Indemnity liability insurance is a phrase that joins two words each used loosely, and it can point at three different covers. Professional indemnity for financial loss from your work, public liability for injury and damage, or the pair of them that clients name together in a contract. The requester settles which.
Professional indemnity
Cover for the financial loss a client suffers because your professional work or advice was wrong, plus the cost of defending the allegation. Claims made rather than occurrence based, which is why it has to be kept continuous long after the work ends.
Public liability
Cover for injury to third parties and damage to their property arising from your business. Occurrence based, so it can be allowed to lapse once the activity stops. It is what site rules and venues ask for and it is the cover most trades meet first.
The pair together
Most client contracts and framework specifications name both, because either alone leaves a gap on the side the client is most exposed to. Where a contract asks for indemnity liability insurance without being specific, the fastest resolution is to ask what limit they want for each.
Why the phrase persists
Because every liability policy indemnifies the insured, so brokers and contracts describe public liability as indemnifying you against third party claims and the two words end up welded together. It is not wrong, it is just ambiguous, and a minute spent asking removes the ambiguity entirely.
Questions people ask about indemnity liability insurance
Is indemnity liability insurance one product?
No. It is a loose phrase that can mean professional indemnity, public liability or the pair of them named together in a contract.
How do I tell which is meant?
Ask what limit is required for each. The answer settles it immediately and costs nothing.
Do I need both?
Most businesses do: one covers physical harm to others, the other covers financial loss from your work.