Public liability vs. professional indemnity Public liability vs. professional indemnity

Public liability insurance is designed to cover legal and compensation costs relating to claim made against your business for injury or property damage inflicted on a non-employee.

If your business causes an injury or property damage to a member of the public, public liabiliy insurance can cover the resulting legal and compensation costs. “Members of the public” can include clients, customers, suppliers or contractors — basically anyone not employed by you.

An example of a public liability claim would be a client who slips on a wet floor in your office, injuring their back.

If a third party accuses you of professional negligence, having professional indemnity insurance may help to cover any associated legal costs. With this in mind, professional indemnity is most relevant for any business that provides advice, consultancy or a professional service on a contractual basis.

At Superscript, we can also offer professional indemnity insurance for tradespeople, who may face claims for any surveying, designing or measuring work they’ve undertaken. Learn more about tradesperson professional indemnity insurance.

Professional indemnity can cover legal costs and expenses to defend you in court, as well as compensation costs for a host of claims, including:

• Libel
• Copyright or trademark infringement
• Incorrect advice
• Defamation
• Plagiarism
• Wrongful allegations
• Negligent content
• Disputes involving contracts or intellectual property
• Product disparagement

A professional indemnity insurance claim example could be if a client loses money because of a mistake you made on a report you were hired to create. Similarly, if a client suffers business downtime as a result of your negligence, and holds you financially liable.

No, public liability insurance and professional indemnity insurance aren’t legal requirements for most industries in the UK.

There are several industries where professional indemnity can be a legal requirement, including:

• Solicitors regulated by the SRA
• Accountants and auditors, depending on their regulatory body
• Architects
• Surveyors
• Financial advisers
• FCA-regulated insurance brokers

Even if you don’t fall into one of these categories, however, this doesn't mean businesses shouldn’t consider them.

It’s important to consider whether your business would be able to cope with the unexpected legal and compensation costs associated with a claim — whether that’s a claim for injury or property damage or for professional negligence.

If your business comes into contact with members of the public, you may want to consider public liability insurance. And if you work with clients on a consultancy or design basis, they may consider professional indemnity insurance a requirement for you to work with them.

To learn more, find out if your business needs public liability cover or whether you need professional indemnity cover.

Yes, you can buy both public liability and professional indemnity insurance together in one policy.

Simply click ‘Start your quote’, select your industry and follow the steps to add the level of cover you need.

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