What is public liability insurance?

Public liability insurance is a vital form of insurance cover for a wide range of businesses. It offers essential protection when a third party suffers a loss or damage as a result of your business’s activities. If your business sees you regularly dealing with clients or the general public, public liability insurance is something you should consider taking out. If a third party suffers an injury or property damage as a result of your business, they might decide to launch legal action to recover any loss. This is where a public liability insurance policy comes in. It provides cover for the cost of your legal defence if you find yourself the subject of a liability lawsuit as well as for any compensation costs you may be legally required to pay. Having this cover in place can be the difference between the survival of your business and having to declare bankruptcy. Public liability gives you the peace of mind that comes with knowing you will be covered if a customer decides to take legal action against you.

Where else can I get help to find a broker?

The National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA) offers a Find a Broker service on its website to help match you up with a broker. You should also look to compare the services offered by multiple brokers such as what qualifications they have, the size of their firm, who you would be dealing with, their range of services and the clients they typically work with. Weighing up all these factors will help ensure that you end up with a broker who can provide the help your business needs.

What does public liability insurance cover?

Public liability insurance is a vital form of insurance cover for a wide range of businesses. It offers essential protection when a third party suffers a loss or damage as a result of your business's activities. For example, you will be protected if someone slips and falls on your premises and sues you for the resulting injury. Here, public liability insurance might cover the compensation costs you might be ordered to pay for negligence. Or if it’s a slip and fall scam, then your public liability insurance might pay for the costs of the legal defence against the claim. Business insurance, including public liability cover, can be complex. It may be a good idea to look into an insurance broker to help you buy it.

What are some of the industries that public liability insurance brokers can service?

Any industry can choose whether to take advantage of a broker’s services. Some, such as an international company, a business with complex supply chains, a company with a lot of confidential customer information under its responsibility or other businesses that have these kinds of potentially major liability headaches, might be more likely to use a broker. If your business is most at risk of a customer tripping on a step, despite a sign that says “mind your step,” then you might be able to find the right cover by yourself.

What is the difference between professional indemnity insurance and public liability insurance?

If you’re in the market for business insurance, chances are you’ve come across two very similar sounding policies in the form of professional indemnity insurance and public liability insurance. While there are some similarities between these two types of cover, there are some key differences you should be aware of as well. Public liability insurance protects you against claims where you are the subject of a liability lawsuit and are liable to pay damages. Professional indemnity insurance is for professionals who offer advice or a service to their customers. If you make a mistake or omission while offering your professional services to a client, and this results in your client suffering a loss, they may file a claim of professional negligence against you. Professional indemnity insurance offers protection against such claims, providing cover for legal and court costs as well as any damages or compensation you may be required to pay. With this in mind, professional indemnity insurance provides cover in the event you breach your professional duty. However, it’s important to remember that all businesses have a responsibility to the general public. So rather than cover breaches of professional responsibility, public liability insurance covers you for breaches of your general responsibility as a business owner.

Public liability insurance broker in Australia

Get Quotes Online Speak to a broker

Brokers specialise in finding the right insurance cover for their clients.
You might be paying extra in brokerage fees on top of the policy premiums.
A broker can track down a number of suitable policy options for your business and then help you compare them.

How does a broker work?

Typically, a business insurance broker sells you insurance and takes a cut of the premiums for themselves. This means the same policy might be more expensive to buy through a broker than it would be to buy it directly.

Can I get better cover with a broker than I can direct?

Sometimes, but not necessarily. There are some policies that might only be available through brokers, but for the most part, you can expect to find brokers offering the same policies that you can purchase direct yourself.

Do brokers offer any other services?

Yes. One of the main advantages of paying extra for a policy from a broker is that they can become a new point of contact for your insurance needs. For example, if you need to make a claim or update your policy details, you can call your broker to take care of it instead of wading through the insurer's customer service queues yourself.

Finder survey: How often do Australians from different states compare or switch their public liability insurance?

