Tradesman Insurance | Tradesman Liability Insurance

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Tradesman
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Need a tradesman insurance quote? Let the independent specialists at your local Coversure office compare their markets to find you quality tradesman insurance protection. Your local Coversure can offer a solution tailored to your needs, so start your quote today.

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What Is Tradesman's Insurance?

Tradesman’s insurance is a specialist form of protection designed to give tradespeople comprehensive protection against the risks they face daily. By encompassing everything from public liability cover to tools and stock and materials insurance, tradesman insurance gives you the protection you need to ply your trade. A flexible form of cover it can protect professions as diverse as plumbers, electricians, carpenters, builders, decorators, and machinists.

Who Can Get Tradesman's Insurance?

We can offer to a wide range of professionals, including:

  • Electricians
  • Builders
  • Gardeners
  • Plumbers
  • Machinists
  • Carpenters
  • Maintenance contractors
  • Tilers
  • Glaziers
  • Pipe layers
  • Sheet metal workers
  • Painters and decorators
  • Riggers
  • Welders
  • Carpet layers

That’s to name but a few.  If you’d like some advice on whether this type of cover is right for you, please get in touch with your local Coversure office.  They’ll be happy to give you the help you need to keep you and your business safe.

What can Tradesman Insurance cover?

Tradesman insurance offers a package of protection that allows you to cover multiple risks on a single policy*. The type of work you do, where you do it, and whether you employ people or not will determine the details of your policy, but as a guide, a typical policy can provide cover for the following:

Stock and Materials

Most trades require materials, and you can cover things such as bricks, paint, cables, nails, pipes, etc.  These can be protected while stored between jobs, while on the move, and even while left on-site (until installed).  Cover can be arranged for eventualities such as damage, theft, loss, fire, or flood

Contractors all-risks

Contractors all-risk insurance (C.A.R. insurance as it’s also known) is a specialist form of protection designed to serve the needs of people working on a construction site. This can be anyone from a builder, a plumber, a plant contractor, or an architect.  It can protect against several risks, including contract works, public liability, product liability, employers’ liability, owned plant, and hired-in plant.

Construction plant

If you use plant machinery such as diggers, cherry pickers, diggers, mobile cranes, or forklifts, be they your own or hired-in, then construction plant insurance can protect them. As bills for repairing or replacing this type of machinery can cost thousands, it makes sense to have construction plant insurance as part of your tradesman cover if you are using it

Owned plant insurance

Helps protects against damage to your plant and equipment while in your possession or while hired out.  It covers things such as scaffolding, temporary buildings, site office contents, and site welfare facilities.

Tools Cover

Tools insurance is particularly important if you’re a tradesman, but it applies to anyone that transports the tools of their trade. Whether you have power tools, hairdressing kit, cleaning equipment, chainsaws, or ladders on board, they’ll be covered against accidental damage, loss, or theft, meaning that if the worst happens, you’ll be able to get them repaired or replaced quickly.
Given these are the tools of your trade and you may be unable to work without them, this is an option you’ll want to have in place.

Legal Expenses

This is another important policy element given the legal of regulations and responsibilities you hold. Legal expenses can cover:

  • Services occupancy issues
  • Contract Disputes- relating to the sale, hire or purchase of goods.
  • Defence against criminal prosecutions brought by the police, the Health & Safety Executive and/or Local Authority Health & Safety Enforcement Officer
  • Bodily Injury to you and your employees’ legal rights
  • Tax & VAT in respect of any enquiry by HMRC
  • Statutory licence protection

Professional indemnity

If you advise your customers or provide a service and be required to advise on best practice, you should consider having professional indemnity insurance. Professional indemnity – P.I. insurance as it’s also known – will shield you financially should you be sued for losses by a customer for giving them poor or misleading advice

Personal Accident

This will protect you should someone be involved in an accident at work.  It will pay out in the event of death, bodily injury, or disablement.  The compensation provided can pay for temporary staff or cover the overtime cost for other team members

Employers’ liability

This is a legal requirement if you employ people. It provides cover in the event of your employee injuring themselves or if their property is damaged while at work. The law says that if you employ at least one person, you must have employers’ liability insurance (sometimes called ‘E.L. insurance’) to protect your employees in case they are injured or become ill as a result of working for you. Your policy must:

  • Cover you for at least £5 million
  • Be with an authorised insurer
  • And employers must provide a safe working environment

Public Liability

Provides cover should a member of the public injure themselves or if their property is damaged while you are working.  It covers the cost of claims made by members of the public for incidents that occur in connection to your business’s activities, for example if they slip on the floor and decide to sue you, you’ll be covered.

How much does a Tradesman Insurance policy cost?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this question – it will depend on factors such as:

  • The size of your business
  • The type of work it does
  • The value or your tools
  • If you have employees
  • If you have stock
  • If you have a commercial property to cover
  • Your claims history

The best way to find out how much protection you need is to contact your local Coversure. They’ll be able to advise you as to what you need and create a package of Tradesman cover for you.

Tradesman Insurance FAQ

Tradesman’s insurance can be complicated, given the number of risks they face.  To help you get the protection you need, here is a selection of frequently asked questions about tradesman’s cover:

No, but some employers – local authorities, charities, large companies, for example – may insist on a certain level of public liability cover. Employees’ liability insurance is a legal requirement if you have any employees

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this question – it will depend on factors such as:

  • The size of your business
  • The type of work it does
  • The value or your tools
  • If you have employees
  • If you have stock
  • If you have a commercial property to cover
  • Your claims history

Getting a quote is easy.  You can request a tradesman insurance quote here, or talk to your local Coversure broker

No, for that, you’ll need a separate van insurance policy or include it as part of a commercial combined insurance policy

Certain high-risk professions, such as scaffolders, roofers, or steeplejacks, will need specific high-risk insurance.   If you’d like to know more about high-risk insurance cover, please contact your local Coversure office

There are, and common ones include:

  • Damage to property belonging to the policyholder or under the custody or control of the policyholder
  • The costs associated with remedying defects in land or buildings, or structures disposed of by the policyholder
  • Work on gasholders, towers, steeples, bridges, shafts, dams or tunnels, and mines
  • Work involving excavations exceeding three metres in depth
  • Work at a height greater than 10 metres from the ground
  • Demolition of any kind unless such work forms part of a contract for the erection, reconstruction, alteration, or repair of buildings or structures and provided that such demolition is by handheld tools only
  • The use of explosives, water diversion, quarrying, tunnelling, or working underwater
  • The felling or lopping of trees, work in or on power stations, nuclear installations, refineries, bulk storage tanks, oil gas or chemical works, aircraft, hovercraft, watercraft, wharves, piers or jetties, railways, railway stations, or airports (airside)
  • Stand-alone roofing contracts, so those not forming part of a contract for the erection, reconstruction, alteration, or repair of buildings or structures

Need a Tradesman Insurance quote?

If you’d like a Tradesman Insurance quote from Coversure, please contact your local Coversure office or start your quote here. Our independent brokers will search their markets to find you the right policy at the right price to keep your business protected.

Commercial Combined

* Policy information is correct at the time of writing. Policy details, limits, and exclusions are subject to insurer’ changes. When taking out a policy, your local Coversure office will be able to advise you of the specifics of your cover.

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