Public liability insurance

petshopgirlemma

I do a lot of personal tutoring and want to offer it from home as well as going to clients.

I also run adult ed workshops and I am about to start working with children to. I usually work in locations such as council buldings (eg libraries) and it can vary as to whether I get paid PAYE or freelance (I'm SE but I get small earnings exemption)

I feel I should however get public liability insurance and I am not sure where to start!

How much is it? Do you buy it like you do home or car or travel insurance or do you need to go and see a broker?

terri72

If I was you I would looking in to getting Public Liability insurance especially as there seems to be an increase in injury claims. You only have to look at the TV to see all the no win no fee companies.

Look in the yellow pages or online for insurance brokers, look for ones that do commercial insurance. Ensure that they are FSA regulated. Speak to your household insurer as they may be able to extend the policy to cover the tutoring.

You mention that you work in council buildings - I'm surprised that they haven't asked you to provide proof that you are covered for Public Liability. In my experience they usually like you to have £5million, but you may be able to get away with £2million.

The price will vary depending on what other covers you take. From memory (going back a few years here) prices can start around £100 + tax

Hope the above helps and I wish you luck.

thing

Try Hiscox - I used them when I worked from home. Had various clients visiting my place, which was always a worry. If anyone tripped, say, on the stairs they could sue me.

Plus I had extra cover for bodged work - I ran a small design agency and even if a client approves a proof, then it goes to print with an error, the agency tends to still cover at least some of the cost of reprinting. That could have crippled me financially. So the great thing about Hiscox was how I could customise my level of cover to match precisely what I needed. No one else - and I tried loads of insurance companies - matched them either on price or service. And lastly they let you cancel with just a month's notice so if you wind up the business you don't end up paying for insurance you no longer need beyond the end of business (though hopefully you won't need to wind it up!)

I had public liability insurance for 5m, insurance covering client claims against work deemed to contain errors that were my fault, regardless of client's approving pre-print proofs, plus cover for my laptop and mobile phone with 48 hour turn-around on replacements and cover for my studio kit (nearly £20k worth of computers etc.) and all of that was easy to get with Hiscox and cost relatively little - about £35 a month if I recall.

Good luck,

Greg

PS Whoever you look at for insurance make sure you explain everything in very fine detail and read the terms and conditions - especially the exclusions. Insurance companies will always look for a way not to pay out if you every need to claim.