890 Buildings Insurance - Public Liability

We have just had a quote for buildings insurance which also included public liability. Do we need to have 'public liability' - we are sure we don't have this in the UK - or is it just the insurance company trying to bump up the premium.

Category
Legal

The only reason I can think of for this is if you intend to rent out the property, it would cover you against and injuries that someone might suffer from your property or items there in

Isn't it cover things like roof tiles falling off the roof and hitting someone in the street, or a fire in your property damaging neighbouring properties etc.?

all insurance should contain public liability clause.... if someone trips on the garden path you are liable...

but according to local folklore.... i say this because i havent checked it out our front gate does not have an outside handle...which means that we have not invited anyone in... unless as all the locals do they stick their finger through the fencing and open it from the catch inside.... therefore in a legal sense trespassing and therefore not our responsability.... which for us is quite handy as our son adopted a small abandoned puppy who although no more than 10 inches high full grown looks a bit like a fox.... cross breeding i guess....and hates all italians.... english visitors seem to be relatively safe....god knows what happened to her in her first three months of life...but she is out for revenge on the italian community with a vengeance

so hopefully if folklore has it right we will not be getting sued and checking out that bit of the policy...

have heard and i am not sure if i should reccomend it the post office offers about the best and cheapest cover here.... i have mentioned it also before on their banking side...but have found their availability via the internet sporadic.... there is also another problem that a lot of italian companies will not recognise it formally as a bank and i think its iban number does not conform to international banking standards somehow... so some transfers and apyments are not allowed... but so far have not heard anything off on their insurance side

If its for the B&B thing, then you do need insurance.

You can get a buildings and contents insurance including liability for guest, for about €500.00 per year.

Yes I suppose that makes sense then - although we are not intending to have any 'paying guests'. Mind you that is probably something to do with the fact that we will have to spend the first few years renovating it!! We have been given an 'all in' quote for £395.00, which I suppose is inline with what has previously been stated.

my House Insurance for this year [through GAN I think - my estate agent aranged it last year,and I renewed it through him in April this year] cost 81 Euros - it included 'House', 'Contents' [not a great deal] and 'Public Liability'

[Its not a big place to insure - value about 100.000 Euros, and I didn't take out a large amount of 'contents' insurance]

As an insurance man myself (don't fall asleep), the household cover you by in the UK will automatically include Public Liability, typically to £2m for any one accident.

Whislt I am not familiar with Italian Law I should imagine that you will have responsibility for Personal Liability whether running a business or not. Your Public Liability cover should include this.

It is not just a matter of liability arising from your property (a roof tile coming off and hitting a passer by on the head is a good example), but also personal liability that may arise when you are away from your home. If you drive, your motor insurance will cover you for liability arising therefrom, but as remote as it sounds you could get sued for negligent acts in your day to day life. Running for a bus and knocking someone over, spilling some red wine over an expensive dress. Knocking over a priceless vase in a museum.... I could go on, but I'm sure you are asleep by now!

Anyway, for peace of mind and for the sake of a few euro's I strongly recommend you have this cover. It often comes with legal expenses too which you would most certainly need.