Public liability insurance covers damage caused by a removals or delivery operator to property or third parties during the course of work. In a moving context, that means damage to the customer’s home (scratched walls, gouged door frames, damaged flooring) or to a neighbour’s property (a dropped sofa hitting a parked car, for example). It’s a separate policy from goods in transit insurance, which covers the items being moved.
What a typical removals public liability policy covers:
- Damage to the customer’s home. Scuffs and scrapes on walls, scratches on hardwood floors, dented architraves, broken bannisters.
- Damage to the destination property. Same list, at the new place.
- Damage to third-party property. A neighbour’s fence taken out by the van. A parked car hit by a dropped item.
- Injury to a third party. If the crew’s actions cause someone outside the household to be hurt (rare, but covered).
What it does not cover:
- Damage to the items being moved (that’s GIT’s job).
- Damage caused by the customer themselves during the move.
- Damage to the moving vehicle (that’s the van policy, see hire and reward insurance).
- Injuries to the crew (that’s the employer’s liability policy, separate again).
Coverage limits are usually quoted as a minimum per claim. £1 million is a common entry-level limit for small man-and-van operators. Full removalist firms often carry £2 million or higher, sometimes £5 million when they handle high-value commercial relocations. The Association of British Insurers describes public liability as cover for claims made by members of the public for injury or property damage connected to a business’s activities.
This is the policy that quietly matters most for the customer. Damage to a flat’s hardwood floor or a freshly-painted communal stairwell can easily run to hundreds of pounds. Without public liability cover, the dispute becomes a small-claims matter rather than an insurance claim. Asking “do you carry public liability, and what’s the cover limit?” before booking is a reasonable due-diligence step.