Lines open: 8am - 8pm Mon - Fri
9am - 5pm Sat and 10am - 4pm Sun

Tradesman Insurance: Tradesmen 'Need to Know': Public Liability Insurance

From builders to plumbers, being a tradesman can be a risky business so making sure that members of the public and your clients are as safe as possible should be one of your top priorities. But, from time to time, accidents do happen. Public liability insurance protects your business against claims made by members of the public for damage to their property or personal injury because of your business's work. If members of the public, clients or customers visit your premises or you visit theirs then it really is worth your while taking out public liability insurance. Without it, you and your business could be in for an expensive ride.

Public liability insurance: why bother?

As a tradesman you've probably got 101 things to do and not enough time in the day to do them. Taking out public liability insurance might be somewhere on your 'to do' list. Rather than shoving it to the bottom as more work comes in, why not move it to the top of that list today? By taking some time now to sort it out you can be sure that if there's an accident or injury in the future as a result of your work then you're covered.

If you think you're short on time now could your business get enough extra work to afford to pay for all of the following things if you don't take out public liability insurance?

Damages awarded to the claimant.
Your legal costs in defending a claim.
Claimants' legal costs if you are at fault.

Don't let yourself get stung for not having public liability insurance.

Public liability insurance: things to look out for

There are loads of public liability insurance policies out there. Before you buy any cover, make sure it meets your needs. It's worth checking the following things.

What's included in the policy?
Is the level of cover enough for your business?
Is the level of cover sufficient to work for your clients?
Can you change your level of cover depending on your needs?

Do you have to have public liability insurance?

Generally, tradesmen don't have to have public liability insurance. But, more and more customers are asking for proof of public liability cover before allowing tradesmen to carry out work for them. That means without it you could be losing out on new work and income. Also, taking out public liability insurance is a good idea because if a claim is made against you and you don't have any or enough public liability insurance then you could find yourself significantly out of pocket.

Buying public liability insurance will not only protect you and your business if a claim is made against you for property damage or personal injury as a result of your work, but it could also be a way of getting more work from clients who insist upon tradesmen proving that they have acceptable public liability cover. By not having public liability insurance you're short-changing yourself and your business.