Don’t let the recession affect your public liability cover
The credit crunch it seems has affected all aspects of life and now the credit crunch has become the reason that many businesses have been sitting when asked why they are taking the risk and not taking out
public liability insurance.
Like with many forms of insurance it can be easily argued that public liability insurance is not necessary and in this time of economic down turn it seems that some businesses are more than willing to take the risk and drop their public liability cover with the aim of saving some money in the short run.
The first thing that needs to be explained is what exactly is public liability cover? The simple explanation is that having public liability cover will protect you from and damage that you or your business may cause to a third party. So this means that for example if you where a plumber working on a bathroom in a block of flats and you accidently burst a water main (I’m sure it’s probably happened before) flooding most of the flats within the building, then you as the plumber would be held responsible for the damages.
The smart plumber would already have cover with an excess of around 5 million can make a simple phone call and everything should be covered. The plumbing who decided to cancel the policy because of the credit crunch will have to find the money to repair the damaged caused, and in some cases this could run into hundreds of thousands, and I’m not sure in this current economic climate that any bank will be willing to loan the money to pay for the damages.
The thing is it is not only high risk businesses such as plumbers and builders which need public liability cover but small businesses owners will need cover. A shop owner who has a customer slip and fall in the shop may also be liable for any damages that may be incurred. Once again without public liability insurance the payout may be the responsibility of the business owner.
These cautionary tales are very real possibilities meaning if reports in the last couple of days are to be believed then many small businesses are leaving themselves liable for any damages that they or their business may cause. If you feel that you may be paying too much for your public liability insurance then take advantage of one of the many price comparison website to find a cheaper quote.
It is understandable that many business owners are panicking with all the news stories of banks going bust and people spending less, but if businesses keep a cool head and not start dropping their liability cover then they should be ok. Nothing is more likely to sink a business than having to pay out thousands because some slipped and broke their arm on your business premises.