Was looking for a public and products liability insurance and Daniel Roussounis was very helpful in getting me one for a competitive price. So thank you Daniel!
Just started selling goods, or have a renewal coming up? Product liability compared on cover & price.
Quick answerDo I need product liability as well as public liability?Yes, if your goods reach other people. Public liability responds to harm at your premises or your work. Product liability covers harm your goods cause after they leave you, and in many bundled policies its limit applies annually (not per claim). Consolidated Insurance Brokers checks that limit against your goods and explains your options. Ring 07 3292 1111.
Do you know what a product liability policy won't pay for? A claim outside the cover is yours to fund. We set the policy up around the goods you make, import or sell, and tell you plainly what it leaves out.
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We had excellent service in obtaining insurance on a newly purchased commercial property. Clayton Rowlings explained everything so clearly and very patient with many questions regarding different options. Highly recommended! Thanks Clayton.
Tracey helped me sort out professional indemnity and public liability insurance for my new business - she was super helpful throughout the process helping me navigate for the first time.
Deja provided a prompt and professional service in securing a policy that suited my requirements.
Terrific experience with Gina. I had a difficult policy which other brokers couldn't find a solution for. Gina had an option for me within a few hours. I would highly recommend.
Thank you so much Cyndie for your help/advice/service. You made the whole process so easy. Thank you again. Jason Armstrong
Alison was a life-saver for us, staying after hours to make sure that we could get the building insurance coverage we urgently needed for a property purchase.
Debbie was always happy to help with my questions and very prompt with her service.
Hi I can highly recommend Aimee Spencer for all your insurance needs she has done a fantastic effort on keeping my insurance policy once again Many Thanks for all your work
Saskia Van Oostveen was efficient, professional, accurate, helpful and friendly throughout the entire process. Highly recommend!
A great experience with Tori, attaining some tricky commercial insurance, she was very professional in catering to your needs, whilst also having a quick turn around.
Jade was wonderful, finding me insurance coverage for a commercial property. Greatly appreciated her excellent service.
I contacted Tracey E from Consolidated Insurance Brokers for some commercial property quotes. Tracey was super helpful helpful, friendly and provided great advice. Highly recommend for all your insurance needs!
Thanks for your assistance Dylan with car insurance inquiry you have been really helpful and professional.
Shona was always available and answered all my queriers. A1 service and happy to recommend.
I contacted Renay after she was recommended by a family friend, for home and contents insurance. She was prompt and helpful and had me all sorted in a couple of days. Highly recommend!
I needed fast transit insurance this week and Daniel Roussounis was outstanding in his immediate response and getting this organized for me. Can't recommend Daniel and Consolidated Insurance Brokers highly enough!
Second year organising insurance with Jim K., did not have any issues and a smooth transition. I recommend
May Lewong at the Emerald office was amazing. Easy to deal with and was quick and efficient.
Reena was absolutely fantastic during the entire process helping me set you our new home and contents insurance. Would definitely recommend to anyone.
Natasha as always, gives us professional, exceptional service and would recommend her to any business :-)
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Written by William Paull, QPIB
Co-Founder & Account Director · Read William’s full profile
Do you need product liability as well as public liability?
A business with goods going out carries two risks: someone hurt where you trade or work, and someone hurt by your goods once they have gone out the door.
Say a customer trips on a pallet in your warehouse. That is public liability. Six months later, a kettle you imported overheats in a stranger's lounge room. That is product liability. Our public liability insurance page sets out what the public side covers and where it stops.
For most businesses that make or sell goods, both come inside a business insurance pack. Once a business's liability outgrows a pack, it buys the two together as general liability insurance, a policy of its own. A client's financial loss from advice you gave, or a professional service you were engaged to deliver, is a different cover again: professional indemnity insurance. Some liability wordings still cover injury or property damage arising from that advice. Our guide to public liability versus professional indemnity draws the line.
