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What is Small Business Public Liability Insurance?

By A. Leverkuhn
Updated May 17, 2024
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Small business public liability insurance is a kind of business insurance that helps protect business leaders and business owners from lawsuits related to injury, property damage, or other events that may be related to their business in some way. In general, small business public liability insurance helps to guard against the costs of some negative liability for a business, whether it is product liability, or related to safety issues in a business space. This kind of insurance is extremely useful for many different types of businesses.

Experts recommend adding small business public liability insurance for a business in very many different specific business situations. For example, those who work out of the home, and have clients or customers visit the home should have this kind of insurance to limit liability if someone is injured there. The same goes for offices and shops in public areas. Any business with product liabilities, such as a retail shop selling foods or items with potentially hazardous materials, should also have some form of small business public liability insurance.

It’s important for business owners to understand that unlike some other kinds of business insurance, small business public liability insurance is not legally necessary. This elective insurance should be calculated according to the specific risk of a business. If there is no public traffic in a business space, no physical contact with customers, and no product liability, the need for small business public liability insurance may be very limited, and in some cases negligible.

Unlike small business liability insurance, some other kinds of business insurance are required by state and federal governments. Unemployment insurance is something that all businesses with employees are required to hold. Businesses must also hold appropriate vehicle insurance for any company vehicles. By contrast, public liability insurance is subject to the aspects of the business mentioned above.

A business owner who feels that his or her enterprise needs public liability insurance should talk to a legitimate insurance provider representative. This customer can negotiate business insurance costs that fit his or her budget, and cover the business adequately. There is a lot of flexibility built into most small business public liability insurance policies.

As a cautionary note, business owners should never just ignore the need for small business public liability insurance. These policies serve to protect the profit margin and the investment in a business. Without the right kind of business liability policy, a business can easily go bankrupt, and it’s important to think about this when planning every aspect of a business start up or expanding an existing company.

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