Federal politicians will have public liability, management liability and travel cover under new policies placed by the Commonwealth’s insurance broker Gallagher Australia.

The cover closes loopholes that left MPs and senators exposed to costly lawsuits and is generally similar to policies issued in the private sector, the Government says.

The policies are contracts between insurance companies and each individual parliamentarian, but the Commonwealth arranges them and pays the premium to the broker, a spokesman for the Department of Finance and Deregulation told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

Previously, the politicians did not have public liability cover for activities outside their electorate offices or Parliament, exposing them to potential civil claims for accidents at street stalls or in election campaigns.

The management liability cover is similar to company directors’ professional indemnity insurance, former special minister of state Gary Gray said earlier this year.

“In an increasingly litigious society, where politically motivated litigation has the potential to affect the work of MPs and the Parliament, the threat of litigation itself may affect behaviour in the Parliament,” he said. “We need to guard against this.”