Public Liability Insurance

[beanotown2000]

Hi all

I'm having really bad times trying to get public liability insurance. My business will be hiring machines to events but no company i've tried getting quotes from seem to want to know.

Can anyone offer any pointers at all?

Any help would be gratefully received.

Ta
Jason

[Tufty]

I found the liability insurance a total nightmare,in fact if you do a search on the forum you will see that in the past a lot of people were paying for insurance which I think turned out not to cover them for what they needed.

Will you be with the machines all the time or do you just drop off then collect?

Someone a lot more experienced than me will hopefully help you out but is it really any different than us putting a machine in a Location then going back to service it? Sounds like you are doing the same thing but just on a much shorter time scale?

When I was looking I found one or two companies misunderstood what I was asking and wrongly thought I wanted the machines covered against damage or theft so if you actually get to speak to anyone it might be worth clarifying what you really need.

One advantage I found with the towers is that as I buy in the packaged product it would not be me who was liable if a foreign object was inside the tub (if I understood correctly). This is where it might be trickier for you with if it is bulk style vending but someone here will know. It might actually be worth a forum search for self packing/potting. Some of the guys who do this will know what's needed to be covered.

It sounds like an interesting business idea you have though,are you quite advanced with it just now or still early days? I'm sure you will get over this wee hurdle and make it all a success :)

[radical.richard]

What do you need the public liability insurance for?. What is it you are seeking to protect yourself against ?. I'm not an insurance expert, but public liability only comes into play when something you have or do causes damage or injury to someone or something. As you are hiring to events no doubt the event organisers will require you to have insurance as they don't want to take the liability 'what ever it may perceived to be in this snowflake world' are you willing to take liability the risk may be very low and the cost of compensation / repairs also quite low, so it might not be worth taking out insurance and covering it yourself, that's effectively what Lloyds of London do. As Tufty said with sweet towers the product liability is with your supplier, so you are realistically only looking at the damage you can physically do whilst delivering and installing, and also whilst refilling, if some stupid kid tries to use a tower as a climbing frame falls off cracks their head and the tower falls on them its their stupid fault not yours. But then in these snowflake days where hot water taps have to have warning signs on them you may feel safer with insurance for that one in a million event.

[Coin Operated Group]

HI Jason,

You can state in the contract that they must provide their own public liability insurance for the event and show you a copy before hiring to include liability from your machines.

This is common practice for events we do at shows

[beanotown2000]

Thanks everyone.

This will be to cover myself as the hires will be for usually just the evening or day. i want it for peace of mind really just in case.
it seems to be very hard to get. I know a guy that hires out bouncy castles and he had no issues getting it.

Its just so frustrating. I don't know how much of a drawback it would be suggesting the hirer gets their own for our machines.
Ie someone having a wedding wont want to think about sorting this out to add to other issues they need to look at.

[PabloV8Haggis]

I have liability insurance.
Why?
I have lost several sites through not having liability insurance.
Have also lost several sites that I had through not having liability insurance.
Have had it now for about three years, covered for £2 million, keeps people happy.
LOL!
Whenever people ask and they haven't for sometime, I say I have liability insurance and indeed I do, they never ask to see it but could show them if asked.
I believe I am covered whether I am there or not. Look up previous posts of mine about liability and you will see I had a situation that could have been awkward hence, these days I make sure I have such cover. But to be honest, the amount of machines I have would make it unforgivable if. Did not have it.
Cheers
Pablo

Was going to go down the route of rides etc, until I looked at all the hassle and expensive insurance required for that side of the business and yearly servicing etc. Really need good footfall to make it worthwhile, I do not have that in this neck of the woods

[beanotown2000]

Hi Pablo

Thanks for the reply.

I'm definitely going to get it and have now managed to get my first quote which is a step in the right direction.

ripe insurance are quoting me £98 a year for personal and public liability.

Probably the way forward for my first year at least.

[PabloV8Haggis]

Hi Jason,

Using deduction, with a name like Beanotown are you based in Dundee?

Pablo

[beanotown2000]

Hi Pablo

Unfortunately not. im based in east sussex.

I used to read the comic when i was small lol.

[Tufty]

Hi Pablo

Thanks for the reply.

I'm definitely going to get it and have now managed to get my first quote which is a step in the right direction.

ripe insurance are quoting me £98 a year for personal and public liability.

Probably the way forward for my first year at least.

That sounds a good deal,to be covered and have th piece of mind for less than a tenner a month is great