Public liability insurance
Join over a million customers (including 606,000 SMEs like you) – we offer public liability cover for sole traders, partnerships and limited companies from £5.40*
Get tailored quotes in 7 minutes
- get liability insurance quotes online in just 7 minutes
- compare quotes from up to 15 specialised business insurance providers
- get covered and all your documents the same day
- £57 million in claims paid out in 2025**
*10% of customers with public liability pay the equivalent of £5.40 a month
Compare quotes from leading brands
Rated 4.6/5 based on 40k reviews
What is public liability insurance?
Public liability insurance protects your business if a client or member of the public is injured, becomes ill, or their property is damaged because of your work. It can pay legal fees and compensation up to your policy limit.
Why do I need public liability insurance?
If you work around customers or the public, accidents can happen on your premises or off site. A claim could be costly. Public liability insurance helps cover those costs so you don’t have to.
- available as a standalone cover or part of business insurance
- make changes to your policy with no admin fee, so you can rest assured that your cover keeps up with the changing shape of your business*
*If you make a change to your insurance which affects the risk of the insurance you may still be charged an additional premium by your insurer. But we won’t charge an admin fee for making the change.
Why choose Simply Business?
We help business owners to choose the right cover by allowing them to compare quotes from leading insurers in one place.
- highly rated: 4.6/5 on Feefo based on 40k reviews
- claims paid in 24 hours for over 95% of settled claims**
- UK-based team of insurance experts available online and on the phone
**The figure above is rounded across our range of products. Our specialist partner Sedgwick will pay the claims on behalf of the insure.
What does public liability insurance cover?
Public liability insurance typically covers you for accidents on your premises or off site. This could be a customer tripping over your toolbox or damaging someone’s dress during wedding day hairstyling.
It’s important to review a public liability insurance quote carefully and check if your insurer covers you for the risks you face. For example, some insurers won’t cover accidents caused by your products.
Keep in mind, accidents caused by your employees will only be covered if you have employers’ liability insurance in place too.
Injury
What it covers:
- accidental injury to a third party caused by your work.
- legal fees and cover (up to the level stated on your policy wording).
Example of a claim:
- you accidentally spill boiling water on your client’s hand, causing a bad burn and long-term injury.
What isn’t covered?
- accidental injury caused by your employees or anyone else in your business – you’d usually need to add employers’ liability insurance to cover this.
Damage
What it covers:
- accidental damage to a third party’s property, as a direct result of your work.
- legal fees and cover (up to the level stated on your policy wording).
Example of a claim:
- you accidentally knock your client’s laptop onto a hard concrete floor, damaging it beyond repair.
What isn’t covered?
- accidental injury caused by your employees or anyone else in your business – you’d usually need to add employers’ liability insurance to cover this.
Product liability
What it covers:
- accidental injury to a third party, caused by a product you’ve made or sold.
- legal fees and cover (up to the level stated on your policy wording).
Examples of a claim:
- you accidentally give a customer food poisoning, as a result of food you’ve prepared and sold.
What isn’t covered?
- Not all insurers offer cover for product liability – check your policy wording carefully before you buy. See more business insurance covers.
What’s not included:
- injury to your staff – an accident that leads to the injury of one of your employees won’t be covered by your public liability insurance. For injuries to your staff you’d claim on your employers’ liability insurance.
- professional advice claims – public liability won’t cover cases where someone makes a claim against you for a professional mistake, like bad advice, that leads to a financial loss. Professional indemnity insurance is the correct cover for these cases.
- property related claims – public liability covers accidents that damage other people’s property. To protect your own property, you’d need commercial building insurance.
- deliberate or unlawful acts
- known defects or issues you did not disclose when buying cover
This content has been created for general information purposes. Make sure you have the right level of business insurance by checking your policy documentation for details. Read our full Terms and Conditions
How much does public liability insurance cost?
Working out the cost of public liability insurance depends on a number of factors, like the type of business you run and the level of cover you choose. Usually, businesses who insurers see as risky will pay more for their public liability insurance.
Find out how much you’ll pay by completing an insurance comparison from a range of trusted insurers.
Public liability insurance quotes from £5.40 per month
*The price is for up to £2 million of public liability insurance – 10% of customers paid £64.78 or less annually between 1st Jan – 30th Jun 2026. Equivalent to £5.40 a month (and excludes the extra costs for paying monthly). 85% of customers have a £1 million limit and 15% £2 million. If you complete a quote, more types of cover will be available. These all have additional costs.
Public liability insurance quote examples, real prices
Cleaner (Manchester)
- cost: £7.21/month (£86.49/year)
- business profile: less than 1 year experience, sole trader, no employees, working as a local domestic cleaner only in residential properties.