Response	WA	VIC	SA	QLD	NSW
once a year	1.65%	1.65%	5.38%	2.3%	1.83%
every 2 yrs	0.83%	0.66%		1.38%	2.14%
once every 3+ yrs	0.83%	0.99%		1.38%	0.92%
I never compare or switch		4.95%	1.08%	3.23%	0.92%
more than once a year		0.66%			0.31%

Source: Finder survey by Pure Profile of 1112 Australians, December 2023
Data for ACT, NT, TAS not shown due to insufficient sample size. Some other states may also be excluded for this reason.

What is the role of public liability insurance brokers?

One of the decisions you have to make when shopping for public liability insurance cover is whether you want to purchase cover through an insurance broker. The ability to buy direct from the insurer can sound appealing to some business owners, but there are many advantages to taking out cover through an insurance broker.

Just as it’s the job of an accountant to look after your best financial interests, it’s a broker’s job to look after your insurance needs in the best way possible. A good insurance broker will have a wealth of training and experience and will have the expert knowledge required to give specialised insurance advice for your business. Brokers will take the time to understand the ins and outs of your business and then offer advice specifically tailored to your situation.

A broker can track down a number of suitable policy options for your business and then help you compare them. After weighing up the pros and cons of a number of policies, your broker can then ensure that you choose the right public liability policy for your needs.

Should I buy business insurance direct or with a broker?

When you buy insurance through a broker, you might be paying extra in brokerage fees on top of the policy premiums. But often this is money well spent. Between the services they provide and the potential savings, using a broker might be worth it.

How confident are you in choosing a policy?

You might avoid using a broker if you can confidently buy business insurance direct. If not, you might want to go through a broker instead.

Consider the complexity of your business vs the direct offerings available

There are no hard and fast rules, but a useful starting place might be to look at some of the business insurance packages available in Australia.

If any of these suit your needs, then you might want to shop around for direct cover.
If your business needs are more complex or if you know you’ll need to update policy details frequently, then you might want to use a business insurance broker instead.

How much could a direct public liability insurance policy cost me?

Finder ran some business insurance quotes for a NSW-based events company with 5 employees. We found a public liability policy with Vero may cost $40.75 per month ($500 policy excess). This indicative quote was correct as of 29 June 2023.

Do you really need a public liability insurance broker to help you find cover?

As mentioned, it is possible to go directly to an insurer to purchase your public liability cover. While this may be a suitable approach for some, for some businesses, it might make better financial sense to enlist the services of an insurance broker.

The main benefit of brokers is that they are insurance experts. Day in, day out, brokers specialise in finding the right insurance cover for their clients. They have an in-depth understanding of the Australian insurance market and of the range of policies available, and they have access to a broad spectrum of policies across the market.

Public liability insurance, and any form of business insurance for that matter, can be a confusing topic to wrap your head around. For most business owners, the time required to compare your options and choose the right public liability policy is something they may struggle with.

Without the necessary time and specialised knowledge of the insurance sector, businesses who approach an insurer directly to take out cover can end up with an inadequate level of protection in place. Some end up under-insured, which can be a nightmare when disaster strikes, while others end up paying too much money for some cover elements they simply don’t need. But ultimately, it's your decision to make.

Things to consider when choosing public liability insurance brokers

If you’ve decided to get help from an insurance broker, there are a handful of steps you can take to ensure you end up with the right broker for your business. To start with, look for a broker with a high level of qualifications and experience. You can usually find this information in a broker’s financial services guide, which they are required by law to provide you with.

While it may seem simple to choose a broker that is located the closest to your business, this isn’t necessarily a good approach. Some brokers have specialised areas of expertise, such as public liability insurance, so will be better qualified to meet your particular needs. Some brokers also specialise in finding insurance for specific professions, so if you can find a broker with a wealth of experience in insuring other business in your industry, consider using their services.

Talk to a broker about public liability insurance

Public liability insurance offers a much-needed form of cover for a whole host of businesses, whether you run a small operation or a large company. However, in order to ensure you end up with the right level of coverage for your business, compare a number of policy options and enlist the help of a qualified insurance broker.

