Public Liability Insurance Cost

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The cost of public liability insurance can vary from a few hundred dollars through to a few hundred thousand. How much you pay will depend on a number of factors.

In this guide we will take a look at some of those factors which affect the cost of your insurance.

Factors Affecting Public Liability Cost

There are two main factors which will affect your public liability insurance cost, along with a number of secondary factors which will also be considered by the insurance provider.

Two of the main factors affecting the cost of your insurance will be the type of business you run along with the size of your business.

These factors will help to establish your base premium, however there are some other factors which can still come into play. This includes any ‘out of the ordinary’ business activities that you may undertake.

Business Type

The type of business activities which you undertake will often have the largest impact on the cost of your public liability insurance.

The insurance companies have large amounts of information, research and claims history on each different occupation and business type. This allows them to understand how much risk different business types pose.

A business type with a lower risk, such as a consultant working from home, will have a much lower premium than a tradesman working on job sites, and in turn they will have a lower premium than a manufacturing business.

Business Size

The size of a business will also have an impact on the cost of your public liability insurance, as a company with more staff or higher revenue is generally considered to have a high chance of making a claim.

Some insurance companies measure the size of a business by staff numbers, some measure by annual turnover and some measure by a combination of the two.

Other Factors

Whilst the above two factors will be the most important for most standard business types, there are some businesses that will have their public liability insurance cost impacted upon by other areas.

For example any business working in locations considered to be high risk, such as airports, railway stations or mine sites, will find that their cost is considerably higher than for businesses not working in these locations.

If your business does undertake work in locations considered high risk, or undertakes activities which are outside of the norm, you will not only find that your cost is higher but also that many of the mainstream insurance companies will not be able to offer you cover.

The good news here is that there are specialist insurance companies out there who can offer cover to such businesses. We have access to many of these insurers through our broker network, so please get in contact with us if you need assistance in this area.

Business Risk

As with all forms of insurance, public liability is ultimately priced based on the perceived risk of your business.

If your business is regarded as a lower risk you will be charged lower premiums, and if your business is regarded as a higher risk you will be charged higher premiums.

How Much Does Public Liability Cost?

The cost of public liability insurance can vary hugely depending on the business that you run. The best way to find out this cost is to require a quote.

Here at www.publicliabilityinsurance.com.au we can arrange quotes through our network of insurance brokers and advisers.

They can assist you with calculating your public liability insurance cost along with recommending a suitable policy for your needs.

For more information or to find out the cost of your cover please complete our online quote request or contact our office.

Public liability insurance calculator

Wondering how to calculate the level of liability you require? In most cases you may have a contractual obligation to have certain limit as a minimum, but for most sole traders $5 million is more than enough. But think about what you are working on, is a building that would cost $7 million to rebuild if you accidentally burnt it to the ground, then maybe you should be looking at $10 million. Always think worst case scenario.

Frequently Asked Questions

In some respects public liability insurance is very straightforward, but once you scratch the surface it can actually be a very complex area with many potential complications.

As part of our quest to make this important form of insurance easier for Australian small business owners and operators to understand we are in the process of putting together a list of the most commonly asked questions.

Please keep in mind that this FAQ contains very generalised answers and should in no way be seen or used as a substitute for proper advice from a qualified insurance broker or adviser.

If you would like to add a question to the list please contact us.

Public liability insurance covers a range of risks, with the major ones being property damage and personal injuries caused to other people as a result of your business activities.

You can read more by visiting our ‘what is public liability insurance‘ page.

The cost of public liability can vary greatly from as little as $300 a year through to many thousands per year. The cost will depend heavily on the type and size of business that you run.

You can find out more by reading our public liability insurance cost page.

A public liability policy will cover property damage and personal injury caused by your own staff and employees, but it will not cover property damage or personal injury that they suffer.

Personal injury to your staff can be covered by worker’s compensation and income protection insurance.

Your public liability insurance will not cover your subcontractors in most cases. This includes damage caused by them as well as suffered by them.

There are some policies which may provide some cover, but these will generally be a far more expensive form of insurance. Subcontractors should have their own public liability and income protection in most cases.

There are many insurance companies in Australia which offer public liability cover. These include the mainstream insurers like AAMI and NRMA, along with more specialist insurance providers.

The insurance brokers and advisers that we deal with will generally have access to a wide range of public liability insurance companies.

The owners and operators of the publicliabilityinsurance.com.au website are not insurance brokers or advisers. We do not provide any quotes or advice ourselves, and instead we have a network of professionals that we refer people to when a quote is requested.

You can read more about how our website works by referring to our terms of use.

We are based in Brisbane, however we are able to assist business owners all over Australia. Our network of brokers and adviser are also based here in Brisbane as well as throughout the country.

Getting a quote on your insurance is easy thanks to our online forms. In order to obtain a quote you simply have to provide your relevant business details and one of our network of brokers will prepare your quotes.

To obtain a quotation please complete our online quote request.

Public liability insurance can be paid monthly, however it is up to the individual broker or adviser to offer this service. Monthly premiums are generally arranged by an independent funding company rather than directly through the insurer.

In most cases it will be more expensive to pay your insurance monthly, but you can check this with your insurance broker or adviser when requesting quotes.

Our network on insurance brokers and advisers includes a number of experts on insurance for tradesmen. Tradesmen are actually one of our biggest client segments when it comes to public liability.

For more information please visit our dedicated tradesman public liability insurance section.

The amount of public liability insurance required will differ for each business, but in most cases the minimum is $5,000,000

If you require the cover as part of a specific contract you have entered into, generally the contract will stipulate the minimum amount of cover required.

Please visit our guide titled ‘how much is enough’ for more information.

Public liability insurance does cover defective or faulty work, however only certain costs are covered.

Property damage and personal injury suffered as a consequence on the defective work will be covered, however the costs of rectifying the defective work will not be covered.

For more information please visit our guide on defective work coverage.

A public liability policy is not designed cover losses relating to or as a result of the professional services or expert advice that you provide to clients.

You can still insure yourself against this risk however, through a separate form of cover known as professional indemnity insurance.

Click here for a more detailed answer to this question.

Broadly speaking there is no difference in the basic cover offered by different public liability insurance policies.

All policies cover the costs involved in a claim against you for property damage or personal injury to another person that you are found to be liable for.

Where the policies can differ is in the exclusions and endorsements. The differences here can be huge depending on the type of business you run.

Click here for a more comprehensive answer to this question.

An endorsement is a documented attachment to an insurance policy which can effectively change the standard wording of the policy.

They are generally used to either add or remove cover for a certain event or activity, and are often triggered by specific occupations or business types.

Endorsements can have a major impact in the event of a claim, so it’s important to check the endorsements before choosing a public liability policy.

Click here for a more comprehensive answer to this question.

Broadform liability simply refers to a business insurance policy which covers both public liability and product liability.

Most public liability policies will also cover product liability, essentially making the policy broadform, but this is not always the case.

By checking your policy documentation or asking your broker you will be able to see if your insurance is broadform or not.

Click here for a more comprehensive answer to this question.