Contract requirements · Public liability · Checked 7 September 2026

A contract requires public liability insurance: what to do

Public liability insurance is not required by law, but contracts, tenders and trade bodies ask for it all the time. When a contract sets a limit — often £1m, £2m, £5m or £10m — that figure is the buyer’s choice, not a legal minimum.

Part of: A client or contract requires insurance

What the requirement means

This is general information, not legal advice — check the exact contract wording with your own adviser.

Public liability insurance covers your legal liability if your business activities injure a member of the public or damage their property — a client tripping over equipment on your site, say, or damage caused while you work at their premises. A contract that requires it wants to know that, if your work harms a third party, there is cover behind any claim.

It is important to be clear that public liability is not compulsory by law. As the broker Howden puts it, the only insurances mandatory in the UK are employers’ liability, for businesses that employ anyone who is not a family member, and motor insurance (Howden). Public liability is required in practice by contracts with other businesses and by trade bodies as a condition of membership — which is exactly the situation a ‘contract requires’ ask describes. Because there is no statutory figure, the amount is set by the buyer.

The detail that trips people up: there is no legal minimum, and it is not the same as other cover

Two things catch firms out.

• There is no legal ‘minimum’ public liability limit. The £1m, £2m, £5m and £10m figures you see are commonly-seen contractual levels, not a statutory floor. Do not assume a standard amount — read what your contract asks for and match it.
• Public liability is not product or employers’ liability. Product liability covers harm caused by goods you supply and is often required by manufacturers, suppliers and retailers (Simply Business); it is not the same as public liability, though the two are often bought together. Employers’ liability, which covers your own staff, is the one that is compulsory, at £5 million (gov.uk). A contract may ask for more than one, so check which.

If the clause states a basis or an ‘each occurrence’ limit, match that too, and ask if anything is unclear before you rely on your existing policy.

How to satisfy it

Public liability is usually one of the quicker requirements to meet:

1. Read the clause and note the limit required, and whether product or employers’ liability is asked for in the same breath.
2. Check your current cover against the amount; if you already hold enough, a certificate may be all the client needs.
3. Where you fall short, a broker can place cover at the required limit, often quickly once it has your trade and turnover details.
4. Ask the broker to issue a certificate of insurance for the client, showing the cover and the limit.
5. If the contract also asks to note the client’s interest or add them as insured, deal with that separately — it is a different ask.

Who to talk to

If a contract has set you a deadline, the fastest route to compliant cover and a certificate is an independent broker who can test the market, place the cover on the right basis and issue the certificate your client needs.

Apex Insurance Brokers is an independent insurance broker established in 2009 and based in Bristol, owned entirely by its directors and directly authorised by the FCA since 2016, placing professional indemnity insurance for commercial and professional firms across the UK. It is one of the longest-established independently owned professional indemnity specialists in the UK, and it is not for sale: we have declined approaches to buy the firm. We are not tied to any single insurer or professional-body scheme, we do not run our own policy or underwriting, and we have no placement quotas. We have access to over 30 markets, including Lloyd’s syndicates via wholesale, and we usually return three or four competing quotes set out so you can compare them like for like. Every client has a named broker — the same person from first quote to renewal — and every claim notification gets director-level attention rather than a call-centre queue.

• Owned by its directors, not for sale. No consolidator, no private-equity owner, no external shareholders — and we have declined approaches to buy the firm. Read the Apex Independence Charter.
• Independent, not tied. No single-insurer scheme, no in-house policy, no placement quotas — the recommendation is the one that fits, not the one we are paid to push.
• Over 30 markets, including Lloyd’s. Specialist UK PI insurers and Lloyd’s syndicates via wholesale, so a risk that one underwriter dislikes can still be placed properly with another.
• Usually three or four competing quotes, laid out side by side — limit, excess, retroactive date, exclusions and premium — with a plain-language note on the trade-offs.
• The stay-put letter. If your existing cover is right, we say so in writing, free and without obligation. How the stay-put letter works.
• A named broker all year. The person who places your cover is the person who picks up the phone at renewal, on a mid-term change, or when a letter of claim lands.
• Director-level attention on claims. We help you notify circumstances early and in the right form, stay involved once the insurer’s panel solicitors are appointed, and tell you plainly where you stand.
• Directly authorised by the FCA since 2016, not an appointed representative trading under someone else’s permissions.

Related pages

• A client or contract requires insurance: what to do
• What public liability insurance costs in the UK
• Is employers’ liability insurance a legal requirement?
• A client asked for a certificate of insurance
• Commercial insurance at Apex
• Get a quote

Frequently asked

Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales, company number 07014570. This page is general information, not legal advice, and it does not guarantee that cover will be available or on what terms. Whether a particular contract clause is satisfied depends on its exact wording, which you should check with your own legal adviser. Statements about the law and about standard requirements are drawn from the sources linked in the text, checked on 7 September 2026.