Typically, small business owners can expect to pay around $68.50 per month for Public Liability insurance. Public Liability cover is important to consider, regardless of whether you’re a butcher, a baker or a dressmaker, it is essential for almost every kind of business.
There’s a wide variety of industries and occupations that Public Liability can cover, which means the cost can differ from industry to industry. Some of the key factors that affect the pricing include:
- The type and nature of your business
- Your business turnover and size
- The level and amount of cover your business requires
Some of the influencing factors that can determine the cost of your policy include the location of your business, what is included and excluded in your policy and which insurance provider you choose.
We have created a snapshot of how much Public Liability insurance can cost for a small business, based on analysis of data from Product Liability policies sold during the year 2018. The sample analysed includes more than 1800 business from a variety of occupations with 10 or fewer employees.
To get an accurate idea of how much a policy may cost for your business, simply go online and receive an instant online quote.
What is the average monthly premium for Public Liability insurance?
Small business owners usually pay around $68.50 per month for Public Liability insurance.
According to analysis from BizCover, 22.5% of small businesses pay less than $50 per month and 67.6% pay approximately $51-100 per month for their Public Liability insurance.
Below is the full breakdown:
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*Data based on BizCover NSW Public Liability customers
What is the average cost of Public Liability insurance by industry?
The type of industry your business operates in and the nature of your occupation are the biggest factors that influence the cost of your Public Liability insurance. Put simply, the higher the risk of your business operations causing personal injury or property damage, the higher the premium.
Let’s take cafes and restaurants for example, they pose a higher risk due to their high exposure to dozens of people passing through their doors each day, mixed with the potential situations for a claim to be made. For instance, slips, trips, falls on wet surfaces and burns caused by hot liquids.
Compare this to an office-based business, such as a real estate agency or architectural firm, the risk is perceived as less risky with less foot traffic coming though the premises, and the nature of the work is less likely to cause injury or property damage to clients or members of the public.
Keep in mind that each insurance company assesses risks differently, where one insurer may consider a certain occupation a high risk, it may not be considered risky to another insurer. The reason for this is partly due to the number of claims each insurance company has received for each given occupation.
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*Data based on BizCover NSW Public Liability customers
The table above shows businesses in the wholesale, manufacturing and information technology have the highest base premium. This is due to them being liable for injury or property damage caused to by the products they manufacture or sell under the liability provisions of the Australian Consumer Law. \
How much do Tradesmen pay for Public Liability Insurance?
The trades and services industry covers many different types of occupations, with each bringing their own level of risk, meaning premiums can vary greatly from one trade-based occupation to another.
We analysed BizCover’s top 10 most popular trades and services occupations and found that commercial cleaning businesses are one of the occupations with a high average premium.
While commercial cleaning may not sound like a dangerous profession, it is seen as a risky occupation by insurers because they are frequently required to clean office buildings and public areas like shopping centres, during opening hours, putting them at greater risk of causing bodily injury to someone. Think about what could go wrong when vacuum cleaner cords, freshly mopped wet floors and hazardous chemicals are mixed with members of the public!
The average premium our top 10 Trades & Services occupations are paying for their Public Liability
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*Data based on BizCover NSW Public Liability customers
Does the size of my business affect the premium?
The number of employees you have and the amount of revenue your business turns over can have an impact on the cost of your Public Liability policy.
When it comes to insuring your business, the more employees you have means, the more opportunities there are for people in your organisation to potentially cause accidental injury to a customer or member of the public, or damage to their property.
For example, you own a marketing agency which has grown from having just 3 employees to 10 employees. You now have 10 employees out and about visiting many clients each per day increasing the chance for something to go wrong.
Generally, insurers will assess the number of employees to determine the cost of Public Liability insurance for trade and service–based businesses, however, revenue is more important when it comes to pricing for office-based businesses.
ABS statistics from 2016 displays that sole traders make up of 60% of total businesses in Australia, that is more than 1.3 million businesses^. As sole traders are considered lower risks compare to businesses with employees, they only pay around $67 per month for their PL policy according to our data.
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*Data based on NSW BizCover customers
^Business size source from ABS Catalogue 8165.0 Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, June 2012 to June 2016
Does the level of cover affect the premium?
Like most things in life, the more you buy of a certain product or service, the more it will cost. Fortunately, when it comes to Public Liability insurance, the cost does not rise too much when the level of cover is increased, double the amount of cover does not mean double the premium.
Amongst the BizCover customer base, the most common level of Public Liability insurance is $10 million, with some businesses preferring to take $5 million and others as high as $20 million.
Your decision on which level of cover you choose, can be influenced by numerous things like the type of risks your business is exposed to and any work contracts you take on/ or any industry-based requirements.
Our analysis found the difference in coverage level changed the monthly premium from around $3 to $20.
What is the average monthly cost of Public Liability insurance by level of cover?
| Coverage level | Number of customers with this level of cover | Average public liability premium (Monthly) |
| $5 Million | 571 | $61.61 |
| $10 Million | 706 | $64.91 |
| $20 Million | 397 | $84.82 |
*Data based on NSW BizCover customers