Why is private liability insurance not really a thing in the UK?

[DontBreakTheMingVase]

Just came across yet another MN thread by someone (understandably) very stressed about accidental damage caused to someone else's property. My first impulse on this type of thread is always to post something along the lines of "Don't worry, I'm sure your insurance will cover this no problem!" - until I remember that hardly anyone in the UK seems to have private liability insurance.

Now I get that you can easily waste lots of money by being over-insured for all types of random / unlikely things, but private liability insurance is just such a useful thing to have. No falling out with friends after you spill wine on their laptop, no issues with your landlord because you let the bathtub overflow, no big bill because you broke the bed or shower screen at a hotel, etc.
Where I'm from the vast majority of people seem to have private liability insurance, even though I wouldn't say you'd be massively more likely to be sued than in the UK. It's not even expensive, I think we pay around 100 € a year and it covers DH and me for any damage up to 15 million Euros or something. I'm generally a bit clumsy and often a bit "head in the clouds", so it's very comforting to know I won't end up in financial difficulty for knocking over someones Ming vase.

Can anyone enlighten me why this has (to my knowledge) never really taken off in the UK?

Apologies. I got the uni library story wrong. I thought you had damaged a uni laptop. I see now that the laptop belonged to a student. Well, what would have happened if you didn't have personal liability insurance and weren't in a position to pay for the damage? The student could sue you, I guess. But then they'd face the prospect of significant legal costs. And they might not win their case, especially if their negligence caused the incident. And of course, that's assuming they know who you are. What if you simply refused to pass on your contact details? How would the student sue you if they don't know who you are?

I'm sure your white sofa is beautiful. I wasn't criticizing your taste in furniture. I would be stupid to buy a white sofa because I'm fairly sure I'd spill something on it or stain it within the first week of buying it. I wouldn't be able to relax and enjoy sitting on it.And my cats would have it covered in cat hair

Thank you, finally a useful and factual answer. I've been advised that £2.5 million isn't really enough in the unlucky event of life-changing injuries (I believe the recommendation here is something like minimum 7 million Euros), but good to hear that there tends to be some sort of cover for these types of cases.

You need a better phone cover! I have one from Tech 21. It protects it really well.

Also, seriously, what’s with the light sofa colours?

ours is grey and scotch guarded

The student could sue you, I guess. But then they'd face the prospect of significant legal costs. And they might not win their case, especially if their negligence caused the incident. And of course, that's assuming they know who you are. What if you simply refused to pass on your contact details? How would the student sue you if they don't know who you are?

Our equivalent of small claims isn't that expensive, but yeah, you're right of course, especially if their negligence contributed to the incident. I would never refuse to pass on contact details in a situation this, though, and think most other people would feel the same. If I felt that the incident wasn't my fault, I would refuse to pay and tell the person to sue me, but still give my details and not run off. I went to a fairly large university, but you'd still see many of the same people again and again and behaviour like that would definitely be frowned upon.

I'm sure your white sofa is beautiful. I wasn't criticizing your taste in furniture. I would be stupid to buy a white sofa because I'm fairly sure I'd spill something on it or stain it within the first week of buying it. I wouldn't be able to relax and enjoy sitting on it.And my cats would have it covered in cat hair

No worries, no offence taken. The covers are washable, otherwise white would be too difficult to keep clean for sure. We have a white cat so the white works quite well in terms of cat hair. I would love a bottle green or navy velvet chair, but that would be a disaster with all the white fluff.

Some policies will have higher limits. £2.5million is entry level. A lot of policies will allow you to increase this and policies aimed at high net worth types will often have £10million. (Used to work in insurance).

I believe some bank accounts and credit cards automatically give some cover too.

I've never caused enough damage to someone else's property in my 40 years that would warrant insurance. But another reason is that there are too many in the UK who don't even have the most basic home contents insurance so a personal liability one would be almost laughable. You can get contents insurance for less than a tenner a month.
It's different these days with the cost of living crisis but years ago I'm afraid I had less sympathy than I perhaps should for all the go fund me collections for those who lost their possessions in a fire etc because they didn't bother with insurance.
I insure my own items and when they are damaged by someone else it's me who makes the insurance claim and my insurers can choose to pursue the person who did the damage. It's on them. I protect MY stuff and everyone else should protect theirs.

Thank you, good to know!

Muggins, I agree re the Gofundme begging, but as you said, with the cost of living crisis (very similar story over here), many people will have to cut everything to the bone or even choose between heating and food, so a lack of insurance would be understandable.

Toffeechai, thanks for the Tech21 recommendation, my current case is yellowing a bit, so might order one of those next.

So private liability insurance is "unneccessary" / "overkill" but I should have several other types of insurance to cover the same event?

Yes, because it's your responsibility to protect your belongings from accidental damage.

I'm not sure why people keep talking about me wanting to sue anyone. I've neither wanted nor needed to do this because people owned up to their mistakes and their insurance took care of the damage, no problem at all.

Because it would never occur to most people to even ask for payment. If you choose to buy expensive clothing/bags and take them out in public, it's your responsibility to keep them safe or to have the insurance or finances necessary to replace them, not Joe Publics responsibility to have private liability insurance 🤷🏻‍♀️

Christ, people really are hard of reading tonight. Never mentioned anything about suing a teen. His mum insisted on reporting it to their insurance company who paid for the repair. No argument, no lawsuit, no hard feelings from anyone. How is this different from "the parents of the teenager would pay"?

Because the idea of a teenager having liability insurance is absurd to me. The outcome might be the same but the attitude of people needing personal liability insurance is so strange and foreign to me.

Why should they / their insurance pay for my mistake?

Again, because people have a responsibility to protect their own stuff. If you want to own an expensive laptop and take it out in public then you should have appropriate measures in place to protect it from damage and to pay for any damage that does occur.

Didn't know it was a thing

It surprises me too OP.
In France personal liability insurance is automatically included in home insurance policies (whether you are a tenant or homeowner).
Minors (and young adults in full time education) are automatically covered by their parent's policy. So are dogs (unless they are on the list of dangerous dogs for which a special permit and specific insurance is required).
You have to prove your child has insurance when you send them to school. It makes things simpler for the school if there is a playground incident and another child's personal possessions are damaged or if the other child suffers a life-changing injury.
When you go on holiday, if you (or your child or dog) accidentally damage the place you are renting, it is covered.

It's exceptional to find a home insurance policy which would cover red wine on the carpet or sofa. So if you damage your own sofa, then it's unfortunate. You can't claim. However if a visitor spills the drink, they would offer up their insurance details.

We have 'protection juridique' in France as an optional part of our home insurance, which is a kind of legal insurance in case anyone decides to take us to court, or we are involved in a court case. I'm not sure if it covers you if you break the law, but it certainly covers civil matters. Was useful recently when new CF neighbour created an issue over a right of way. We have similar as part of our car insurance in case there's a legal issue in an accident.

What we don't have is cover for personal items outside the home, mostly because it's very very expensive, to the point it's not really a thing here. So if you're mugged, it's tough, basically. We used to have this tacked onto our annual travel insurance which was through a U.K. company, but we've let it lapse. This reminded me I should look into replacing it...

Sorry cross-post @clearsommespace!