Personal liability is each and everyone's obligation to repair damages caused to others or to their property, whether by imprudence or bad implementation of a contract. It does not cover damages caused to oneself, the insurance covers accidental injury to a third party.

Personal liability insurance can be subscribed with a private insurance company. Depending on the extent of the contractual provisions, personal liability insurance covers damages caused by oneself, one's children and employees and animals.

Personal liability does not cover injury to oneself or one's relatives, nor does it cover intentional injury to others (this latter case would involve criminal liability, something that one cannot be insured against).

 Some compulsory insurances already include personal liability cover (car, school or sports insurances for instance), but these are limited (check the contractual clauses in the contract you sign when you subscribe to an insurance policy).

A comprehensive insurance that includes civil liability coverage extending to the whole family (multirisque habitation with responsabilité civile familiale) will cover damages caused to a third party.

To be insured, the researcher will have to go to an insurer and subscribe to an insurance contract that includes the responsabilité civile familiale clause. Check what is exactly included by the policy.

NOTE 1: Many research groups confuse personal liability and material insurance. The latter must be subscribed to by the laboratory to guarantee against damage to equipment by its employees. Many laboratories request that the researcher be covered by a personal liability insurance. However, the researcher is already covered through his/her rental insurance (see above), unless there are exclusion clauses and particular provisions in the rental insurance policy. Regardless, personal liability insurance does not cover material damages in case of an accident in the laboratory. Although personal liability is a useful provision, it does not cover damages caused by the researcher in the course of his/her professional activity. Damage to the equipment in a laboratory (for instance, damage to computers or experimental equipment...) is covered by the insurance subscribed to by the laboratory. The laboratory director is responsible for the errors committed by the staff within the scope of their employment (for instance, error or want of skill of a worker causing an injury to a third party, or breakage of a machine).

NOTE 2 : "Professional liability insurance" is an insurance covering damages caused to a third party within the scope of one's employment. For instance, in the medical context, a patient suing a dentist, doctor and other health professionals. If the clinician has subscribed to a professional liability insurance with a specialized insurer, he/she will be covered for damages caused to the patient. The clinician does not need to take a professional liability insurance if he/she is a salaried employee of the hospital or clinic where he/she practices, unless it is proven he/she has committed a serious mistake. However, such a professional liability insurance cannot be subscribed to by researchers working in a research group.

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