What is public liability insurance?
Business owners are accountable to any third parties that come into contact with their business, including customers, stakeholders, suppliers or anyone else involved with your business’ activities.
In simple terms, public liability insurance is designed to protect a business from claims against it. Examples of public liability claims include personal injury claims, or damage to property. If a person has been injured within a business’ premises, they may have a case for a public liability claim.
What are public liability claims?
One type of public liability claim is a potential entitlement to compensation for any injuries and other harm due to the negligence of a person or entity. In a business sense, public liability claims can be filed if someone is harmed or injured in the process of engaging with a business.
Another type of public liability claim relates to property damage. This occurs when someone’s property is damaged while on a business’ property. For example, if you drop your car in to be serviced and something drops onto it, causing damage, you could have a case for a public liability claim. Another example of this is if a business’ premises is having solar panels installed, and the technicians fall through a section of the roof that wasn’t built to code and has created a hazard for anyone working atop the roof.
How to start your claim against public liability insurance for an injury
Before investing time and expense in progressing a public liability claim, it’s essential to understand all potential outcomes, and assess whether you have sufficient evidence and reasons to claim.
If you’re lodging a personal injury claim, you’ll need to be wary of the timeframe in which your injury occurred. Generally, if it has been more than three years since the incident occurred, you may not be able to file a valid claim as the time limit will have expired.
If you opt to consult a personal injury lawyer, they will be able to help assess whether the defendant (business owner) was negligent when the injury or harm occurred, and whether this negligence is the direct cause of how the claimant (yourself) became injured.
To file your claim, it will need to be deemed eligible. Unfortunately, there isn’t always a clear set of guidelines to determine your claim’s eligibility, but in general terms, if your injury was caused by negligence and you were owed a duty of care (that was not honoured), you may be able to lodge your claim. If in doubt, a personal injury lawyer will be able to conduct further research and provide detailed advice specific to your claim.
Services of Soul Legal
At Soul Legal, we’ve been protecting the rights of Western Australians for more than 20 years. If you have made a public liability claim, contact one of our personal injury lawyers for a free no obligation claims assessment.
Director / Partner Soul Legal