Frequently asked questions

Public liability insurance is a vital form of insurance cover for a wide range of businesses. It offers essential protection when a third party suffers a loss or damage as a result of your business’s activities.
If your business sees you regularly dealing with clients or the general public, public liability insurance is something you should consider taking out. If a third party suffers an injury or property damage as a result of your business, they might decide to launch legal action to recover any loss.
This is where a public liability insurance policy comes in. It provides cover for the cost of your legal defence if you find yourself the subject of a liability lawsuit as well as for any compensation costs you may be legally required to pay.
Having this cover in place can be the difference between the survival of your business and having to declare bankruptcy. Public liability gives you the peace of mind that comes with knowing you will be covered if a customer decides to take legal action against you.
The National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA) offers a Find a Broker service on its website to help match you up with a broker. You should also look to compare the services offered by multiple brokers such as what qualifications they have, the size of their firm, who you would be dealing with, their range of services and the clients they typically work with. Weighing up all these factors will help ensure that you end up with a broker who can provide the help your business needs.
Public liability insurance is a vital form of insurance cover for a wide range of businesses. It offers essential protection when a third party suffers a loss or damage as a result of your business's activities. For example, you will be protected if someone slips and falls on your premises and sues you for the resulting injury.
Here, public liability insurance might cover the compensation costs you might be ordered to pay for negligence.
Or if it’s a slip and fall scam, then your public liability insurance might pay for the costs of the legal defence against the claim.
Business insurance, including public liability cover, can be complex. It may be a good idea to look into an insurance broker to help you buy it.
Any industry can choose whether to take advantage of a broker’s services. Some, such as an international company, a business with complex supply chains, a company with a lot of confidential customer information under its responsibility or other businesses that have these kinds of potentially major liability headaches, might be more likely to use a broker.
If your business is most at risk of a customer tripping on a step, despite a sign that says “mind your step,” then you might be able to find the right cover by yourself.
If you’re in the market for business insurance, chances are you’ve come across two very similar sounding policies in the form of professional indemnity insurance and public liability insurance. While there are some similarities between these two types of cover, there are some key differences you should be aware of as well.
Public liability insurance protects you against claims where you are the subject of a liability lawsuit and are liable to pay damages.
Professional indemnity insurance is for professionals who offer advice or a service to their customers. If you make a mistake or omission while offering your professional services to a client, and this results in your client suffering a loss, they may file a claim of professional negligence against you. Professional indemnity insurance offers protection against such claims, providing cover for legal and court costs as well as any damages or compensation you may be required to pay.
With this in mind, professional indemnity insurance provides cover in the event you breach your professional duty. However, it’s important to remember that all businesses have a responsibility to the general public. So rather than cover breaches of professional responsibility, public liability insurance covers you for breaches of your general responsibility as a business owner.

Thank you for your feedback!

Written by

Richard Laycock

Editor

Richard Laycock is Finder’s insights editor after spending the last five years writing and editing articles about insurance. His musings can be found across the web including on MoneyMag, Yahoo Finance and Travel Weekly. Richard studied Media at Macquarie University and The Missouri School of Journalism and has a Tier 1 Certification in General Advice for Life Insurance. See full bio

Co-written by

James Martin

Journalist

James Martin was the insurance editor at Finder. He has written on a range of insurance and finance topics for over 7 years. James often shares his insurance expertise as a media spokesperson and has appeared on Prime 7 News, Insurance News, 7NEWS and The Guardian. An experienced journalist, James' work has featured in publications including The Irish Times, Companies100 and In Business. He holds a Tier 1 General Insurance (General Advice) certification and a Tier 1 Generic Knowledge certification, both of which meet the requirements of ASIC Regulatory Guide 146 (RG146). See full bio

James's expertise

James has written 189 Finder guides across topics including:

Car, home, life, health, travel and pet insurance
Managing the cost of living
Money-saving tips

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