3 Reasons Why Public Liability Insurance is Essential
Any type of insurance is supposed to protect you in the long run, especially if unforeseen accidents arise. You never know what could happen to you, your belongings or your business. You need to always have a back-up plan to cover excessive costs and damage that you didn’t plan for.
Of course, businesses need to build relationship with the public to stay afloat. Marketing strategies and creating brand awareness become core activities. But in addition, you need to get in touch with the most credible commercial insurance brokers.
Commercial insurance brokers will be responsible for finding the right type of insurance policies for your business. This is to protect your business from any possible future physical and financial damage.
One policy that would achieve this for your business is public liability insurance. Read on as we point out some reasons why this type of insurance is important for your business’s well-being.
What is Public Liability Insurance?
This insurance policy was created to cover your business from claims made by customers or clients – as well as the general public – in the event of accidents or damaged property. Sometimes, when your company carries out its duties, it may cause unplanned damage to property belonging to outsiders.
For example, you may knock down your customer’s television set while carrying inside the fridge you just repaired. In the construction industry, your company’s crane or heavy vehicle could accidentally drop a heavy load on a citizen’s car.
Your company’s vehicles may even get into a road accident while transporting goods. You could have accidentally injured, and in more severe cases, killed a passerby while performing your work.
No matter the scenario, if you damage property or severely injure someone, a public liability insurance will cover the costs accrued as a result thereof. Every business that is responsible for causing damage or injuries is liable to cover the costs, so it’s best you plan for this ahead of time.
Costs vary, but you can’t risk such an event putting you under financial strain of any kind. This type of insurance will have your back, which is important for almost any business.
Protection
For obvious reasons, public liability insurance protects you from making these pay-outs from your own pocket. Businesses in general struggle to thrive in this ever-competitive world, so you wouldn’t want an avoidable accident to impact your company’s capital. In worst case scenarios it could lead to business bankruptcy!
It could lead to diminishing profits, which could result in a company collapse. A cover such as public liability insurance for events will cover your business, and pay for all the damages that were caused, even if something happened in a public space.
No Business is Immune
Not even private businesses are immune to paying out claims made by the public or your consumers. If your business interacts and engages with any part of the public, then it’s a public business and you’re vulnerable.
Claims can be made by any individual or entity that engages with your business, whether on work matters or not. Even online businesses can do with this insurance, especially in the case of delivering and receiving goods.
Remember, no matter how well you have secured or safeguarded your business against potential accidents, you can’t control everything. Many incidents are unpredictable.
You can be responsible enough to warn people against certain risks, but that’s not always enough to prevent you being liable. Depending on the situation, you may be held accountable to cover costs if harm does come to someone or something.
Important for Brand Image
If your business causes a serious injury or accidentand you fail to take responsibility for it, it can create negative publicity for your company as a whole. This would result in bad public relations, which would negatively affect your sales and growth.
If your company displays the willingness to deal with the problems you cause, and take responsibility for it, it can actually promote your business because you’re proving you’re a trustworthy entity.In terms of brand awareness you’ll create a credible reputation. So, all is not lost if something should go wrong.
However, if your company puts up a fight and shows reluctance to cover those costs, it can affect your reputation negatively. You’ll lose loyal customers and struggle to attain new ones.
Insurance enables you to take up responsibility when it matters!
Having this insurance in place also shows that your business thinks ahead and is prepared for worst-case scenarios. In the public eye, this is important because it means you have their best interests at heart.
Final Thoughts
It is important to remember that public liability insurance usually doesn’t cover your employees, your employees’ families or your own property. However, it’s vital to safeguard yourself, so don’t ignore this type of cover.
Discuss additional cover with your broker if you think it’s necessary.
