Public liability insurance, also known as PLI, provides coverage for your business
in the instance that a customer or other third-party suffers an injury on the premises
of your business or has property damage while you are doing business. If you intend
to open your business to the public you will want to consider buying public liability
insurance to protect your business.
It may be something as simple and extremely common as a customer slipping and falling
inside of your business (retail store or even a professional office), something
more horrific such as a product or shelf falling on top of a young child and injuring
them, or as a plumber having a pipe burst resulting in a customer’s carpet getting
ruined while you are fixing their kitchen sink. The public at risk doesn’t actually
have to be customers; it can be neighbors, passerby’s, or even onlookers. Unfortunately,
no businesses can 100% avoid risk or be 100% risk free. Because of this, you should
be prepared in the event that instances like these were to happen so that your business
can continue to operate despite having to pay claims for such injuries or damages.
In many instances, the cost of paying these claims are expensive enough that many
small businesses cannot afford to pay them out of pocket – unfortunately, for many
of these small businesses, this results in having to shut the business down or file
bankruptcy. Public liability insurance will help to protect your business in situations
like those examples mentioned above. Since each business is different, proper public
liability coverage tailored to your unique business will cover claims by those who
were injured or had property damaged in your place of business, while you are doing
business, or for products or services that you have designed, supplied, or manufactured.
