If you’re a small business, you may not have any legal obligation to have public liability insurance, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need it. Whether you’re a company director, a small enterprise employing a few members of staff or a sole trader, you’re still liable for damages to a third party.
For self-employed people who work from home it could be even more important. If you work in one of the following occupations, for example:
• Hairdressers
• Private tutors
• Music teachers
• Masseurs and other therapists
• Dieticians and fitness instructors
Even if you work part-time from home to supplement your main income, clearly occupations, such as these, could leave you exposed to a claim from a client. And, without public liability insurance for small business to protect you, then the full cost of the court case and compensation would have to be paid by you. The legal costs alone could be enough to bankrupt you.
Protect yourself inside and out
If you travel to other premise to carry out work, it’s even more important to have public liability insurance for small business. For example, if you’re a tradesman, such as a plumber, carpenter or electrician. If you’re working in someone else property, for instance, and something goes wrong, resulting in damage to a third party, whether through injury or loss, then you could be in trouble.
Get a reliable insurer
There are other less apparent benefits of taking out public liability insurance for small business. Think of the disruption a claim could have on your business. Taking time away from work to sort out all the details of the case could mean loss of income. A good insurer will take care of all the details for you, so you can get on with running your business. And once the case is finished, they’ll either pay the compensation or refund your legal costs if the case in found in your favour.
11 comments
When I clicked on the link “public liability insurance for small business,” it says this is applicable to UK only? I think I’m going to need to research if there is info available for the Philippines regarding Public Liability Insurance because of some future plans. Thank you so much for sharing the info! 🙂
It would be really nice if our government can provide small businesses with much affordable insurance systems.
Small or big business need protection especially in case of
unforeseen events to protect ones investment.
If this would be applied here in the Philippines, a lot of people will really benefit from this but sadly, only when pigs learn to fly these kind of insurance be implemented here
tama… sa ibang bansa nga 5-8 ang insurance nila..
kaya dapat meron din tayo kahit 1-2 lang its help in the future.
very beneficial for small scale business owners, i am not aware of this public liability insurance, be informing my husband about it. very important post, thumbs up for you sis 🙂
Risk is inherent in any business big or small. That’s why insurance is needed especially depending on your riak tolerance.
Oh wow, it’s good to know about this. I wonder if this is true to every country? I shall take note of this..This is something every self-employed individual should know. Thanks for sharing.
I couldn’t agree with you more. Very informative post indeed!
Thanks for sharing this one! It makes me think though.
Just to ponder, in whatever things we do, we are reliable.
So true. Unfortunately this is still uncommon in the Philippines. Most families are not even covered health wise. Which is a sad thing.
My husband is a graphic artist and as a self-employed he took me in as an all-rounder 😀 We pay certain insurances and it was all worth it too, also, we can deduct it later on when filing for annual income tax…it pays to pay what you’re due.