Self-employed public liability insurance

What is public liability insurance?

Public liability insurance can cover your legal and compensation costs if someone is hurt or killed as a result of your business activities.

It can also cover you for damage to someone’s property and events you organise as part of your work. Although you should also consider taking out events insurance for the latter.

Cover limits typically range between £1 million and £10 million. So, it’s worth weighing up how much you think you’ll need.

Having public liability insurance in place could also be good for business. Some organisations won’t work with you unless you can prove you have a policy.

Local councils, for example, will usually only offer you a contract if you have a minimum of £5 million public liability cover.

Do I need public liability insurance if I’m self-employed?

Public liability insurance isn’t a legal requirement in the UK. But if your work involves public interaction, you’re likely to need it.

Whether you’re a large company or a one-man band, you could damage someone’s property or even hurt or kill someone in the line of work. Public liability insurance is there to protect you if that happens.

Here are a couple of examples:

• You’re an electrician – a customer gets an electric shock from faulty wiring and you could be held liable. Public liability insurance should cover your legal costs, along with any compensation payout.

• You’re a carpenter – the shelves you’ve installed collapse, causing someone an injury. Without public liability insurance in place, you’d have to cover any legal fees yourself.

• You’re a personal trainer – a client sues you for an injury they sustained while following your advice. Public liability insurance could cover the cost of any payout.

You can also self-insure if you could potentially afford to pay out any public liability claim.

How much is public liability insurance for the self-employed?

The majority of Compare the Market customers tend to pay around £90^[1] for their public liability insurance. But how much you pay will depend on several factors, including:

• The size of your business – the higher your turnover, the more you’re likely to pay.

• Your occupation – plumbers and builders generally pay more than, say, an illustrator, as their work poses a higher risk to the public.

• Where you’re based – what you might have to pay in legal fees may differ around the country, which could affect your premium.

• The jobs you do – how much you pay will depend on the size and risk of the jobs you take on. If you work in large public buildings, you’ll probably be charged more than if you work in private homes.

• Your claims history – you may have to pay more if you’ve made public liability claims in the past.

• Which provider and policy you choose – shopping around could help you find a cheaper premium for similar cover.

^[1]51% of our customers were quoted less than £89.98 for their public liability business insurance in April-June 2025.

Do I need public liability insurance if I work from home?

Potentially, yes. If people visit your home for business purposes, you may need public liability insurance for self-employed and sole traders.

You’ll probably find that your regular home insurance doesn’t cover you for business-related claims. So, if anything happens to a client or their belongings in your home you could be liable. For example, if you spill coffee and it damages their laptop.

If you work from home, remember to let your home insurance provider know. And make sure your business equipment is covered.

What other types of self-employed insurance do people need?

There are several other types of self-employed insurance you might want to think about.

Employers’ liability insurance

If you employ one or more people or are a limited company with multiple directors, it’s a legal requirement to have employers’ liability insurance. It could cover you if one of your employees becomes ill or is injured as a result of working for you.

If you’re not a limited company and your employees are immediate family members, employers’ liability insurance isn’t a legal requirement. However, any policy you have in place should still cover them.

Self-employed income protection

When you’re your own boss, you don’t have access to employee perks such as sick pay. Self-employed income protection could help you recoup some of your lost earnings if you’re unable to work due to illness.

Professional indemnity cover

If you offer advice or professional services, professional indemnity insurance could be worth considering. It can cover compensation costs if your advice causes a client to lose money or damages their reputation.

This could come in handy if you’re an accountant, financial adviser or even a copywriter, for example.

Personal accident cover

As a self-employed person or freelancer, you’re not entitled to sick pay if you’re injured in an accident. Personal accident insurance can provide a safety net if you find yourself unable to work.

Personal possessions contents insurance

If you take expensive laptops and tech to cafés or workspaces, you’ll want to know that you’re covered if they break or go missing. Personal possessions insurance could provide a payout if that happens.

Health insurance

As you won’t receive health insurance through your employer, you may choose to arrange it yourself. This can provide fast access to private healthcare, so you can keep your business up and running.

How can I get a public liability insurance quote?

At Compare the Market, we make it easy to compare a range of public liability insurance quotes tailored to self-employed people and sole traders.

When you start your quote, you’ll be asked a few details about:

• Your trade or industry

• Your type of business or profession (sole trader/small business owner, etc)

• How long you’ve been self-employed

• Your expected turnover for the year ahead.

You can add extra information if you want to insure your business tools, equipment or premises.

We’ll then show you a list of insurance providers who offer public liability insurance for self-employed or sole traders. It may be that the providers then need a few more details before they can offer you a policy.