Business Sectors & Coverage
Find comprehensive coverage tailored to your business type
Retail & Shops
Clothing stores, electronics, dairies, superettes, gift shops
Your retail space is designed to welcome customers, but accidents can happen in seconds. A customer trips over a display stand, an item falls from a shelf onto a shopper's head, or someone is injured by shopping trolley contact. These incidents are common in retail environments.
Key Risks:
- Customer slips and falls on wet or uneven floors
- Product display injuries and falling items
- Shopping trolley and equipment incidents
- Injury from merchandise or equipment
- Confrontations during theft situations
- Allergen reactions to products
Real Scenario:
A customer trips over a display stand in your gift shop and breaks their wrist, requiring surgery. The claim includes $8,000 in medical costs, $15,000 in pain and suffering compensation, and $3,000 in legal costs to defend the claim. Total: $26,000. Your public liability insurance covers the entire amount, protecting your business.
Hospitality & Food
Cafés, restaurants, bars, takeaway shops, food trucks, catering
The hospitality industry carries unique liability risks. Beyond the standard slip-and-fall hazards, you're dealing with food safety, allergen reactions, burns from hot beverages and food, glass breakage, and alcohol-related incidents. A single foodborne illness claim or severe allergic reaction can devastate a business.
Key Risks:
- Food poisoning and foodborne illness claims
- Undisclosed allergen reactions
- Burns and scalds from hot beverages and food
- Slips and falls from wet floors
- Glass and foreign object injuries
- Alcohol-related incidents and intoxication
- Property damage from kitchen fires
Real Scenario:
A patron has a severe allergic reaction to an undisclosed ingredient in their meal. They're rushed to hospital for treatment costing $5,000, miss two weeks of work ($2,000 lost income), and decide to sue for pain, suffering, and lost earnings. Your PLI cover pays the claim without threatening your business continuity.
Professional Services
Consultants, accountants, lawyers, marketing agencies, IT services
Professional service businesses might think they're at low risk — but client injuries at your office can still occur. A client slips on freshly mopped floors, trips on loose carpet, or is injured during a meeting. While these incidents might seem unlikely, professional services firms also need professional indemnity insurance for errors in advice or service delivery.
Key Risks:
- Client injuries at your office location
- Visitor slips and falls
- Meeting room equipment injuries
- Stairwell and entrance hazards
- Errors in professional advice (requires PI insurance)
- Data breach and privacy liability (in some cases)
Real Scenario:
A client slips on your freshly mopped office floor and injures their back, requiring physiotherapy and missing weeks of work. They claim $4,000 in medical treatment, $8,000 in lost earnings, and $2,000 in personal care. Your PLI covers the full $14,000 claim, plus legal defence costs.
Pro Tip: Professional service providers often need both PLI (for premises liability) and professional indemnity insurance (for errors in service). Ask your broker about combined coverage packages.
Personal Services
Hairdressers, beauty therapists, massage, personal trainers, cleaning services
Personal service businesses work with clients in intimate settings, using chemicals, heat, and manual techniques. Chemical burns from hair coloring, allergic reactions to products, injuries during massage or training, and slips on salon floors are all real risks. Your clients trust you with their bodies and their appearance — make sure you're protected if something goes wrong.
Key Risks:
- Chemical burns and allergic reactions to products
- Severe allergic reactions to dyes, tints, or treatments
- Injury during massage or physical treatment
- Personal training injuries and equipment failure
- Slips and falls in treatment areas
- Product liability for cosmetics sold
- Property damage from treatments
Real Scenario:
During a hair colouring treatment, a client has a severe allergic reaction causing facial swelling and requiring emergency hospital treatment. Medical costs reach $6,000, plus the client requires ongoing allergy testing ($1,500). Your PLI covers both costs and the client's legal claim, protecting your business from closure.
Home-Based Businesses
E-commerce sellers, freelancers who meet clients, tutors, dog groomers at home
Running a business from home doesn't mean you're free from liability. If customers visit your home to collect orders, attend meetings or lessons, or if you travel to meet clients, you're exposed to liability risks. A customer trip on your front step, a dog grooming injury, or a freelancer client injured at your premises can all create expensive claims.
Key Risks:
- Customer injuries on your property (front steps, driveway)
- Product liability for goods sold online
- Injury during in-home lessons or services
- Pet-related injuries (grooming, training)
- Equipment injuries during service delivery
- Damage to customer property at your home
Real Scenario:
A customer collecting their online order trips on your front step and breaks their ankle in multiple places. The claim includes $12,000 in hospital treatment, $6,000 in rehabilitation, and they claim $8,000 for pain and suffering. Your home contents insurance won't cover this — only public liability insurance will.
Important: Standard home and contents insurance does NOT cover business-related liability. You need separate business PLI, even if you only occasionally meet customers at your home.