Apologies another question for freelancers or anyone who knows about public liability insurance?

[hattyyellow]

My new contract states that I must possess public liability insurance to the tune of £5million.

Is this standard? My husband has it for work but he's a physio so I can see why he'd need it. His costs around £250 per year and I am reluctant to pay this when I work completely from home.

Could I refuse to pay it I wonder? If I went to the employers offices without it and slipped and fell, would I have to cover myself, could they refuse to pay damages? That's really the only visit I can foresee making now and then.

If I do have to pay it, who is the best company to go with?

Any advice gratefully received.

public liability is third party not personal so it doesnt cover injury to you at all

if you dont have people visiting your premises and you dont work where you are at risk of harming third parties then it nshouldnt cost much at all

when i had a shop it wasnt anything mlike 250 quid

axa do self employed insurance it costs about 130 quid depending qwhat you do professional negligence is the professional indemnity are the more difficult and expensive ones

I have to have it, but then i sell coffee at the side of the road, and if someone sued me, it would prob bankrupt us as a family. If they are stipulating it for a contract, then surely it would be wise to get it. Mine is 180 a year, so if your home based then it should be a lot less than that . Tbh, £200 is a small price to pay if things in wrong, and you end up paying out thousands. I googled it and went with a catering specialist. I know when i was looking there were lots of companies doing officey type policies. Hope that helps.

Also, what zippi says :-) and also be aware that by not having it, you'd be in breach of contract, and they may not pay you!

DH has it but only up to £2million, though is thinking of upgrading to £5m as some big customers demand it if he wants to become one of their suppliers.

...although his job does mean that he could conceivably set fire to a customer's building, fuse their electrics etc so I can see why he needs it.

Thanks so so much Zippi and Clare. I've tried AXA and they don't cover my line of work. Am just trying some other contacts in my field to see who they use..I guess it's something it would be catastophic not to have if something went wrong as you say!

Can't find anyone who thinks I need the cover! Because I work almost totally from home with no clients coming to the house. Have e-mailed client to sound them out on whether I really need it..

I can see completely why an electrician, shop, coffee store would need it - but I do freelance writing and research so am not working with any hot liquids/customers/wires etc!

Oh Hatty I empathise - I have exactly the same issue with a new client and haven't resolved it yet. I do marketing consultancy and am home based. Client contract recently stipluated I must have £5M public liability insurance. When I questioned it they said it was to cover things like accidental damage to their property or employees when I was occasionally at their offices. The example they used was if I left my laptop unattended, and then it caught fire and burnt the office down I woiuld be liable .
The world has gone legal-mad!

The problem is all these contracts they pump out are standard for big and small suppliers.

I couldn't find anything for less than £250/ £300 quid either - looked at AXA and the IOD/ Hiscox.

Let me know where you get too.

A friend suggested just telling the client that since they stipluted it, then to tell them it would be added to their invoice, but I haven't the balls to do that!

How timely as I am just about to pay for my first insurance! New contract says I must have it so have it I will!

I am taking mine out with Howden at the lowest level:

Limit of Indemnity
£1,500,000 £3,000,000 £5,000,000
Premium £102.00 £122.00 £195.00
Insurance Premium Tax (rate of 5%) £5.10 £6.10 £9.75
Administration Fee £9.00 £9.00 £9.00
Total Amount Payable £116.10 £137.10 £213.75

Sorry didn't copy very well but up to 1.5 million is costing me £116.10.

This covers me for Business Consultancy Coaching and Training Consultancy.

Contact is Steve Johnson .

HTH

And of course it can go through expenses...if you're feeling really peeved then add a few hours to your invoice!!

Some people on this contract really kicked off but I kept my head down, paid 116 quid and hoped I'd get more work.

Legacy and Laundrylover thanks so so much for this. Love the thought of adding it to my invoice or expense claims! Will try Howdens .

Absurd - do you belong to any kind of professional organisation? They might be a good place to start for a cheap policy that is right for your kind of work. If not, you might even be able to add something to your household insurance - worth a try.

I'm a freelance, too, in tv, and have never ever had to provide anything of the sort.

It's nice to talk about professional work stuff ( i.e. useful!) too, rather than Style/ Poo/ Relationships!

(Will I get flamed for that comment????)

Legacy.

Legacy...

Haven't heard back from client yet re wriggling out of the liability.

Does anyone have public indemnity insurance?Any recommendations?

I got a bit nervous about not having this when speaking to various insurance companies yesterday..I do give advice and recommendations and I don't trust this new client not to turn around and blame me for things going wrong (even though they are project managing the campaign and my work generally pretty reactive)..

Simply Business v good and cheapest for me (teaching/tutoring/education consultancy).

Sounds strange! I also work from home and have no work related visitors! I do visit clients' offices and work there occasionally but I've never been asked about this insurance! Best make sure I never trip anyone up while I'm there

Please come and visit Freelancer's topic thread here

Ta!

laundrylover tried Howden's and they said they only do companies?! . Did you get your insurance for your business as a sole trader? Or do you have employees? Sorry to be nosey, just got my hopes up someone might cover me!

We have an office policy with Sun Alliance - for work in an office environment. The Employers liability and public liability are bundled together. So if someone trips over my bag when I'm on someone else's premises they may come to me for compensation, or if I accidentally somehow break their windows or some such.

Has got v. expensive but our broker says it's competitive. Difficult business to insure, ours. Luckily we've had a policy since before the insurers took fright.

Do you use a broker for your own home or motor insurance? Let them do the running around for you.

Cheers! I will try them. Damned insurance! Good idea to try my home insurance people - will give them a call on Monday..

www.simplybusiness.co.uk/insurance

mine (Public Liability not employers) was £54 for the year

I am surprised that as a freelancer who doesn't have a public access/premises that you would need this insurance. I would not be surprised if you were asked to provide professional indemnity insurance however, as this would then cover you if they sued you for not doing something correctly.

I would clarify which they need, but before you do, check out whether it would be cheaper.

Business to Business independant service providers shouldn't need public liabaility, but it may be worth checking it out.

Think they're going to let me off - hurrah! Just need their lawyer to agree and I can scribble it happily out of the contract .