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Legal Eagle

The Public

Q: Public Liability Insurance

We have made stage sets and scenery for amateur groups as a non-profit making organisation. We are now being asked if we can hire sets but need to know what public liability insurance we require. Can you advise?

A: I responded to a specific question about public liability insurance in my Legal Eagle column (July 25, 2002), which gave rise to letters from two interested readers (August 8, 2002). I refer you to these, especially the query that concerned the cost of such insurance cover and how and by whom it might be possible to have it underwritten at modest cost, particularly where amateur groups are involved. I also refer you to my Legal Eagle column (February 5, 2004) on general production insurance.

It is important for you to understand that, as manufacturer of the sets, you may be separately liable from the production company using them. The best way I can illustrate this is by the following example. Suppose a piece of scenery made by you falls on the head of an actor or stagehand or whoever, causing him or her serious injury. It may be arguable who, if anyone was to blame. The injured party will doubtless be advised to sue all possible defendants, including the theatre, the producer, and you as the manufacturer (set builder), on the basis that one or other must be to blame and that the injured party should not have to decide which one, thereby running the risk of possibly make the wrong decision. At all events, the probability is that someone, either the injured party or one of the other defendants, will be pointing the finger at you.

The question of blame will be determined by the Court on the basis of the evidence put before it by the people involved and by expert testimony, but suppose at the end of the day you are held liable for breach of your duty of care in negligence to the public at large owing to some defect of manufacture of the sets. The compensation awarded against you could be massive, depend-ing on the severity of the injuries and the extent of the claimant's loss of earnings and other expenses. If you have to pick up the bill yourself it might put you out of business and will in any event be a heavy financial burden upon you. That is why you need insurance cover against this type of risk.

Such cover can be obtained at a cost which is modest indeed by comparison with the risk involved. Obviously the greater the amount of cover the higher the premium and you should discuss this with a specialist insurance broker, of whom there are several recommended by SOLT/TMA. In fact, public liability cover is usually just one section of a comprehensive business policy against a whole range of risks such as those already described in Legal Eagle (February 5, 2004).

You should be aware, however, that public liability insurance cover is not as cheap as it was. Premiums have increased substantially owing to the compensation culture which prevails in modern times but even so I would regard this kind of cover as essential in your business, if only for peace of mind. Don't be penny-wise and pound-foolish. Make sure you are covered through a good insurance broker and rest easy. You will not be sorry.

It makes no difference whether you sell the sets or hire them out. Your liability for the type of risk I have described will be the same.

First published 1st April 2004