Public Liability Insurance From Insurance By Steve

The Good, Bad And The Ugly Of Public Liability Insurance

Not so many years ago when someone got hurt through our own negligence we would say sorry, help them up off their feet and wish them well as they recovered. The victim would either verbally rebuke us or show how tough they are by dismissing our sympathy. These days most of us shudder with fear as we dread the thought of a civil law claim against us. We could end up losing our business and our home.

The worrying thing about civil claims for compensation is that they are often expressed in terms of "unlimited" damages which essentially means they are at the mercy of the judge's discretion. Even before the case is heading for the judge's court, the plaintiff will have been lured by the prospect of a pile of cash by some slick talking lawyer. These legal eagles are well rehearsed at striking the best deal they can get from the judge for their client. Even the mightiest corporate names can be stunned when a public liability claim lands on their desk.

The Blame Game

3rd party public liability insurance is designed to pay out in case of a successful claim against us. It protects us from the storm of legal arrows that would otherwise decimate our livelihoods. The negligence may be claimed to be our fault, the fault of an employee, or just a piece of inanimate equipment that we happen to own. Signs such as "Enter at your own risk" on your premises are no defense in the eyes of the law. The law sees to it that we owe a public duty of care and responsibility to everybody on our premises regardless of whether we want the visitors there or not. If in a grocery store someone's children are running around they might accidentally knock over a stack of canned food. Guess who's fault it might be if those cans were to collapse in a a heap and another shopper slips and falls on them. Sure, the parent's of the children of the kids need to be berated for not having them under control, but once those cans are rolling across the floor it becomes the store owner's responsibility. Life can be cruel and unfair when the blame stick is been pointed around.

Claims can also be made for damage to other people's possessions, injuries sustained from products sold and professional negligence. Visit a dentist to have a tooth removed and he removes the wrong tooth and a claim will soon arise. Sell a toaster to a customer that subsequently starts an electrical fire in their home ,burning it to the ground, and the blame for the fire could soon be heading in your direction. Operate a horse riding school and one of your customers fall from a horse that was later deemed unsuitable for novice riders and the following claim could financially devastate the business. The possible events that could lead to a compensation claim are almost endless.

However not all claims will be successful. Public liability insurance also pays for a legal defense against the claim. Many claims do fail. The judge determines the negligence to be created by the claimant not by the defendant. It is a natural human instinct to blame everyone and everything else for our own mistakes. We don't bear the weight of responsibility easily.

Public liability insurance is no protection against a criminal offence. If found guilty of a criminal offence the plaintiff will often follow the decision up with a civil claim for financial compensation. A guilty criminal verdict makes a guilty verdict in a civil case so much easier for the defendant. Imagine a taxi driver hits a bystander with his vehicle whilst taking a fare to the airport. Not only would he be convicted of dangerous driving but this verdict would open the way for expensive litigation.

Being Aware Of Risks

Perhaps all of us should be covered by a public liability insurance policy regardless of whether we operate a business or not. In many respects we do. If we own a home then we should have home insurance which, if you read the policy, will include public liability cover for 3rd party injuries sustained on our property. We also have it every time we drive a vehicle with auto insurance. Perhaps we should have it for just walking down the street or cycling a bike? Perhaps the government should operate a public liability policy that covers each and every one of us for our negligence towards others?

Risk is something we don't think about too much in our daily lives. We wake up, have breakfast, go to work, return home, eat dinner and flop out on the couch and watch TV. But we are surrounded by risk everywhere we go. Some of it is clearly visible like the drop from a tall building. But much of is like an invisible layer around us that our senses seem unable to comprehend. There has been much talk of the "butterfly effect" in recent years. These are tiny events that happened in the past which we are unable to identify in existence today. But their impact upon our lives is still a real and present danger. Consider 9/11, an event that almost nobody foresaw, yet the seeds of that event can be traced back years to the creation of anti-Western sentiment in the Middle East.

Unlike other policies, public liability cover has fewer exclusions than other forms of insurance. This is because it is, like the "butterfly effect", trying to cover events that are mainly unpredictable. What exclusions do exist normally relate to injuries to yourself and to your own possessions. These can be covered with personal injury insurance and business, home and contents insurance. Prevention is of course the best defense against claims. Though public liability insurance defends us against our own negligence the authorities will expect us to employ the use of available safety equipment and procedures. Ignoring safety guidelines may lead to a case of civil negligence turning into a case of criminal negligence.