Public, employers and professional indemnity insurance appear together in contracts and framework specifications because between them they cover every liability a supplier can bring to a client: harm to the public, harm to their own staff, and loss caused by the work. Clients name all three and expect evidence of each.
What each answers for
Public liability: injury to third parties and damage to their property. Employers liability: injury or illness to your own staff arising from their work, compulsory by statute with a daily penalty for not holding it. Professional indemnity: financial loss caused by a negligent act, error or omission in your professional work.
Why contracts name all three
A supplier attending a client's site can hurt somebody, can have one of its own people hurt, and can get the work wrong. Each is a different claim against a different section, and a client requiring only one is leaving the other two to chance. Framework specifications simply list the set.
Presenting them on one certificate
Where all three are sections of one business policy, a single certificate shows the insured, the three covers, the limits and the period. That is what clients want. Where they are held with different insurers, three certificates are needed and the insured name must match the contracting entity on every one.
Checking the limits against the contract
Read the specification before buying rather than after winning. Public liability limits are often set by site rules, employers liability by statute and convention, and professional indemnity by the client's risk policy. A package bought on price frequently sits a notch below at least one of them.
Questions people ask about public employers and professional indemnity insurance
Why do contracts ask for all three?
Because a supplier can harm the public, harm its own staff, and cause a financial loss through the work. Each is a different section.
Which one is compulsory?
Employers liability, from the moment anybody works for you rather than for themselves, with a penalty charged for each day without it.
Can one certificate show all three?
Yes, where they are sections of one business policy, which is the simplest thing to hand a client.
What if my limits are lower than the contract?
Raise them before signing. Correcting it mid term is more expensive than buying correctly at inception.