Tradesman Liability Insurance

As a tradesman you take on the responsibility and liability for a wide range of risks. The easiest way to manage the financial side of these risks is via liability insurance.

Tradesman liability insurance covers you for property damage or personal injury caused as a result of your business activities.

There are a number of different types of liability insurance for tradesmen. The most commonly known is public liability insurance, followed by product liability insurance.

Most tradesman liability policies actually cover both public and product risk, and jointly the cover is known as broadform liability insurance.

What is liability insurance?

Tradesmen liability insurance is designed to protect you financially in the event that you or your business is sued o becomes liable for financial damages.

Working on a roof.

The most common claims for tradesman liability insurance involve property damage and personal injury, and in some cases death.

Liability insurance does not cover personal injury or property damage that you or your business (including staff in many cases) suffer personally, but instead covers third parties such as your customers and members of the general public.

Examples of claim include damage that you cause to other people’s property, or personal injury or death that you cause as part of your work.

Claims for tradesman liability insurance can range from a few hundred dollars for minor property damage cases through to millions of dollars for claims involving large commercial projects or claims that involve someone’s death or permanent disability.

If you are looking for insurance that will cover yourself for personal injury, policies such as income protection and TPD insurance are worth looking at. We can also provide quotes for these forms of tradesman insurance.

How much does liability insurance cost?

The cost of your tradesman liability insurance will depend on a few different factors.

The type of business you operate will have a major impact on your business, with business deemed to be more risky attracting higher premiums. A qualified carpenter working on residential projects would have a far lower premium than a boilermaker working on commercial marine vessels for example.

Your business turnover as well as the number of staff engaged in the business will also have a major impact on the premium. A sole trader working on his own will certainly pay a lot less for their liability insurance than a large business employing dozens of tradesmen and other workers.

Tradesmen liability insurance is mostly available in amounts of $5, $10 and $20 million. The more cover you require the higher the premium will be, however the price generally doesn’t increase dramatically. For example doubling your cover from $5 to $10 million will not cost double the premium.