Public and professional liability insurance

Public and professional liability insurance: well insured

Liability insurance protects companies and the self-employed against compensation claims by third parties in the event of bodily injury, property damage and financial loss. In serious cases, claims like these can entail heavy financial losses. Public and professional liability insurance pays compensation for third-party claims and protects employees.

Why is Public and professional liability insurance advisable?

No matter how careful you are, mistakes happen, and can cause serious damage – be it to people, property or financial assets. Even simple things, such as the wrong replacement part, an unmarked wet floor, faulty goods or delivering the wrong products can prove costly if you don't have liability cover. Moreover, the enhanced product liability insurance insures recall costs for faulty products, the costs associated with defective packaging or financial losses if your faulty goods give rise to costs for dismantling or exchange. Cyber risks present a digital threat to companies. By taking out Helvetia's Public and professional liability insurance, companies are placing the responsibility in professional hands and minimizing the risk of having to foot the bill themselves for damages suffered.

A brief guide to public and professional liability

Which things are covered in the event of a claim?

Essentially, Public and professional liability insurance pays compensation claims by third parties and contests unjustified claims. Therefore, as well as bodily injury and property damage, Public and professional liability insurance also covers the resulting financial losses. Among other things, it covers damage:

to buildings, land and facilities owned or used by you
resulting from business functions and workflows
resulting from the manufacture and supply of products, work carried out and services rendered
to the environment

Who should take out Public and professional liability insurance?

Companies and the self-employed should always take out Public and professional liability insurance. Merchants, dealers and service providers alike can be hit by liability to third parties.

Public and professional liability insurance is particularly advisable for professions with an inherently heightened risk of causing purely financial losses. Some examples of these are consulting professions such as lawyers and tax consultants, as well as architects, engineers and doctors.

Optional add-ons to Public and professional liability insurance

Depending on the field of activity, the insurance should be supplemented to obtain comprehensive protection, with the addition of compulsory or voluntary products such as:

Cyber risks and data protection
Damage from the use of third-party motor vehicles
Enhanced product liability arising from the costs of calculating and rectifying the damage as well as assembly/disassembly costs, damage due to faulty packaging products, codes (e.g. QR codes) or machines and recall costs, inspection and sorting costs and loss of use
Drones not requiring a permit
Defects in buildings and facilities and the resulting financial losses
Financial consequences of failure to meet agreed delivery deadlines
Personal liability for people receiving care in a specialist home

Liability Plus insurance means that even uninsured claims of up CHF 5,000 will be paid. One example of this is when a business decides, for commercial reasons, to voluntarily pay for third-party damage.

Public and professional liability