Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Liability insurance definition

What does Liability insurance mean? Insurance that protects businesses against civil liabilities to third parties, including, in the case of employers’ liability insurance, claims by employees for work-related injury or disease. It is a market term used across multiple legal contexts rather than a single statutory definition, though particular classes are regulated by legislation (notably compulsory employers’ liability). Common forms include public liability, products liability, employers’ liability, professional indemnity and directors’ and officers’ (D&O) liability. Cover typically indemnifies damages, claimant’s costs and defence costs, subject to an indemnity limit, excess and standard exclusions (for example, deliberate acts, assumed contractual liabilities and pollution unless endorsed). Liability policies...

Construction product liability insurance: scope of cover, common exclusions (recall, economic loss, design), and available extensions including contractual liability

Published by a LexisNexis Construction expert

Practice notes

This Practice Note examines product Liability insurance primarily through the lens of participants in the construction sector. While this form of cover is relevant to many other industries, for present purposes those fall beyond the remit of this Practice Note (see Practice Note: Product liability and product recall insurance and Q&A: What is Products Liability Insurance?).

What is product liability insurance and who needs it?

In the construction context, product liability insurance is a form of cover that safeguards the insured against liability for death or bodily injury (excluding employees) or for property damage, where such liabilities arise from defects in products that have been used in the course of a construction project.

Firms that manufacture and/or Supply products intended to be incorporated into a building structure may face legal action if faults in those products cause damage or injury to the structure concerned.

For example:

a supplier might face proceedings if concrete it supplied to a contractor for a building’s foundations was later found to be defective and, as a consequence, the structure of that building collapsed as a direct result...

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Jonathan Spencer

Simmons & Simmons

Jonathan is a partner in the Simmons & Simmons Insurance and Construction group. Jonathan specialises in construction disputes, including defending professional negligence claims against architects, engineers, surveyors and design & build contractors. Jonathan also regularly advises London market insurers on complex, high value coverage disputes.Jonathan’s caseload routinely involves mediations, arbitrations, adjudications and litigation (generally in the Technology and Construction Court). He has experience of a wide variety of construction disputes involving: iconic buildings; sports grounds; schools; hospitals; large residential schemes; commercial/retail; and waste to energy facilities.Jonathan has undertaken a year-long client secondment at a major international Insurer, and has been recognised in the Legal 500 UK 2017, 2018 & 2019 editions for “strong commercial acumen”, and for being “active in construction disputes” and “ambitious, dedicated and commercially astute.”...

Russell Cowie

Simmons & Simmons

Russell is a Supervising Associate in the Simmons & Simmons Insurance & Construction group, with a very broad experience in the insurance sector. Shortly after completing his training contract at a first tier insurance law firm, Russell was seconded to a market-leading insurer to take up position as Assistant Claims Counsel. This has afforded him extensive experience in advising both insurers and their insureds on a range of coverage matters and third-party liability claims, respectively.As a specialist insurance practitioner, Russell advises on matters of professional indemnity, product liability (both medical and non-medical), construction and cyber insurance. He has a keen interest in complex risks emerging within the artificial intelligence landscape, and regularly publishes articles in Insurance Day and on the firm’s website, in relation to a range of legal topics....

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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