Public liability insurance is not required by UK law, for sole traders or anyone else, yet most people buy it in a hurry because a council, venue or client just refused to book them without a certificate. The good news inside that bad morning: published prices start at £5 to £7 a month, every provider below issues the certificate the same day, and the contract demanding the cover has already answered the only hard question, which is how much cover to buy. Here are the six providers worth quoting, compared.
| Provider | Type | Price | Cover levels |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simply Business | Broker | From £5.76/month | £1m, £2m, £5m, £10m |
| Markel Direct | Insurer | From £5/month | £1m, £2m, £5m |
| Superscript | Broker | From £5/month | £1m, £2m, £5m |
| Hiscox | Insurer | £5.20/month | Up to £10m |
| AXA Business Insurance | Insurer | From £7/month | £1m to £10m |
| Direct Line for Business | Insurer | Quote-based | £1m to £10m |
One form, quotes from up to 15 insurers, including Allianz, AXA, Churchill, Hiscox and Zurich
Price for up to £2 million of public liability cover; 10% of customers paid £69.10 or less annually between October 2025 and March 2026, per Simply Business. Public liability is the core product; products liability, professional indemnity, employers' liability and tools cover are chosen alongside it in the same quote flow.
Compare quotes at Simply BusinessA 24-hour legal advice helpline comes with the policy, and quotes take about 90 seconds
Markel's stated from-price for a £1 million public liability policy including products liability. Its own trade examples: carpenters from £8 a month, builders from £10, online retailers from £9. Products liability included as standard; professional indemnity, employers' liability, cyber, legal expenses and tools cover are optional extras.
Quote in 90 seconds at MarkelSubscription-style cover you can adjust or cancel any time without fees
Superscript publishes no qualifying small print for its from-price, so treat it as a best-case figure. Public liability excludes employee injury (that is employers' liability) and defective products beyond the products cover; accident and sickness, PI and EL are separate covers.
Get a Superscript quoteThe strongest name for office-based and professional trades, with online quotes in about 5 minutes
Hiscox's figure is an average across public liability policies sold to at least 10% of its customers between April 2025 and April 2026, so it is an anchor, not a floor. Products liability normally included with public liability; employers' liability is only sold bundled with it; PI, equipment and cyber are separate.
Get a Hiscox quoteA major insurer covering over 867,000 businesses, with the full £10m tier councils sometimes demand
Shown on AXA's public liability page as the price 10% of customers paid or less between January and March 2026; AXA presents it as its business insurance from-price rather than strictly PL-only. Public liability, employers' liability at £10m standard, professional indemnity from £100k to £5m and contents are configured together; tools, business interruption, legal expenses and cyber are add-ons.
Get an AXA quoteGuarantees to beat any other insurer's new quote or renewal, and spreads year one at 0% APR
Direct Line publishes no from-price for public liability; every price is quoted individually. Product liability included within the public liability cover; professional indemnity, employers' liability and tools are separate covers.
Get a Direct Line quoteCover is sold at £1 million, £2 million, £5 million and £10 million, and the party demanding the insurance almost always names the minimum they will accept, so read the contract before the quote form. Two consequences follow. If the work specifies £10 million, common in council and rail contracts, Markel and Superscript are out because they stop at £5 million, and the shortlist becomes AXA, Direct Line, Hiscox or the Simply Business panel. If nothing specifies a level, £1 million to £2 million is where most sole traders start, and moving up later is a phone call.
Public liability pays claims for injury to people outside your business and damage to their property: the customer who trips over your toolbag, the flooring job that ruins the flat below. The three things it never covers each have their own policy. Injury to your own employees is employers' liability, the one cover the law does require once you hire, with fines up to £2,500 a day without it. Losses caused by your advice, designs or professional services need professional indemnity. And your own tools and equipment need their own add-on, which every provider here sells alongside. Products liability sits in between: Markel, Hiscox and Direct Line bundle it with public liability as standard.
No. Public liability insurance is not required by UK law for sole traders or limited companies; the ABI notes horse riding establishments as the single legal exception. In practice councils, venues and trade clients demand a certificate before you can work, which makes it commercially unavoidable for most customer-facing trades.
Published starting prices run from £5 to £7 a month: Markel from £5 for £1 million of cover, Simply Business from £5.76, Hiscox averages £5.20 and AXA from £7. Simply Business reports that 10% of its customers paid £69.10 or less for the year. Trade matters most: Markel quotes carpenters from £8 and builders from £10 a month.
The contract that demands the insurance usually names the minimum, commonly £1 million, £2 million or £5 million, with some council and rail work specifying £10 million. Buy the level the contract states rather than guessing: too little fails the requirement and too much is premium spent on nothing.
Products liability is usually bundled: Markel, Hiscox and Direct Line include it with public liability. Tools and equipment cover is a separate add-on everywhere, and claims arising from advice or designs need professional indemnity, which is always a separate policy.
Same day at every provider on this page. Markel quotes in about 90 seconds and Hiscox in about 5 minutes online, with documents issued immediately after payment, so a certificate demanded on Monday morning can be in the client's inbox by Monday lunchtime.
Figures checked 4 July 2026; confirm details with the provider before applying. We may earn a commission through links on this page.