Sml Shield

Trusted by over 400,000 with their insurance needs

Sml Star

Our service is rated ‘Excellent’ on Feefo

Sml Agent (1)

Over 2000 insurance specialists ready to support you

Product Liability Insurance

Product liability insurance as an addition to or part of a public liability or commercial combined policy.

  • Ideal for retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers.
  • Protects you if your product is faulty and causes injury to a member of the public or damages their property.
  • Up to £10m product liability cover
A shield with a tick inside it on a big translucent blue circle
A cardboard bowl of fish and chips with a slice of lemon and a side of mushy peas and lime on exposed aggregate concrete with a water background
If you need additional assistance arranging your insurance, find out how our teams can support

One of the UK's leading independent insurance brokers

Flexibility (1)

Easily compare quotes

From our panel of trusted brands

Trusted brand icon

Overall service rating 4.6 / 5

Based on 4645 customer reviews

Feefo Logo

Why choose product liability insurance with Towergate?

Circle with longitude and latitude lines

Global product liability insurance

Our insurance is available for products sold outside of the UK – tailor the cover for your needs.

Circle with a pound sign in the center and rays around it

Product liability cover limits from £1 - 10 million

Cover limits start at £1 million with popular choices of £2m, £5m and £10 million with higher limit options if required.

Clip board with a sheet with writing, tick boxes and a shield with a tick over lapping the board on the bottom right

Combined product and public liability insurance

We can include the liability cover you need and tailor the policy to suit your business under one single insurance policy.

Direct Debit

Pay by Direct Debit

We offer a quick and easy Direct Debit instalment scheme so you can spread payment over ten months.  

About product liability insurance

A4 proportioned paper with lines and a pen beside it

Flexible product liability cover limits

Product liability cover limits start at £1 million with £2 million, £5 million and £10 million options available, so you can choose the amount that suits your business. If you are unsure of how much cover you need, speak with one of our trained advisers for more information.

Head and shoulders of a women

Helpful advisers for your product liability insurance

Our advisers are ready to assist you throughout the process from finding your initial products liability quote to answering any questions you may have about your cover. If ever you have a problem, simply get in touch and our team will do their best to help you.

Paper with lines and ring binder along top

Product liability legal costs

Your business could face legal action if it does not comply with product safety laws. It’s not just the person who purchases the product that can sue, it’s any person who is injured, becomes ill or has property damaged by the product.

Product liability insurance will cover your legal defence costs, in the event that you are found to have been at fault, it will pay claimants’ costs and expenses and compensation awarded, subject otherwise to the limits of your policy.

Flexibility (1)

Combined commercial liability insurance policies

If you need more than product and public liability insurance, we offer a commercial combined policy to include stock held at your premises, buildings, loss of income, employers’ liability and cyber risks. We can also offer goods in transit to cover your goods in deliveries.

Marine cargo insurance can be arranged to cover any import or exports of goods whilst in transit worldwide. All this cover can be built into one policy with one renewal date. Speak to one of our specialist team and see what they can do for you.

When you need to make a claim, we'll guide you through the process and get your claim settled as quickly as possible.

  • Find your insurance documents and make sure you have all your information at hand, including your policy number.
  • Call the claims team on 0344 346 0586 and explain exactly what happened.
  • Provide photos if requested to help us understand what happened as quickly as we can.
Smiling women sitting on a rug on a parquet floor leaning on a sofa looking at her mobile

Ready to get covered?

  • Fill in our online quote form or call us
  • Select your insurer and price
  • Relax - you're covered!
Get a Quote

Product Liability Insurance FAQs

Product liability insurance protects a business should a customer allege bodily injury or property damage, resulting from the supply of faulty or defective products. A business will have legal responsibilities for the quality of product or goods supplied and consequently may face claims if the product causes injury or damage.

Product liability insurance covers against a compensation case brought against a producer for loss, damage or injury, which can be made any time within three years of using the product. In some cases this can be longer. There is no upper limit to how much the claim can be and is calculated against the severity of the individual case and the scale of loss.

