First, keep in mind that you already have liability insurance. This is because your car and possibly home insurance policy should have this. If someone is injured because of an accident you caused, or simply on your property, then you are responsible. In this instance, you have to pay for the medical costs of the other party, as well as the expenses for lost wages, and possibly other miscellaneous things (i.e. emotional suffering).

As mentioned, your current home and car insurance pays for both these things. However, these forms of liability policies are very limited, and run out quite fast. For instance, if you cause a vehicle crash, and somebody is injured, you have to pay for his or her expenses.

Therefore, even if their hospital costs are $60,000, you are on the hook for every penny. Your car insurance will have liability coverage to a certain point, but it might not be for the entire $60,000. Even if it is, this does not factor in lost wages expenses. In other words, once the liability policy on your car insurance runs out, you are on the hook for the remainder of the money. If they are out of work for an extended period of time, this can amount to a lot of money.

There is no question that the other party will sue you for everything they need. If the court rules in their favor (and they usually will), you will be ordered to pay whatever amount they sue you for. If you do not have the money, then they will come after your assets.

Therefore, you need to find out what the liability coverage is on your existing home and car plans. Even if it is for $50,000, hospital and lost wages can often be significantly higher than this. Obviously, everyone is at risk of being liable for someone’s injury, and for this reason, you want to make sure you are insured to cover it.

To find the best coverage, there are a number of things you should do. First, look for a company that is on solid financial ground, and that has a bright future outlook. This might not seem relevant. However, if they go bankrupt, they will not be able to pay for your expenses. Therefore, it might be wise to read the financial rating of the company you are considering.

Also, get as many quotes as possible to ensure you find coverage you can afford. Liability coverage is not cheap, but using an online broker will enable you to get a sufficient number of quotes to find the cheapest. Just make sure it covers you for a sufficient amount.

Some plans are very cheap because the amount they cover you for is very low. While you do save money with those plans, they are useless if you ever have to use them. Assuming you narrow it down to the cheapest and then read the financial rating of the company you are considering, you will find the best firm shortly. Whether you are looking for public liability insurance or personal liability insurance, this is the key to locating the right policy for you.

The first tip I can give to you, is figure out what belongs to your business, and what belongs to you personally.  Seperate the two wherever possible.  Doing this is going to help you in the event that you have to file a claim.  This ensures that the insurance company is held completely liable for the claim, and that the person can’t come after your personal assets.  Make sure that your business licensing is setup to reflect this as well.  You are two seperate entities.

The next tip, is to protect yourself.  Make sure you are hiring credible staff, and make them submit to random drug tests.  Don’t just say you’re going to do them, actually do them.  When an employee messes up on the job, and you see where you could have been sued, make them submit to a drug test.  This is going to strengthen your employees, but also weed out people who are on the weed.  Know what I mean?

Employing safe business practices yourself will greatly reduce your need to file a public liability insurance claim with your provider.  If you practice safe driving techniques, watch over your people, ensure that your business is running smoothly, you can greatly reduce the risk of being sued, by chance of someone getting injured at your place of business.  Your place of business even includes your car while you are driving down the road.  Even when you’re not around, bad things can still happen.

If you are going to be looking for a cheap public liability insurance provider, you are going to find a lot of them.  They all want your money, like hungry sharks.  The thing about it is, when it comes time to file a claim, you are either going to be stuck, spending money out of your pocket to pay for the medical bills, or the company just isn’t going to be around when it comes time to file a decent sized claim.  This happens all the time, and this is why I tell you to find a reputable public liability insurance company or broker.

The best public liability insurance provider is going to be one you have heard about before.  Running your business, you are interacting with other business owners, so you have probably already heard them say who they are using for protection.  They can provide you with where your money is going, how fast they handle claims, what falls under claims, and what can be completely avoided.  They will also be able to tell you what types of coverage your policy will need, and keep you from paying for services that you don’t require.  A good public liability insurance company isn’t going to rip you off — they understand that to make money, you have to be a long time client of theirs.

If you are a general contractor, and are running a successful construction company, you have got an incredible amount of risk involved, and I can assure you, you need personal liability insurance for contractors.  There are just too many factors in play that could put you out of business tomorrow if you are caught unprepared.  Construction employes are notorious for causing lawsuits, and you’re not on the jobsite every day, so you can’t be in complete control.  It is a sad fact, but your foremen probably don’t care as much about your business as you do.  This is where a good policy will come into effect.

Let’s just figure up an example here.  You have your foremen running around like he has his head cut off, reading blueprints, keeping up with laborers, checking over finished projects, talking to subcontractors, answering your phone calls, he is completely absorbed in your business, good for him.  The problem here lies in the fact that he can’t keep up with every employee at the same time.  While he is on one side of the house, you have a couple of stoners on the other side, standing up on a scaffold.  Stoner A proceeds to start whistling at the cutie walking down the street, and knocks Stoner B off the scaffold.  Herein lies the lawsuit.   Stoner B takes some quick fix drug test passing chemicals, and you are stuck with an incredible lawsuit.

Just another example of why you need a good public liability insurance policy.  One of your employees drops a hammer from the second story of a house, or a nail from a gun busts through the wood, and goes shooting across the house.  Yes, someone else caused this to happen, but in the end, you are responsible for everything.  Workman’s compensation only covers it if they can pass a drug test.  If they can’t pass a drug test, and know enough to get a lawyer, they can still win the case, and your public liability insurance policy would cover you.

