Liability Insurance

Just like life, business risks are unpredictable. Why increase the risk by neglecting to put in place adequate insurance to protect your business?

Charter Insurance Brokers can take the stress out of organising Liability Insurance for your company, providing a free review of your current arrangements and advising you of which types of liability cover are legally required and which are recommended.

Any responsible company that owns or rents a physical space should have liability insurance. If your client falls down the stairs or a bookcase falls on your employee, liability insurance can cover you. Even if you are a small organisation, Charter Insurance Brokers can arrange temporary liability insurance for specific periods or occasions when larger number of people or members of the public will be on the premises.

What is Liability Insurance?
Liability Insurance is designed to protect you from claims made by third parties. This includes any members of the public, employees and your clients, who have suffered a loss as a result of carelessness on your premises. Liability Insurance will cover the legal costs and expenses incurred while defending the claims for the compensation and in fact the compensation that has been awarded against you.

Liability insurance cannot stop people from suing you or winning their cases; but it can help you deal with the financial consequences and their potentially damaging effect on your business.

Employers Liability -
If you run a business and employ any staff, you are required by law to take out Employer's Liability to cover your employees while at work off or on site. This includes members of staff who are part time, full time, delivery workers, trainees or sub contractors. An employer's liability insurance protects the employers against claims for liability for injury or disease to its employees arising out of their employment. An employer is responsible for the health and safety of his/her employees. If they are injured or a former employee becomes ill as a result of their work while in your employment and they think you are responsible, they might try to claim compensation from you.

Product Liability -
It's your legal liability to pay damages consequent to a defective product being used by the general public. Product is defined as a physical item that is sold or given away. If you declare your product fit for purpose, you are legally held responsible for any damage or injury that a product you make, supply, or export (even if you have not been negligent) may cause to the general public.

Public Liability -
If you run a business involving contact with members of the general public; public liability insurance policy will cover any injury to third party or any damage to their property caused by your inattention. If you work from home and have clients visit you at your house, it is equally as important that you take out adequate Public Liability insurance.

Professional Indemnity -
The professional person must implement the highest degree of care and skill that is expected in that profession. If a person provides advice or service to another and carries out that work negligently, he / she can be held legally liable for the consequences. The liability can arise if there has been a breach of duty of care, or contract. If your business deals in services, professional indemnity provides protection against action by clients who receive bad or lax services and incur a loss as a result.

Directors' and officers' liability
Legally, the directors of a company and the company itself are considered separate entities and so may both be defendants, separately or jointly, in any legal action or prosecution. Directors of all companies are now held, at an unprecedented level, to be personally responsible for any actions and decisions they make on behalf of the company - putting their personal assets at risk if those decisions are tested in the courts.

To protect the personal assets of individuals and crucially, to cover the costs of their defence, Directors' & Officers' Insurance is widely used. Directors' & Officers' Insurance also extends to protect the company itself, rather than having to fund its own defence, thereby protecting the value of a director's personal holding in the company.

Furthermore, Specialist Insurance is generally not limited to the protection of directors and senior managers, but will also extend to protect other employees and to include any actual or alleged violation in employment practice, which might include:

Professional indemnity
Some professionals, for example doctors, architects, civil engineers, consultants or estate agents would benefit from protection provided by a Professional Indemnity Policy, against liability for financial loss suffered as a result of alleged professional neglect, professional error or omission.