Legal Liability Insurance

Legal liability is a state of being responsible for damage caused to another person or property, as required by law.

Legal liability insurance covers you for situations where damage has been caused to another party, by, or within something you own, such as your property or your business. However, not every form of legal liability insurance covers you for every scenario as policies tend to be very specific. For example, home legal liability cover wouldn’t be appropriate if you wanted to be covered for your business.

Some home insurance policies have a legal liability clause included (or available as an add-on) that allows you to make a claim if someone is injured, or becomes unwell because of an event that happens in your home. This can include family members, visitors, and in some cases employees. Legal liability applies in multiple different situations (such as for your property or for your business) so it’s important that your insurance covers you for the correct scenario. For example, if you were looking for legal liability business insurance, home insurance would likely not be sufficient.

John Lewis Home Insurance includes a legal liability clause as standard with all of our policies. This includes cover for:

Defective premises liability 

Property owner’s liability 

If you have chosen contents insurance with your policy it will also include: 

Public and occupier's liability 

Employers liability 

Learn more about John Lewis Home Insurance.

This section of your policy covers you for legal liabilities which result from your ownership of any home you previously occupied and which was insured by us. This covers claims which arise because of Section 3 of the Defective Premises Act 1972 if you’re in England or Section 5 of the Defensive Premises Act, Order 1975, if you live in Northern Ireland. You will be covered for claims up to £2,000,000. 

Simply put, if any building work that takes place in a property that you own later turns out to be defective and causes damage to a new occupier, you could be legally liable. This cover feature insures you in case of defective premises that you have previously owned if the work that made the property defective took place while you owned it. 

This doesn’t include any events that occur more than 7 years after you’ve vacated the property. For the full details and exclusions of this section of your policy, please see page 44 of the policy document.

Property owners liability covers your family’s legal liability as owner of your home. 

We’ll pay damages and costs (up to the limit outlined in your policy schedule) to individuals arising from any single event that occurs during the insurance period if it results in:

Accidental death, disease, illness or accidental physical injury to anyone

Accidental damage to physical property

This doesn’t include any events that occur in other properties that your family may own, only those that take place in your home. For the full details and exclusions of this section of your policy, please see page 44 of the policy document.

This section of your policy covers you and your family’s personal legal liability as individuals and as occupiers of your home. 

We’ll pay damages and costs (up to the limit outlined in your policy schedule) to individuals arising from any single event which occurs during the insurance period if it results in:

Accidental death, disease, illness or accidental physical injury to anyone 

Accidental damage to physical property

This doesn’t include any legal liability arising from employment, trade, profession or business of any of your family. For the full details and exclusions of this section of your policy, please see pages 44/45 of the policy document.

Employers liability covers you for you and your family’s personal legal liability as an employer to domestic staff.

We’ll pay damages and costs to your domestic staff arising from any single event that occurs during the insurance period if it results in:

Accidental death, disease, illness or accidental

physical injury to a domestic staff

This does not include any employment, trade, profession or business of any member of your family. For the full details and exclusions of this section of your policy, please see page 45 of the policy document. 

Insure your home and valuables today by calling us on 0345 608 9011 or getting a quote online.

For a higher level of cover, we also offer Specialist Home Insurance for unique homes and high-value contents.