Liability Insurance, Make Sure You're Not The Liability!

Liability insurance is no longer a might need insurance. We should all have it with our vehicle insurance, it is called third party insurance and mostly is included with your vehicle registration. If your State transport registration doesn't have it included then you will need to have it included with your normal vehicle insurance.

You may find with your home insurance that public liability is included and you will need to take note of up to what amount you are covered for. These days you can find yourself in a situation where someone comes onto your property and injures himself or herself in some way and you are up for a hefty compensation amount. So check all you insurance policies.

Anyone who is in business, runs a tradesman service of some kind, makes or manufactures a product, is a professional person, is an employer or offers employment of any kind will need liability insurance. If you are involved with any of these types of activities, then you will need to cover yourself in case your activities cause loss or damage to anyone. If you have liability insurance cover, money will be available to pay compensation to those injured or for property damaged.

There has been a rise in contingency fee litigation offered by lawyers and it is not uncommon for people to join together to sue on a class action basis.

There are three main areas of liability insurance, public, product and employers.

Public Liability

Most organizations, regardless of compulsion, now have public liability insurance, this can carry a hefty premium but is necessary. It will cover things like members of the public, visitors to their premises, trespassers, contractors, sub-contractors etc who may be physically injured or their property may be damaged while they are on that organization’s property.

Public liability insurance also covers private individuals for injury caused while someone is on their property.

Things can happen so simply, someone could be on your property, invited or not, and trip on a step, not your fault but before you know it you are up for compensation for their injuries. Someone could be walking along the sidewalk outside your home and a dead branch fall on them from a tree on your property, you again are liable for their injuries.

The public liability insurance is normally covered with your home insurance policy, make sure you have it with yours.

The second type of liability insurance is for products. If you make, manufacture or are agent for any products then you will need this product liability insurance. Consumers are claiming more and more for injury or damage caused by defective or faulty products.

You will find product liability insurance is not compulsory in all countries but consumer protection legislation in the UK in 1987 now requires anyone manufacturing or supplying goods to carry some form of product liability and it is usually included with a combined liability insurance policy. If you are carrying on a business of this type then it is best ot check and make sure you are covered. You don't have to be a big business to find you need this insurance cover.

Employer Liability Insurance

You will need employer liability insurance even if you only employ a few people or people on a casual basis and not every day. If an employee is injured during the course of their employment then you will be liable for compensation. Some countries have a scheme set up that is compulsory for the employees to take out this type of insurance and the premiums are normally set to whatever the combined wages and salary are for the business. Some employer liability insurance policies cover the employee for their journey to and from their place of employment, as long as there are no deviations along the way.

Insurance is a big part of our lives, for peace of mind we need to be covered for all areas that pertain to our lifestyles. Liability insurance makes up a big part of this.