Liability Insurance
A range of liability insurance covers including public liability insurance, employers liability insurance, product liability insurance & business liability insurance.
Employers Liability Insurance
Employers’ liability insurance is a compulsory cover, usually required for up to £10 million limit of liability other than terrorism which is usually £5 million limit of indemnity. Employers’ liability insurance covers the cost of compensation and defending claims made by your employees, as well as the costs incurred in defending any criminal proceeding made against you by the Health and Safety Executive or another government or regulatory organisation following an employee-related claim.
Employers liability insurance provides critical protection for your business should an employee become ill or injured as a result of their employment with you. Not only does the cover extend to full-time employees, but also to part-time workers, freelance or contract workers, volunteers, interns, students and trainees. It can, for most small to medium businesses, be added to the public and / or products liability insurance policy as it is usually more effective to place insurance cover for these liabilities under one combined liability policy.
Public Liability Insurance
Public liability insurance helps protect your business against personal injury or property damage claims made by members of the public. Standard cover pays for the compensation for their loss or damage, as well as your legal defence fees. There are usually optional covers you can include: legal expenses and specialists covers for certain trades, such as, hairdressers.
Public liability insurance cost is subject to a limit to indemnity, usually £1m, £2m or £5m as part of a package of insurance covers. However, we will often recommend to our clients that they consider taking out additional cover, called excess of loss insurance, as the cost of a public liability claim can exceed standard limits of indemnity which could put your business at risk. Security of client’s premises whilst you are working there is another consideration, as is the use of heat, particularly for roofers and similar trades – conditions and exclusions often apply in standard liability insurance policies. Please call us to discuss your requirements and for a public liability insurance quote.
Product Liability Insurance
Product liability insurance is an essential cover for any business which is supplying, manufacturing, distributing, wholesaling or retailing any products and can affect any or all parties across a supply chain. This type of insurance provides cover for compensation claims, costs and expenses in relation to injury or loss or damage to other people’s property, arising out of, or in connection with, any product or completed work for which you are responsible.
For more information, please contact us.
Professional Indemnity Insurance
Professional indemnity insurance covers the legal costs and expenses in defending any claim brought against you if you are considered by your customers to have provided inadequate advice, service or design. The costs of compensation will also be covered if you are deemed to be liable for any loss. These claims can arise from:
- Professional negligence, such as giving poor or incorrect advice, or making an error.
- Loss of documents, breach or loss of data, goods or money for which you are responsible.
- Unintentional breach of copyright and / or confidentiality.
- Defamation and libel.
Most chartered professions need to have professional indemnity insurance in order to meet their regulatory obligations. This would apply to professions, such as, surveyors, engineers, brokers and so on. Most consultants would be expected by their clients to hold professional indemnity cover as a condition of their contract for services. Indeed, any business that offers advice or performs any form of design or service for customers has the potential for their activities to lead to their customers suffering a financial loss, such as, professional advisers, consultants, creative artists and / or marketers, designers, educationalists and health professionals. Mistakes do happen and professional indemnity insurance will offer protection and support to your business if your customers suffer a financial loss as a result. Talk to our expert team at RS Risk Solutions about this insurance cover.
Directors’ and Officers’ Liability / Business Liability Insurance
Directors’ and Officers’ liability insurance (or D&O insurance) covers an individual’s exposure for any mistake, breach (or alleged breach) of duty, poor judgement or decision and / or action in violation of law by an individual director and officer of a company. In this way, D&O offers personal protection as it is designed to cover the cost of claims for compensation made against the insured individual. It protects directors and officers for the decisions they make in their capacity as executives, partners, or officers of a business. The cost of defending against these claims alone means this cover is an essential first line of defence for claims arising in relation to actions for breaches / alleged breaches of health and safety, employment and pension scheme management, duty, negligence, pollution, defamation and libel. here
Trustee Indemnity
Trustees of even very small charities assume considerable responsibility for their decisions and actions. Good intentions can lead to bad decisions in law for which individual trustees may be challenged. Alleged breaches of duty can lead to claims against the trustees personally. Such claims may entail claims for compensation, preceded by legal action and investigation. Coping with such an action could be extremely challenging for an individual trustee.
Trustee indemnity insurance will cover the cost of the legal defence and related expenses, such as investigation and / or enquiry. RS Risk Solutions’ team of experts can assist you arrange the necessary cover for both your trustees and your charity / entity. Many of the leading insurers we use will not only cover the cost of the legal action and any resulting compensation but also support the trustee and charity manage any resultant negative public relations – we all recognise the value of a good reputation in raising funds and maintaining public support. Contact us to discuss your requirements
Hirers’ Liability
Many businesses and charities hire out premises, equipment and machinery for others to use and as a result, the hirers adopt contractual responsibilities for any resultant damage or injury caused to third parties. Please speak to us about hirer’s indemnity insurance should you currently hire or be considering the hire of premises and equipment as part of your business activities.
Environmental Impairment Liability
The European Environmental Liability Directive means that businesses, and in some cases individual directors and officers of those businesses that cause environmental damage are responsible for the full consequences of that incident. Environmental liability insurance covers the cost of compensation and related costs and expenses and many liability policies of this type will also offer expert public relations support as a standard form of crisis management.
Property Owners Liability
Property owners liability insurance provides protection for landlords and property owners in respect of injury and / or damage claims made against them by third parties in relation to their ownership of the property. Various limits of indemnity are available to cover the costs of compensation and related legal expenses. Please speak to the RS Risk Solutions’ expert team about your property portfolio. We would be happy to discuss your liability, property, protection of income and other related insurances.
Defective Workmanship
Defective workmanship insurance provides cover for your liability in relation to costs of rectifying defective work that causes damage, loss or injury to third parties (other than liability to employees – see employers liability section above).
Breach of Contract, Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights and Civil Liability
Careful consideration needs to be given by all businesses to other liabilities that may arise in the course of their business activities, such as, breach of contract, intellectual property rights, trade marks, registered designs, patents, copyright and infringement of civil liability. The expert team at RS Risk Solutions has identified a number of insurance options that provide cover for pursuing or defending claims, or fighting contractual claims with third parties affected by any failures or incidents in these categories.
If you would like advice or a quotation please contact us.
We are an independent and regulated UK insurance broker predominantly supporting clients in:
London and the South East including: Surrey, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Ashford, Bexhill, Brighton, Caterham, Chatham, Copthorne, Crawley, Crowborough, Croydon, Dorking, East Grinstead, Eastbourne, Edenbridge, Forest Row, Gillingham, Gravesend, Hastings, Haywards Heath, Heathfield, Horley, Horsham, Hove, Kingston upon Thames, Leatherhead, Lewes, Lingfield, Maidstone, Newhaven, Oxted, Redhill, Reigate, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Seaford, Sevenoaks, Sutton, Swanley, Tonbridge, Uckfield, Woking, Worthing