On most of the policies we place, public and product liability sit together in one section. One policy we hold sells products cover as a separate section, and it applies only if the schedule, the page listing what you bought, shows that section. So a policy with public liability on it does not always carry the products half, and you may only find the gap when a claim comes in.
Is $10 million enough if a whole batch goes bad?
Not always. In many bundled policies, the public liability limit applies afresh to each incident, while the product liability limit is one total for all product claims in the policy year, so one bad batch with dozens of claims can use it up and leave later claims with nothing behind them.
| If each half carries ten million | Public liability | Product liability |
|---|---|---|
| How the limit applies | Each incident | One policy year, all product claims combined |
| Two unrelated incidents in one year | Each has its own ten million limit | Both share one ten million |
| Once the limit is used up | The next incident starts with a fresh ten million | Later claims are left to the business |
A contaminated batch can reach shops in different states before anyone links the illnesses. The claims then arrive one at a time, over a year or more, and each draws on the same total. Where we place the cover, the legal costs of fighting the claims commonly sit on top of the limit, and the compensation comes out of it.
Whether your products limit should sit higher than the public side depends on your goods and how far they travel, and we work that out with you.
Are you covered if someone is hurt because your instructions were unclear, or by something you sold years ago?
Generally yes, when your goods injure someone or damage their property after they leave your hands. The cover takes in the instructions and warnings that went with them, and for goods sold long ago it is generally the policy in force when the harm happened that responds. On most of the wordings we place, the cost of defending a covered claim is paid even when the claim against you fails.
A claim does not need a fault in the making. A heater can work exactly as built and still bring a claim because nobody was told how to install it safely.
On the cover we arrange, your product is defined widely: anything manufactured, grown, extracted, processed, treated, altered, modified, repaired, serviced, bottled, labelled, handled, sold, supplied, re-supplied, distributed, imported or exported by you or on your behalf. The packaging counts. So do the instructions, markings and warnings that went out with it, including a warning you did not give.
Claims can also arrive years after the sale, so a break in cover matters even for goods you sold long ago.
The policies we place commonly exclude repairing or replacing the faulty product, and a recall. If a faulty part sets an oven alight, the policy may cover your liability for the burnt kitchen and the person injured. Repairing the faulty part is generally your cost, and whether damage to the rest of the oven is covered depends on the wording.
Who pays for a recall? Usually not this policy
Generally you do. Product liability pays for the harm a faulty product causes. On the policies we see, the cost of getting the product back is excluded, and recall cover is bought separately.
Say an allergen is left off a label, or a supplier swaps an ingredient without telling anyone. People get sick, and two bills arrive.
The first is the harm: the medical costs, lost income and lawyers of the people made ill. Product liability is built for that bill.
The second is getting the product back: tracing every batch code, telling retailers and the public, and pulling stock from shelves. Then come the freight, the destruction, the extra staff and the trade you lose. The policy excludes the withdrawal, recall, inspection, repair and replacement of the products and the loss of their use. A condition of the same policy makes you take reasonable steps to trace and recall a product you suspect is defective, at your own cost.
Cover for that second bill is product recall cover. It is sometimes an add-on to the policy and sometimes a policy in its own right. If you supply food, drink, cosmetics, toys or anything put on skin or used by children, we check where recall costs would be met. Recall cover does not suit every business, and we will say so when it does not suit yours.
Do importers, wholesalers and suppliers carry product liability for goods they did not make?
Yes, commonly. A business that brings in goods it did not make can still end up carrying product liability for them. On the cover we arrange, imported and distributed goods count as your products.
Three kinds of business are caught most often.
- Importers, especially those buying from overseas makers with no Australian business behind them. The further away and the smaller the maker, the more likely a claim lands with you.
- Wholesalers and distributors, who never see the factory but whose name is on the invoice and often on the box.
- Private-label sellers, where someone else makes the goods and your brand goes on the front.
