Scope of cover

It is generally accepted that a public liability policy means precisely what it says, and that it provides the assured against liability for losses inflicted on the public in respect of which tort claims will lie. Pure contractual claims are excluded because such claims are not ‘public liability’ at all but rather arise from liabilities privately incurred. Public liability policies do cover parallel contract and tort claims, but not independent contractual claims. The exclusion of pure contract claims from public liability policies was emphasised by Mr Justice Field in Tesco Stores Ltd v Constable [2007] EWHC 2088 (Comm).