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How Much Cover Do I Need When Getting Public Liability Insurance Quotes?

“These factors determine how much you pay for your public liability insurance.”

What Does This Type of Insurance Usually Cover?

Public liability cover plays a key role in business insurance cover. You can avoid losses by taking out public liability cover. Public liability insurance covers compensation costs and litigation. Liability insurance covers injuries and damages to third parties.

How Do I Know What Is and What Isn’t Covered by my Public Liability Insurance?

  • Your liability insurance pays out if you are responsible. They pay for legal costs and compensation. This could be against clients, individuals, and contract workers.
  • Third parties could sue you for slip and fall incidents. Your public liability insurance covers these.
  • Public liability insurers pay out up to the limit of your policy. It is important to have the right amount of cover for these eventualities.

How to Work Out How Much Cover You Need:

As a sole trader, you may need a lot less public liability cover than a larger, higher-risk business. These four pointers can give you a basic idea of what to expect from your liability quotes.

Primary factors affecting the costs of your cover include:

  • What does your business do?

The primary function of your business is often the deciding factor when looking for public liability quotes. A couple of factors determine the cost of public liability insurance for tradespeople, retailers, and other public-facing businesses. One of these factors is the type of business and its risk profile, or the level of risk you pose to the public. A plumber may be a risk to his customers in their home, while a large retail store can pose a risk to hundreds of people at a time who are visiting the store.

  • How big is your business risk?

Whether you are a sole trader or a large company with many staff members, your premium is calculated based on your risk profile. If you are in contact with many members of the public in a day, your risk could be seen as higher. If you have no safety precautions in place, it could be seen as a greater risk. 

  • Where does your business operate from?

The location, as with short-term insurance cover, can determine how much insurance you need. The geographical location of your business affects your premiums from a risk perspective. The sites you work from could also affect your premiums from a risk perspective.

Public liability insurance service providers adjust premiums based on geographical location because some areas are greater flood or crime risks. You pay less when working in safer areas. Areas that boast a good claims history can also be cheaper in premiums than those that don’t.

These Other Factors Can Also Affect Your Public Liability Insurance Costs

With business insurance cover, there is never a one-size-fits-all type of cover. Public liability is no exception. Certain businesses need added cover for additional factors.

  • Your claims history can affect the cost of your premiums.
  • Employees can influence your liability cover premiums if they are seen as higher risks.
  • Any work you do that falls outside your usual jurisdiction could affect the cost of your premiums.

What About Part-Time Business Cover?

It is a misconception that you pay less if you run your business, in other words if you are a sole trader or a part-time trader.. This is not the case because of what’s called a “minimum premium”.

Insurance companies will have a minimum premium for a policy or plan that you can opt for. You can’t go lower than that. When you have assessed your business and calculated how much you will need to insure it for to cover its public liability risks, you can match that amount with the amount of cover on offer. Different policies and insurance providers offer different levels of cover and different premiums. It’s best to choose a policy that covers at least the amount calculated when assessing your risk for public claims.

Exclusions You Need to Know About

Not all liability insurance policies cover the same things, and there are often exclusions to your cover. To find out if these exclusions apply in your situation, you can speak to your insurance provider and check your policy documents. Some of the most common exclusions you may get are marine ports, airports, power plants, and railway stations. These types of businesses often require specialised insurance cover. 

How to Find Out How Much Public Liability Insurance Cover You Need

The best way to find out how much cover you need is by comparing your options. By comparing quotes in South Africa, you can find the best cover. Compare like with like for comprehensive cover at the best prices.

Public liability covers a variety of levels. These could range from smaller amounts of cover to extensive cover for larger losses. Standard amounts of cover might not be enough for your business. Get the cover you need at the best prices on offer by getting free liability insurance quotes on our site.

DISCLAIMER: Information provided in this article is meant for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal, medical, or financial advice. Facts stated in this article are correct at the time it was published.

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