What will your public liability policy not pay for?
Published UAE public liability wordings leave out injuries to your own employees, faults in products you sell, mistakes in professional advice, property in your care, or vehicles. Each of these needs its own cover or an extension written into the schedule.
What does a public liability policy leave out?
Your own staff, your products, your professional advice, property you look after, and vehicles. Orient’s public liability policy excludes liability from products you sell or supply, professional services, property in your care, custody or control, and injuries to your employees.1
| Left out | What the wording says | Where to look instead |
|---|---|---|
| Injury to your employees | Liability to employees for occupational accidents and injuries is excluded (Orient). | Workers’ compensation or employer’s liability |
| Faulty products you sell or make | Liability from products sold or supplied is excluded, unless the policy is extended (Orient). | Products liability extension |
| Professional mistakes | Acts, errors or omissions in a professional duty, including treatment or advice given for a fee (GIG Gulf). | Professional indemnity |
| Property in your care | Damage to property owned, leased, hired, on loan or in your care, custody or control (GIG Gulf). | Property or contents insurance |
| Vehicles, aircraft and boats | Ownership or use of motor vehicles, aircraft, hovercraft and watercraft over five metres (GIG Gulf). | Motor or marine insurance |
| Gradual pollution | Covered only when caused by a sudden, unintended and unexpected event (GIG Gulf). | Pollution liability, an optional GIG Gulf cover |
| Fines and contract penalties | Fines, penalties, liquidated damages, performance warranties and pure financial loss (GIG Gulf). | No public liability cover |
Are injuries to your staff covered?
No. United Fidelity’s public liability cover is for death or injury to people other than those in your service or your sub-contractors’ service.2 Staff injuries fall under workers’ compensation or employer’s liability, which GIG Gulf sells as a separate policy.3 See your employees and public liability.
What about something you agreed to in a contract?
United Fidelity says contractual liabilities and intentional damage are typically not covered by liability policies.2 GIG Gulf’s wording also excludes liability for failing to supply goods or services.4
If a lease or client contract asks you to indemnify the other side, send the clause to your insurer before you sign and ask whether the policy will respond.
What else do UAE wordings exclude?
Tokio Marine names war and terrorism, machinery breakdown, communicable disease, nuclear and radioactive risks, and aviation, marine and offshore risks as major exclusions.5 GIG Gulf excludes claims from circumstances you knew about when the policy started, and claims from wilful disregard of the need to prevent injury or damage.4
Ask the insurer for the full policy wording, not only the summary, and read the exclusions section before you pay.
The small print
- Property being worked on. GIG Gulf covers premises you occupy temporarily for work, but not damage to the part of the property you are working on that arises from that work.4
- Vehicles. GIG Gulf’s vehicle exclusion has exceptions, including loading and unloading, tools attached to a vehicle, and vehicles in your custody for parking. It never covers liability that must be insured by law.4
- Optional covers. GIG Gulf lists product, pollution, excess or contingent motor, vendors’ and advertising liability as options on its comprehensive general liability policy.3
Sources
5
1Orient Insurance, Public Liability Insurance. Last checked 12 Nov 2026. Source document: Public Liability Insurance
2United Fidelity Insurance Company, Liability Insurance. Last checked 12 Nov 2026. Source document: Liability Insurance
3GIG Gulf, Business Liability Insurance in UAE. Last checked 12 Nov 2026. Source document: Business Liability Insurance in UAE
4GIG Gulf, Business Secure, Beauty and Personal Care policy handbook. Section 4, Public Liability, and general exclusions. Last checked 12 Nov 2026. Source document: Business Secure, Beauty and Personal Care policy handbook
5Tokio Marine and Nichido Fire Insurance, UAE, Public Liability Insurance. Last checked 12 Nov 2026. Source document: Public Liability Insurance
- Owner
- Publicliabilityinsurance.ae research team
- Last review
- Next review due
- 11 May 2027
- Status
- Published