How much does Public Liability Insurance Cost?

Lets cut straight to the chase how much does public liability insurance cost and the answer is that on average, most business owners will pay between $55 to $100 per month for their Public Liability Inusrnace. Public Liability Insurance is usually the most requested insurance policy as it is the most frequently asked for policy by contractors and landlords.

Almost every business that has an ABN registered should have a Public Liability Insurance policy in place and policies will usually provide cover for almost any industry, trade or occupation. As there can be significant differences between the likes of an office based digital marketing agency and construction company this is where the costs in policies can vary.Other factors that can effect how much a public liability insurance will cost is the following:

  1. The type of business and the nature of your operation
  2. The turnover and size of your business
  3. The amount of cover that you require
Other factors that can contribute to the cost of your Public Liability Insurnace is what is actually included in the policy and what the insurer excludes along with the insurance provider that you decide to go with. 

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What is the average cost of Public Liability Insurance for your industry

Once of the biggest factors that determine the cost of your Public Liability insurance as we mentioned above is the nature of your business and what industry that you operate in. In some circumstances, if you operate in too many different fields you may also require multiple insurance policies or not be able to get cover at all. Insurers assess their risk of every industry which allows them to determine a suitable price for your insurance cover. 

Public Liability Insurance covers you for personal injury and property damage that you cause to another party so how an insurer determines what a suitable amount of premium is essentially done by assessing how many different situations could occur to your industry that could lead to injury or damage to another party. 

For example, an insurer would likely consider that a restaurant and a cafe could be considered a higher risk due to things like;

  • High volume of foot traffic that includes elderly, adults, kids and infants leading to slips, trips or falls 
  • Food is being provided and consumed which exposes potential contamination issues if not cooked/ disclosed correctly (incorrectly labeling something that includes allergens)
  • Potential burns from hot liquids
On the hand, an office type business such as an accounting firm would be considered less risky as there is usually minimal foot traffic and as the work is usually done on a computer or with paper files the chance of someone getting injured or causing property damage is far less likely. 

So what is the average cost of Public Liability Insurance for your industry?
  1. Wholesaler ($160 per month)
  2. Pharmacists / Pharmacist operation ($125 per month)
  3. Retailer with shopfront ($115 per month)
  4. Manufacturing ($110 per month)
  5. Allied health services ($90 per month)
  6. Professional office based services ($75 per month)
  7. Trades and Services ($70 per month)
 

How much does Public Liability Insurance cost for Tradesmen

Each trade is considered a different occupation and each occupation are assessed individually as they carry their own level of risk. This means that the premiums can vary quite significantly between the occupations. The cost of public liability insurance can also differ between whether you are doing residential, commercial works or a mix of both. 

We have written policies for pretty much every trade occupation in the industry and have assessed an approximate premium of each trade to compare the cost.

Average cost of Public Liability Insurance for Trade Occupations

  • Carpentry Services $60 per month
  • Handyman $50 per month
  • Electrician $65 per month
  • Plumbing $80 per month
  • Painter $50 per month
  • Mechanics $120 per month

How to reduce your Public Liability Insurance cost

We understand that most people dont like paying a high premium for their insurance and it becomes questionable when business owners find different prices everywhere online and in some circumstances most people are unable to tell the difference however, here are some reasons why customers are paying more for their insurance:

  • Their insurance broker didn’t accurately assess the market for the best policy
  • You took advice from a friend or family member on where to insure your business
  • Their Bookkeeper or Accountant referred them to someone
  • Contacting one insurer and assumed that this was the best price
  • Got advice from someone who is not familiar with insuring tradesmen 
public liability insurance cost

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Does the size of my business affect the amount of premium that I pay?

The short answer to this question is yes. The size, of your business and the turnover can have an impact on the cost of your Public Liability Inusrance policy. The method behind this is that the more business that you take on, the higher the chance is of a claim being made. If your turnover is also getting into the higher turnover brackets then the value of the job that you’re doing can also increase the insurers risk. A tradie starting out doing small jobs earning $100,000 a year will be considered far less risky than a trade business doing $1,000,000 a year with multiple contracts and staff members in place. 

As your employees are technically covered under your policy, the more employees that you have going out to different job sites each day pose a different level of risk compared to the sole trader business. The greater impact of the two would more often than not come down to the overall revenue of the business. 

Does my level of cover affect the premium that I pay?

Yes it does however, not as much as what you would think. There are 3 main options for your insurance cover that you can nominate this being $5 million, $10 million and $20 million. Most insurers now are removing the option for the $5 million of cover as although this seems high, this limit has been exceeded far too many times for it to be a recommended option. Remembering that this is the total amount that the insurer is agreeing to pay for one claim within a specified policy period. If you consider that the policy covers personal injury and property damage, depending on the severity of the claim $5 million is high yet can be exceeded when you consider all the costs that you or your insurer could be liable for if deemed at fault. 

The difference in dollar value between the limits is usually around an extra $10-$20 per month going from $5 million to $10 million  and about an extra $20 to $30 per month going to $20 million. Most trades will insure for the $10 million unless one of their head contractors has requested that they insure for a minimum of $20 million. Based off the data received from insurers, $10 million cover is still sufficient cover to protect you from most claims that you could come across. If the budget allows for it, we always recommend a $20 million limit as you never know what situation could arise and how many people that could be affected. 

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