What is Personal Liability Insurance? 

Personal liability cover can help reimburse you if you—or anyone listed on your policy—accidentally injures someone or damages someone else’s property. It’s designed to help cover costs like medical bills, repairs, or even legal fees—so you’re not left footing the bill on your own.

From spilled cocktails to tripping over the dog, life’s little mishaps can quickly turn costly. Luckily, personal liability cover can help. This guide walks you through how it works, what it covers, and the situations where it can save the day.

When would I use personal liability cover? 

Here are some common scenarios where liability cover could kick in:

Bodily injury	Property damage
You invite your book club over for a wine and cheese night and someone trips over the foot stool. It’s technically your fault since you didn’t clean up the mess in the middle of the study	You pull out your dance moves on New Year and accidentally knock over your friend’s Fabergé egg
Your partner listed on your policy accidentally walks into someone on their bike and they sue for costly medical bills	You get too tipsy at Christmas and set fire to your rental kitchen while pulling some dodgy firecrackers
Your dog slips their lead while out on a walk, and bites a passerby causing expensive medical bills	You trip over the dog while holding your morning cup of coffee, and you leave a huge stain on your landlord’s furniture

But that doesn’t mean every scenario like this is 100% covered. Like a snowflake, no one claim is the same as the next.

What does personal liability insurance cover?

Personal liability insurance provides cover for a number of unexpected situations where you may be held responsible for damages or injuries, including: 

• The cost to replace or repair property you damaged
• Accidental damages to others, caused by you or others on your policy
• Damages caused to others by your pets
• Medical costs if you’ve injured someone else
• Accidental damage to your rented home 
• Legal expenses

Legal expenses can be a lifesaver when disputes get complicated or turn legal. Imagine your dog bites your neighbor, and for some reason, you can’t or don’t provide your insurance details. They might hire a lawyer and even threaten to take you to court. Legal expenses coverage steps in to handle these situations, covering the cost of legal advice and representation so you’re not left to sort it all out alone.

It’s not just about defending claims against you either. If things escalate, like your neighbor retaliating by dumping rubbish in your garden, the Legal Protection add-on can help you take action. Whether it’s clearing up conflicts with neighbors or addressing other disputes, this add-on ensures you have the support you need to resolve sticky situations.

What does personal liability insurance not cover?

While personal liability cover offers a variety of protections, there are quite a few things that aren’t covered. Here’s a look at some common exclusions: 

• The structure of your flat or building (unless you own your home and have building insurance)
• You intentionally cause damage to someone’s stuff or place
• Your car damages someone’s stuff or place (that’s what car insurance is for)
• You run a business out of your home, and someone or something is damaged as a result (get some self-employed public liability insurance for that) 
• Property that is rented or loaned to you is damaged
• Damage caused to your rented property by your pets

When is damage caused by my pets covered?

If your pet bites a fellow animal or human, or damages someone else’s property, your personal liability cover could kick in. Keep in mind, if your pet damages your stuff, you’re not covered.

Some policies don’t cover your dog at all, especially if your dog has a history of biting, or is categorized as high-risk.

What is Legal Protection Cover?

Purchasing Legal Protection Cover as an add-on gives you an added layer of protection beyond what your personal liability cover can protect you from.

For instance, this cover can provide legal protection in case of disputes related to:

• Personal injury (e.g. you trip at work or at a shop, or you get food poisoning from a meal at a restaurant) 
• Your home (e.g. noisy neighbours, or a dispute with your landlord over your tenancy agreement) 
• Your employment (e.g. unpaid wages or discrimination at work) 
• Consumer agreements (e.g. a retailer delivers faulty goods and clinical negligence causing you injury (e.g. surgery which has not been carried out correctly) 

Do I need personal liability insurance at work?

If you are an employee for a company, your employer should have public liability cover, which will cover any damage caused by an employee while at work.

If you are self-employed though, you should consider taking out some self-employed public liability insurance to cover you while you’re on the job. 

BTW, if you have the Legal Protection cover, you’re also entitled to cover for work disagreements like unpaid wages or discrimination in the workplace.

How does personal liability cover work?

Personal liability coverage is included in a basic contents insurance policy or home building insurance policy.

When you get a policy, you can choose how much cover you’d like. You’ll need to ask yourself: How much damage could I pay out-of-pocket in the worst-case scenario? How much will I need my insurance company to cover?

What is tenants liability cover?

Under your base policy, you get cover (up to £10,000 per event) for damage you accidentally cause to your rented home This is also known as tenants liability cover, and it can include any fixes to:

• Installations (e.g. sinks, floors, walls), 
• Furnishings
• Fixed glass items (e.g. stovetops, mirrors, windows)
• Damage to any impacted neighbours or other third parties.

We don’t, however, cover damage to your rented home caused by your pet, wear and tear, or damage that has developed gradually. We also don’t cover cosmetic damages (like flaking, or cracks), curved glass (e.g. wine glasses, lenses, light bulbs), verandas, or solar panels. 

How much personal liability cover do I need?

Personal liability cover usually starts at £1M, which means your insurer will pay up to £1M for the covered losses you’re responsible for. That may seem like a high number, but when you consider the cost of an accidental loss of life or serious injury on your property, it starts to look quite a bit smaller.

How do I file a personal liability claim?

First thing’s first: If something happens that might involve your personal liability cover, file a claim right away whether you’re the person who caused the damage or not. “Try to collect the contact info from all of the involved parties and get photos of the damage as early as you can,” says Mike A., a Claims Experience Advocate at Lemonade.

That way, your insurance company can gather info on the incident as early as possible. ‘It’s important for us to get statements from everyone while it’s fresh in their minds, and facts and photos of the initial damage don’t change’.

To file a claim with Lemonade, follow these steps:

1. Open the Lemonade App on your phone. If you don’t have it, download it and sign in with the email you used when getting your Lemonade policy
2. Hit the Claim button in the top right-hand corner
3. Meet our claims expert, AI Jim. He’ll verify your contact info, and ask for more details about what happened
4. Digitally sign a Pledge of Honour to verify everything you tell us about your claim is truthful and honest
5. Explain exactly what happened in a short video recording. Pretend you’re talking to a friend, and let us know the details, such as when and where the incident happened
6. Provide the contact info of the other party involved, as well as any other photos or records of the damage
7. Check to make sure all of the information is accurate in the full summary of the information you provided

When you file a personal liability claim, there’s a chance your insurance company will need to communicate with the other party involved or their insurer. This could happen if you need funds right away to repair damage caused by another party.

Before we go… 

Personal liability cover is an essential safety net for life’s unexpected mishaps, from accidental injuries to property damage. Whether it’s protecting you against a hefty medical bill or covering repairs after an unfortunate accident, this type of insurance ensures you’re not left out of pocket. Add-ons like Legal Protection can also offer extra peace of mind in resolving disputes.

Don’t wait until the unexpected happens. Get the protection you need today.