If a faulty product is widely distributed and has wide scale affects the compensation costs can easily be in millions. Even compensation to an individual customer who suffers loss of earning for six months can cost thousands of pounds. This makes product liability insurance a vital part of the protection for your business as well as part of the safety commitments you make to your customers.

It is your responsibility as a business to decide upon the level of cover required. Some products may be more prone to risk than others, so take care to ensure that any policy you purchase is adequate for your needs. Common considerations include:

  • Compensation claims – Is the policy sufficient to cover a compensation claim if your product causes injury or property damage?

  • Contractual obligations – Do any contracts you have with you clientele specify a minimum level of cover?

Though product liability largely relates to producers, your business could be held liable for a faulty product even if you are only the distributor. Whether you are a manufacturer, supplier, distributor or retailer; if your business makes products available to the public, you may be liable for any injury or damage they cause. It’s therefore important to have the right insurance in place.

You don’t need to manufacture a product in order to require product liability. Importing and repairing in some cases is enough to make you liable. Below we look at some of the situations were a business might need product liability insurance.

With products liability you will be covered by the policy in force at the time (date) the incident giving rise to a potential claim occurred. So, with insurance in place when you sold / supplied / produced the product, if a client makes a claim against you 2 years later, it must be claimed off the insurance policy that was in force at the time the accident occurred.

Below are some instances where product liability may still be the business's responsibility even though they are not the manufacturer:

  • If the product includes your company's name i.e. white label products
  • If the product has been imported from outside the European Union
  • If the true manufacturer of the product has gone out of business or can no longer be identified
  • If your business repairs, services or fixes an existing product.
  • If your business is involved in any aspect of the production of the goods - from supply of components, manufacture, assembly, printing, painting or packing


If you’re unsure if product liability insurance is something your business needs, just ask the team. We can identify whether your business requires the cover then find the most suitable insurance solution for you.

  • Any company that sells a product with their business or brand name on it
  • Any business that repairs or repurposes a product
  • Any firm that manufactures a product
  • Any business that imports products outside of the European Union for sale in the UK

In addition to this, if the actual manufacturer has gone out of business or cannot clearly be identified then the seller of the product could be held liable.

Whilst the manufacturer will hold ultimate liability if these aspects don't apply to your business you, as the retailer will have to provide certain evidence, such as that the products were faulty when supplied to you.

Not every business requires product liability insurance, it depends on what your company provides. For example, a training and consultancy business will provide a B2B service rather than a product and consequently will not require product liability insurance. However, a business that manufactures tools for firms in the construction industry, for instance, will undoubtedly require manufacturing liability insurance.

Our policies are tailored to you so we would be able to advise on the cover you need based on your business activities. Inform us of the type of products you work with and we’ll aim to source cover that fits.

A business can be both or one or the other. This depends on the business model and who their customers are. We will talk more about the responsibilities of each in the next section but first let’s understand exactly which category or categories might apply to you.

The largest portion of responsibility towards product liability falls on the producer of the product. This can include:

  • Manufacturers and retailers that supply own-brand products
  • Any business that repairers, alters or services an existing product
  • Someone who repurposes or rebrands an existing product
  • Importers of products from places where the safety requirements differ from the country it is sold in

Retailers and distributers such and shops and sellers are not usually directly responsible in a product liability case but do still have a duty of care to their customers.

To help you spread the cost of your premiums, we offer a quick and easy direct debit scheme for spreading payment over ten months. Please visit our dedicated Direct Debit page to find out more.

If you would like to know more about our monthly payment option, please visit our dedicated Direct Debit page.

Read more FAQs

Product liability insurance articles and guides

Product Liability for an Online Business

Our guide gives you advice on product liability if you run a website or online business. Get tips on what you might need to stay covered in your industry.

Read more

What is the Difference Between Public Liability and Professional Indemnity Insurance?

What is the difference between public liability and professional indemnity insurance? We define PL and PI insurance to help you decide if your business needs them.

Read more