Public liability insurance is the policy that pays when someone who does not work for you is hurt, or their property is damaged, because of your work. A client trips in your office. Work at their site marks their floor. A passer-by is hit by materials. The legal bill and the compensation sit here — not on professional indemnity, and not on employers’ liability.
Meshed is an FCA-regulated UK broker (FRN 1033248). We place public liability for UK limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders, from a panel of insurers. Broker fee is a flat 10%, with no admin add-ons.
If you want the wider “what does a UK company need” list, that sits on the business insurance hub. A client who says your advice, design, or delivery cost them money is Professional Indemnity Insurance UK. Staff injury is employers’ liability. A claim against you as a director is Directors and Officers Insurance UK. This page is injury or property damage to a member of the public.
Who this is for
UK limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders whose work brings them near other people or other people’s property, including:
Consultancies and agencies that visit clients, or invite clients in
Offices, studios, shops, cafes, and gyms with visitors
Companies that work on someone else’s site
Contractors and trade companies that need a company-level public liability certificate
Home-based limited companies whose clients still walk through the door
Firms whose contract already names a public liability limit
We work with limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders, typically up to £30 million turnover.
If the risk is a large public event, work at height, or a specialist trade we do not usually write, we will say whether we can place it before you spend a week on forms.
Who we have helped
We place public liability for UK limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders: firms whose client or site will not let them start without a certificate, businesses that have been treating professional indemnity as if it covered a trip or a damaged floor, and schedules with no third-party injury section at all.
What public liability covers
Public liability is there when a third party — a client, a visitor, a supplier, a passer-by — says your work injured them or damaged their property.
Typical claims:
Someone slips, trips, or is hit by something at your premises
Work at a client site damages their floor, furniture, or equipment
A tool, a sign, or materials injure a passer-by
A courier or visitor is hurt in your building
A meeting off-site ends with their property broken
The policy is built to pay, up to the limit:
Defence costs — lawyers, and the work of defending the claim
Compensation or a settlement the wording agrees to
Repair or replacement of the third party’s damaged property
It usually applies on your premises and when you or your people are out on someone else’s. Exact wording varies. We show you the gaps before you bind, not after a letter arrives.
Product liability is the sibling cover: injury or damage blamed on something you made, sold, or supplied, not on the way you did the job. It often sits on the same schedule. If you sell or supply physical goods, say so. We will not leave it off a wording that needs it.
What it does not cover
Public liability will not pay a client who says your advice, design, or delivery cost them money. That is professional indemnity. It will not pay an employee who is injured or made ill by the work. That is employers’ liability. It will not protect directors personally for how they ran the company. That is D&O. It will not pay for your own kit, stock, or building. That is property or contents.
It also will not usually pick up:
Something you did on purpose, or knew was likely
Injury or damage you have already had and did not tell the insurer about
A cyber attack or a lost client file
A claim that only exists because of a contract promise you should not have made
Fines the law will not let you insure
If the claim is about a building you let to tenants, that is property owners’ liability on Landlord Insurance UK, not this page.
Public liability and professional indemnity
Those two get mixed up. They do different jobs.
Public liability is physical. Someone is hurt, or their property is damaged, because of your work.
Professional indemnity is financial. A client says a mistake in the work itself — the advice, the design, the delivery — cost them money. The full picture is on Professional Indemnity Insurance UK.
Most service firms that meet people need both. They are not substitutes. If you only buy PI, a trip in the studio or a smashed laptop has nowhere to go.
Is public liability required by law?
No. There is no statute that says a UK company must hold public liability insurance. Employers’ liability is the compulsory one, if you employ staff.
Three things still bite:
The contract. Clients, main contractors, and frameworks routinely name a limit — often £1 million, £2 million, or £5 million — and ask for the certificate before you start. No certificate, no site.
The place. Landlords, venues, local authorities, and event organisers often will not let you in without proof of cover.
The claim. If someone is seriously hurt, the bill can be larger than the company. Limited liability does not make the claim disappear.
For a limited company that meets people, visits sites, or invites anyone in, that is a yes — even when the law is silent.
How much cover do I need?
Enough for a serious injury or a badly damaged property, then at least whatever a contract, a site, or a buyer has already named.
In the UK market you will usually see:
£1 million or £2 million for lower-risk offices and consultancies
£5 million once you are on other people’s sites, or a client has named it
£5 million to £10 million for public-sector, local-authority, or government work
We size it to the work and the contract, not to a comparison-site default. A £1 million limit that looks cheap is useless if the site rule is £5 million.
The certificate is the bit clients ask for. It shows who is insured, the limit, and the dates. Keep it somewhere you can send the same day.
What it costs
Premium follows the work: what you do, turnover, where you do it — your premises, theirs, or in public — claims, the limit, and the excess. A desk consultancy and a site-based contractor with the same turnover will not price the same.
We will not publish a “from £X a month” figure that only exists for the cheapest trade on a comparison site.
What you can control: a proposal that describes the work you actually do, the sites you go to, and a schedule that is not still written for last year’s company. Underwriters load the files that are vague.
How Meshed works
You tell us the company, the work, where it happens, headcount, current cover, and any limit a contract already names.
We review the documents and flag gaps in limit, who is actually insured, product liability, and whether PI or employers’ liability is doing a job it cannot do.
We go to our panel and come back with options.
You bind. We stay on for mid-term changes and renewal.
Straightforward SME risks are often quoted in minutes. Site-based trades, public-sector limits, claims histories, or specialist activities can take longer. We will say that up front.
FAQs
What is public liability insurance?
Cover if a member of the public, a client, or another third party is injured, or their property is damaged, because of your work. It pays defence costs and any compensation or repair the policy agrees to, up to the limit.
Do I need public liability insurance in the UK?
Not as a blanket legal duty. You need it if your work could hurt someone who does not work for you, or damage their property — or if a client, a site, or a council will not let you start without the certificate. For a limited company that meets people, that is usually a yes.
Is public liability the same as professional indemnity?
No. Public liability is injury or property damage. Professional indemnity is a client claiming your work cost them money. Most professional firms need both. The PI page is Professional Indemnity Insurance UK.
Does public liability cover employees?
No. A staff injury is a different policy — employers’ liability.
Does it cover work at a client’s premises?
Usually, yes, if that work is on the schedule. Say where you actually work. A policy written only for your own office will not help on their site.
I work from home. Do I still need it?
If clients, couriers, or anyone else visits, yes. Home insurance is written for a house you live in, not for business visitors.
What about products I sell?
That is product liability. It often sits with public liability on the same schedule. Tell us if you make, sell, or supply goods.
I am a sole trader. Can you help?
Yes. We place public liability for sole traders as well as limited companies and partnerships.
Are you an insurer?
No. Meshed is a broker. Mesh'd Limited trading as Meshed is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference number 1033248.
How fast can we bind?
Clean renewals and a standard company public liability can be same-week. New site limits, missing activity detail, claims histories, or specialist work take longer.
Vincent Liu
Co-founder & CTO
