Public liability vs. product liability
What's the difference between public liability and product liability insurance?
Both public and product liability are built to cover claims of injury and property damage.
Public liability insurance is designed to cover claims relating to your business activities and services, including the actions of you and your employees.
In contrast, product liability insurance is designed to covers claims relating to any products you sell, supply or manufacture.
What does public liability insurance cover?
Public liability insurance is designed to cover claims made against you by members of the public for property damage and accidental bodily injury, illness, disease or even death as a result of your work.
If your business causes an injury or property damage to a member of the public — that includes clients, suppliers, contractors or anybody else not employed by you — public liability could cover you for the resulting legal and compensation costs.
An example of a public liability claim would be if a customer breaks their arm after tripping on a loose wire on the floor of your shop.
Learn more about public liability insurance.
What does product liability cover?
If your business sells or manufactures products, and a customer is injured or has their property damaged as a result of the product or its packaging, you could be liable. Product liability is designed to cover your business against the legal and compensation costs involved in such a claim.
Product liability may also cover claims involving defective products, contaminated food products and products that don't meet UK standards.
A product liability insurance claim example could be if you sell a faulty a hairdryer which causes a small fire in a customer’s house, damaging their property and injuring them.
Learn more about product liability insurance.
Are you legally required to have both public liability and product liability cover?
No, product liability insurance and public liability insurance aren't legal requirements for most businesses in the UK. However, this doesn't mean businesses shouldn’t consider getting cover.
Without adequate public liability cover, the unexpected legal and compensation costs associated with a claim could bankrupt a business. For example, if someone sues your business for injury or property damage, the resulting costs could be very expensive.
Some of your clients or customers may also require you to have public liability insurance to work with them.
Similarly, if your business sells products, you may want to consider product liability insurance. Without adequate insurance, a product liability claim could be challenging to face with legal and compensation fees. So it's worth asking yourself if you could personally afford to take the risk without a policy.
To learn more, find out if your business needs public liability cover.
Can I buy public liability and product liability insurance together?
Yes, if you need both, our product liability and public liability are offered under the same policy, so you can buy them simultaneously. Simply click ‘Start your quote’, select your industry and follow the steps to add the level of cover you need.
Once you've completed a quote, you'll be able to view a summary of cover. Please always refer to your policy documents for full details around exclusions, terms and limits of your customised cover. Read our guide to understanding your policy documents.
Find more information
Our insurance guides break down what each type of cover is, what they cover and the types of businesses that may need them in.
What is public liability insurance?
Learn more about public liability as a cover and why you might need it for your business.
What is product liability insurance?
Find out more about the ins and outs of product liability cover and the types of businesses that might need it.