So the limit you choose should match how much you bring in and the harm those goods could do.
How we set up your cover
We start with the goods: what they are, who uses them and where they end up. The limit, and whether you need recall cover, follow from there.
Insurers sort businesses into categories, and a workshop making steel brackets can share one with a business bottling a sauce. Their risks are nothing alike, and a price set from the category alone can be wrong for both.
We ask where the goods go after you sell them, because exports to North America change both the cover and the price. We also ask whether you import anything, because importing adds to your products risk and to the premium, and the insurer needs to be told.
What you pay turns mostly on what the goods could do if they failed, how many are in use, whether you made or imported them and where they are sold. How well you can trace a bad batch counts too, through batch coding, quality control, checks on your suppliers and a written recall plan. Our guide to how much public liability insurance costs sets out what the bundled cover costs.
If a customer or a supply agreement asks for proof of your products cover, the proof is a certificate of currency. It means the policy is paid and current until its expiry date. The insurer gives it to us when the policy is bound, the point the insurer agrees to cover you, and we issue it to you once the premium is paid.
When someone says your goods caused harm
On a policy we look after, that claim comes to us. Our specialist claims manager takes it up with the insurer, chases it when it stalls and pushes back on a decision where the wording and the evidence point the other way. Your broker, who knows your goods and where they are sold, stays on the claim with the claims manager. We explain what the insurer is saying and what it means for your business.
Short answers
What is product liability insurance?
Consolidated Insurance Brokers arranges product liability insurance to cover what you are legally liable to pay when something you made, grew, processed, repaired, sold, supplied, distributed or imported injures somebody or damages property after leaving your hands. It pays the compensation and, on most policies, the cost of defending the claim, even when the claim against you fails. We check how far each policy's definition of your product reaches, packaging and warnings included.
Is product liability included in public liability insurance?
Usually. Most business policies we arrange put the two in the same section, so many businesses hold both without knowing it. The two halves then commonly work differently. Public liability pays up to its limit for each incident. Product liability has one limit for every product claim in the policy year combined.
Do importers need product liability insurance?
Yes. When the overseas maker has no Australian business, a claim about its goods is more likely to land with the importer. We set your limit against how much you bring in and the harm they could cause.
Does product liability insurance cover a product recall?
Generally no. Policies commonly exclude the withdrawal, recall, inspection, repair and replacement of the products and the loss of their use. A separate condition makes you trace and recall a suspect product and pay for it yourself. Recall needs its own cover, and we will tell you whether your goods call for it.
What does product liability insurance not cover?
Three things catch people out. Repairing or replacing the faulty part of your own product is generally excluded. A recall is generally excluded. A guarantee or warranty you gave is commonly excluded, unless product-safety law requires it of you. A client's financial loss from advice or a professional service needs professional indemnity insurance, which we also arrange.
How much product liability cover should I carry?
Enough for a bad batch, because the products limit commonly covers every product claim in the year combined. Three things decide the figure: the worst your goods could realistically do, how many are in use, and what your customers and contracts require. A minimum written into a supply agreement is a condition of doing business, so read it before you sign.
Does product liability cover products I sell overseas?
Usually, with one exception: goods you knowingly export to North America. Standard cover commonly includes products that reach North America without your knowledge. Goods you send there on purpose generally need a specific add-on, priced separately. Tell us before the first shipment leaves for a North American customer.
Do I need a broker for product liability insurance?
It helps, because a quote form does not ask the questions this cover turns on. Is the limit for products per claim or for the whole year? Where would recall costs be met? Are your export markets inside the places the policy covers? Was the price set from what your goods do, or only from the kind of business you are? We ask all four. More on Why Use an Insurance Broker.
Tell us what you make, bring in or sell, and we'll compare cover and price and explain your options.
Ring 07 3292 1111 and a broker will talk through your goods and where they go, so you know what the cover would leave out and whether its limit holds up to a bad batch.