You have to think about what types of assets you have, and what really belongs to you, or what belongs to your business.  Seperate these things completely.  If there is a car for business, think about picking up another vehicle, so you can devote that one entirely to your business.  This will keep things clear if a claim should ever need to be filed.  Your computer systems, phone systems, cell phones, land lines, anything that your business uses, make sure it has it’s own entity, devoted entirely to your business.

Not only are those practices going to help you if you should ever need to file a claim, but they are going to greatly increase your productivity, and how much you are truly putting into your business.  If your profitable enough to be looking for public liability insurance, then you are at risk of losing it all.  But, that risk can greatly be diverted with a complete policy from a good broker or company.  Negating this risk, by putting it onto an insurance company, you are allowing yourself to take risks elsewhere — risks that will grow your business.

When I was saying that anything could happen to cause you to need to file a claim, I mean anything.  If you can think of a situation that could possibly happen in your business, dramatize it by about 10 fold.  Make it completely unbelievable, and then you will have something that you could need to file a claim on.  Trust me, people are incredibly greedy now days, and are looking for any way possible to make a quick buck.  This just so happens to be at the cost of your business.  It makes it easier for them, because you run a business and they don’t.. they automatically assume you have these types of coverage, and your insurance company is going to pay them.  Little do they know, you are out of pocket a lot of money, regardless whether you have public liability insurance or not.

You have to still hold a reserve fund account for emergency needs.  Even before your insurance company is called out for the claim, the injured are going to be accruing emergency room bills, doctors bills, etc.  You are required to pay for these, until your insurance company can take over.  This is why it is extremely important to go with a reputable broker, company, or provider, so that if you do need to file a claim, they are going to handle it in a speedy manner.  You don’t want to need to file a public liability insurance claim, and have the provider take 6 months to start looking at it.  By then, you are bankrupt.

Friends and close clients are the same way.  Just because they are your friend one day, doesn’t mean that they aren’t going to “milk your insurance company” the next day.  They don’t see it as hurting you, because they automatically assume you have insurance to cover these types of catastrophes.  If you don’t, it’s too late.  The process is already in motion, and your one time friend is getting rich off of you.

Anything can happen when you are self employed.  You could have a client trip over an entry way into your home or small office, and break an ankle.  You are then held liable instantly for their medical bills, emergency room, and private doctors bills.  Even if you have public liability insurance, you are still going to have to foot these bills until the claim goes through.  You have to make sure you are prepared for this, and if you had already purchased a good policy for self employed people, you would know that you need a reserve for these types of incidents.

Not only could a client or customer fall in your store, home, or office, but you could have some skateboard kids run out in front of you while you are driving, with your advertisement on the back window of your car, and even though they are at fault, you caused them to fall and break an arm.  Even worse, there are a lot of witnesses, and the parents are going to be heated.  This means they are coming after you personally, and your business is going to take the greatest hit.

In cases like these, as I said, if you had already purchased a good public liability insurance policy for self employed people, you would have known to have a reserve account.  This account is going to help you cover their expenses until your broker or providing company can intervene.  Make sure you choose a reliable company, because the longer it takes for claims to be handled, the more money that comes out of your pocket.  Start looking around for a good public liability insurance broker or company.

People who are looking for self employed public liability insurance are usually those who run their business from home, or a small office, but still deal with the public, either by way of customers, or contractors, employees, outsourcers, you name it.  These people will put your business at risk, it isn’t a matter of if, but how long until it happens.  You can have a customer walk through your doors, trip over a landing strip that was an inch too high, fall, break a leg, and sue you for everything you own.  Doesn’t sound pretty?  It isn’t.

Construction business owners especially need some really good contractor public liability insurance.  You guys are at incredible risk every day, and you may not even realize it.  Yes, OSHA forces your guys to wear hard hats, and safety gear, but what about people passing by?  What if they get hit with a tool in the back of the head, and go into a coma for 6 months?  How are you going to afford that?  What about the little kids playing on your jobsite after you are all going home, and breaks a leg.  His parents need some money, so bada bing, bada boom — you’re out of business.  Unless you had some insurance covering you for these types of claims.

If you need personal public liability insurance, you could be running a very profitable company, but be in the way in your daily duties, of putting someone at harm.  You may have to drive from customer to customer, or client to client, and on the way, you get in an accident.  The person you hit takes a look, and glances your nice advertisement on the back window.  What happens next?  You don’t have a business to advertise for.  Yes, you are still at risk.  If you are making money, you need public liability insurance, plain and simple.  There are too many money grubbing people in this world to take advantage of your hard work.  Do something about it.

This guide is meant to help you, when you begin looking for quotes, brokers, and the best, or cheapest public liability insurance.  If I haven’t gotten it through your head yet, that you need a good policy, then there isn’t much hope for you.  You will lose your business one day.  The more your business is worth, the more that the person stands to take from you.  Know a few things about your business before you start looking for public liability insurance companies or providers.  You are going to want to know exactly what type of coverage is required, so that you aren’t paying way too much for a policy that could easily be lowered.  If your business is only worth $1,000,000 then you don’t need $10,000,000 in coverage.