Insurance is an exceptionally important part of any workplace, whether you work in construction or in an office. It is good to be well-versed in the legal requirements for insurance in your industry, as you never know when that knowledge could save you thousands of dollars. However, for most people who didn't take a law degree, it can be difficult to cut through the legal jargon to get to the meaning of different insurance policies. This article hopes to demystify a few of those terms so you don't have to worry about getting confused.
Public Liability Insurance
Public liability insurance covers anyone who suffers an injury either at your office or worksite or an injury because of your work at their property. Basically, if someone is injured due to your negligence because of your business then public liability insurance will cover the legal costs and the compensation for the victim. For some businesses, this is not that important an issue, particularly white-collar businesses, but for construction, most trades and any physical labour jobs, public liability insurance can be mandatory. In most states, you will be required to have public liability insurance before you can begin construction.
Construction Insurance
There are a few different areas of construction insurance, but usually when referring to 'construction insurance', agencies are talking about specifically insuring the construction projects. This can be in the form of an annual policy, where they cover all your buildings at a reduced rate, or in the form of specific project insurance where you insure one construction site at a time. Both of these cover roughly the same thing, one just covers more than one construction site. These provide cover for maintenance after completion, injury at one of your projects (can be used as part of your public liability insurance), coverage for contract disputes and even for things like off-site storage problems. You can negotiate the specifics when dealing with your provider.
Professional Indemnity Insurance
Professional indemnity covers you for any damage to the body, the reputation or even the building of a client that you have worked with. For example, if a garage you helped build broke down unexpectedly and hurt someone, even years after you built it, you could be sued for damages. You can also be taken to court if you accidentally leak any private information that harms the reputation of one of your clients, for example, if some financial records or internal memos get leaked due to a client's high profile status. Even if you just provide professional advice on construction to someone, and this advice turns out to be the cause of damage, then you can be held liable. Professional indemnity insurance helps cover the legal costs as well as any compensation. It is kind of like public liability insurance, but it has a wider scope.
