employees, then you are quite entitled to say that this part of your contract does not need completion.

You will, in most cases though, need to have the other types of cover because, in 2010 and for the foreseeable future, more an more companies are insisting on anyone that works for them or supplies them with products or services, is going to need cover.

The best thing to do, is to speak to an independent broker, they can review, assess and recommend what types of cover you actually need and the cheapest way to get this sorted out.

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Public liability insurance – cover in isolation

Monday, July 12th, 2010

Depending on what you do, you may only require public liability insurance on it’s own. Many business insurance liability policies offer the three main types, public, employers and products.

These types of policies are typically called combined liability insurance. If you are a sole trader, for example a plumber, electrician or carpenter, you may not need the additional two liability covers. You do not have any employees, hence there is no need for employers liability insurance and you do not supply products (separately) so there is no need for this cover.

What you need to look for is a tradesman’s insurance quote, this will give you the option of picking one of two liability covers. Every tradesman’s policy must have public liability and you can, if you need it, add on the employees cover.

This is what is known as cover in isolation, it is on it’s own as a single policy. But what about the products liability? Although you are not selling products, in a retail or wholesale sense, customers do end up with products that you have supplied.

The good thing is, that tradesman’s or contractors insurance policies do automatically include products liability, as long as the product is supplied as part of the contract. So, the plumber that puts in a bathroom suite, has products liability for any injury, illness, disease or damage caused by the products on their own.

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Combined liability insurance

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

In a standard commercial insurance policy, you may have one or all three of the “standard” liabilities, employers, products and public liability insurance. If you have a claim made against your business, for example if a product you supply causes an injury, then you will usually have a valid claim under the products liability.

For products liability, you will have an overall limit of indemnity, usually £2,000,000, and this will cover claims totalling this amount in any one period of insurance. ie you can have four claims at £500,000 but not five, as this will exceed the limit. The cost of defending an action against you is also covered which is vitally important. These additional legal costs are paid in addition to the limit of indemnity. The main reasoning is that insurers want to be able to control the claim from the outset to ensure that only valid claims are settled.

The other two liability covers, public and employers liability, tend to have a limit of indemnity any one claim. So, under you public liability it can be five claims at £2,000,000 and for employers liability the minimum legal limit of indemnity os £5,000,000 so the potential cost could be huge.

These three liabilities are usually called the combined liability insurance if bought as a separate policy.

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Public liability – what if I am not liable?

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

Here in the UK, there was an excellent programme on Channel 4 on 25th February 2010 about the claims and compensation culture in the UK. Basically, if anyone slips, trips, falls or injures themselves, they feel that someone else should pay.

To protect yourself agains this, you purchase public liability insurance. The policy will pay, or settle, any action raised by a third party, where you have been proven to be negligent.

This last word is absolutely vital and key. If you are not negligent, you are not liable. The programme was good as it showed that local authorities are starting to fight back against the hundreds of claims they get every year.

If you do not have a separate policy, you may find that your umbrella or package policy includes combined liability insurance.

The good thing, if you are not liable, is that your insurers will deal with the claim on your behalf, within your cover. So, even if you think it is laughable that someone has the audacity to claim, you still need to refer to your insurers and let them deal with it.

Whilst you may not think you are liable, in certain cases you will be based on English law and past precedents. Never assume that just telling someone to go away is enough, solicitors can smell a big tasty fee from 500 miles and they will not let go.

Let your insurers deal with it, and if you are not liable, they will advise and deal with the third party accordingly.

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