BUSINESS GUIDE
Do I need public liability insurance?
No UK law forces you to buy it. Contracts do. If you work in customers' homes, on other people's sites, at markets and events, or with the public walking through your door, this is usually the first cover a business arranges.
Last reviewed August 2026
The short answer
Public liability is optional in law and near-universal in practice. It deals with claims from third parties — customers, passers-by, clients, other trades on site — for injury or damage to their property that they say you caused.
The compulsory cover in the UK is employers' liability, which applies once you employ anyone. Public liability sits alongside it and is what almost every client asks to see evidence of.
When it stops being optional
These are the situations where you will be asked for a certificate.
- Subcontracting to a main contractor or working on a construction site
- Council, housing association, school or NHS work
- Trading at a market, fair, festival or exhibition
- Renting commercial premises, where the lease often requires a stated limit
- Working in clients' homes as a trade or mobile service
- Joining a trade body or approved-installer scheme
What a claim actually looks like
The claims that matter are mundane. A customer slips on a wet floor. A ladder marks a client's car. A dropped tool cracks a bathroom suite. Water from your work damages the flat below.
In every case the cost is rarely just the repair. Legal defence costs and investigation costs frequently exceed the damage itself, which is why the cover includes them.
What public liability does not do
It covers third parties, not you or your business. Your own tools, stock and equipment need contents or tools cover. Your staff need employers' liability. Mistakes in advice or professional work need professional indemnity. Faulty products you supply need product liability, which is often bundled with public liability but not always.
What to have ready before the call
A specialist can place most small business risks quickly with these details.
- What the business does, described in plain terms
- Turnover, and a rough split if you do more than one type of work
- Number of employees and subcontractors
- Any limit of indemnity your contracts specify
- Claims in the last five years
- Renewal date, if you already have cover
Get a business specialist to call you
Three questions, about 60 seconds, and a UK insurance specialist calls you back — usually the same working day. No obligation.
Request my callback →Common questions
- Is public liability insurance compulsory in the UK?
- No. Unlike employers' liability, public liability is not required by law. It becomes effectively compulsory through contracts: main contractors, councils, landlords, venues and many commercial clients will not let you start work without it.
- Do I need public liability insurance as a sole trader?
- There is no legal duty, but if members of the public, clients or their property are anywhere near your work, most sole traders carry it. Trades, mobile services and anyone working in a client's home are the clearest cases.
- What limit of indemnity do I need?
- It depends on who you work for. Ordinary retail and office work often sits at a lower limit, while construction, local authority and utility contracts commonly specify a set minimum. Check the contract wording before you buy.
- Do I need it if I work from home?
- If clients visit you, or you visit them, then yes in practice. If you never meet anyone and never touch anyone's property, the exposure is much smaller and other covers such as professional indemnity may matter more.
Keep reading
General information only, written for UK readers. It is not insurance advice and does not take account of your circumstances. Cover Sorted collects your enquiry and passes it to an FCA-authorised insurance specialist. Cover Sorted does not provide quotations, comparisons or recommendations.