Liability cover and subcontractors

An important consideration for businesses that wish to implement a comprehensive insurance cover package is liability insurance.

Depending on the nature of your business, this will mean public liability, products liability, or both of these.

With a tailored business liability insurance policy, you can rest assured that your legal liability is covered in the event that you are required to provide compensation for property damage or personal injury caused by your staff or your products.

That's not the end of the story when it comes to liability insurance however, as businesses who use subcontractors need to be aware of the level of cover that these additional businesses possess also.

That's because in the event that a subcontractor working for your business is held liable for injury or damage and they don't have a liability cover in place, your insurance may need to respond.

Builders often work with subcontractors, and Master Builders Queensland provide an insurance fact sheet which highlights the need for these businesses to have liability covers.

They dispel the often questioned need for a perceived 'double up' of insurance policies.

"The simple fact is that builders operate their own independent business and as such, take out their own insurance," says the factsheet.

Subcontractors also operate their own business, so it makes sense that they should also take out their own business liability insurance policy.

Instead of creating a duplication of policies, what then results is a comprehensive financial safety net to protect both subcontractor and the business for whom they are working.

"As each contractor can incur its own liabilities at law, each public liability policy (subject to the sum insured) would cover only the liability of that business eventuating from an insured occurrence."

By ensuring that your subcontractors have their own liability cover, you can help to minimise the financial risk posed by unexpected damage or injuries caused as a result of their actions.