- included cover: public liability (£1,000,000 limit)
Barber (Edinburgh)
- cost: £11.46/month (£100.08/year)
- business profile: 2–3 years’ experience, sole trader, no employees, working as a barber who rents a chair in a barber shop (but doesn’t own the shop).
- included cover: public liability (£1,000,000 limit) and £1,000 tools cover
How we work out example quotes: These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 09/03/2026). They’re based on a range of factors, like employees and location. Your own quote will be based on what you tell us about your business. Prices may go up or down from day to day, so the prices you’re quoted may differ to the ones you see here.
How it works
Pick what goes into your policy
Only pay for what you need
Get prices from a range of insurers
Choose the best fit for you
Buy online in minutes
Get your documents the same day
Who needs public liability insurance?
You may want to consider public liability insurance if you deal with the public, visit clients, or work at customer sites. Common trades include:
Find your trade from 1,000+ options when you run a quote.
Talk to an expert
Our team of UK-based insurance experts are here to help.
Call our team: 0333 043 8527
Mon
Tues
Weds
Thurs
Fri
Sat
09.00am – 05.30pm
09.00am – 05.30pm
09.00am – 05.30pm
09.30am – 05.30pm
09.00am – 05.30pm
09.00am – 02.00pm
How do claims work?
If the unexpected happens, having public liability insurance can help save your company thousands of pounds.
£57 million in claims paid out in 2025
The figure above is rounded across our range of products. Our specialist partner Sedgwick will pay the claims on behalf of the insurer. Reviewed on 13/03/2026.
To make a claim, these are the key steps in the process:
- Contact the claims team: report what’s happened as soon as you can, either online or by phone.
- Fill in the gaps: a dedicated claims handler will work closely with you to understand the details of your claim.
- Claim is reviewed: your claim will be reviewed, and you can track its progress through an online claims portal.
- Decision: with all the details provided, your claim will be reviewed and a decision and any options will be given.
A UK-based claims helpline is available 24/7 from specialist claims partner, Sedgwick. These steps are an overview of the main stages of the claims process and do not reflect all the details of the claims process. Find out more about the claims process.
Chosen by over one million small business and landlord customers
With insurance for over 1,500 trades, and 9/10 customers rating us ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ on Feefo, you can get tailored quotes in 7 minutes. Compare quotes from leading insurers, buy, and manage your policy – all in one place.
FAQs about public liability insurance
This is a key cover for most SME businesses – our comprehensive FAQs answer some of the most popular questions about public liability insurance.
Many small businesses choose £1 million or £2 million. Some contracts, especially in the public sector, may require £5 million or £10 million.
If you deal with the public on a regular basis, you should seriously consider public liability insurance.
Public liability insurance protects you if a member of the public sues you for injury or damage.
While it’s not required by law, it can protect you from crippling compensation costs. It’s a popular choice of cover with tradespeople, hairdressers, restaurant owners and shopkeepers
It varies by trade, activities, claims history, location, and your chosen limit. You can get quotes online in minutes.
No. Employers’ liability may be required by law if you have staff, but public liability is optional.
Business insurance is usually an allowable expense for tax. Keep your policy documents and receipts for HMRC.
This will depend on whether you have employers’ liability insurance in place. Public liability insurance is designed to protect your business against the consequences of legal action brought by members of the public for injuries or damage to their belongings. But when it comes to your employee’s causing injury or damage, this protection only activates if you also have employers’ liability insurance.
If you employ people, you’re required by law to have employers’ liability insurance.
There’s one exception here. Family businesses that aren’t incorporated as a limited company are not legally required to have employers’ liability insurance. The government defines a “family business” as one where all your employees are closely related to you (as a spouse, civil partner, sibling, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, stepparent, stepchild or half-sibling). So, if you run an unincorporated family business and you choose not to get employers’ liability insurance, it’s important to know that your public liability insurance wouldn’t cover you against damage or injury caused by your
These two covers have similar names but there are important differences. Public liability insurance protects against claims from members of the public, who are injured or suffer a loss and blame your business. Employers’ liability insurance protects against claims from employees, who are injured or get ill as a result of working for you.
Simply Business customers get a certificate of insurance included as part of your documents when you buy a policy.
Getting public liability insurance for your business is easy. First, you’ll need to get a quote from us. Just answer a few questions about your business, and we’ll present you with a selection of insurers who offer the kind of insurance you’re looking for.
Once you’ve settled on the cover that’s right for you, you’ll be able to buy your insurance online in a matter of minutes. Or if you’d prefer, you can speak to someone in our contact centre who’ll walk you through the process. Once you’ve bought your insurance, you’ll be covered straight away, and we’ll email your policy documents over on the same day
We create this content for general information purposes and it should not be taken as advice. Always check policy documentation for details and seek professional advice. Read our full Terms and Conditions
Reviewed by
Page last updated:
