Things to consider as a tradesman
July 11, 2022One of the surprising side-effects of the recent coronavirus pandemic is the boost it has given to the various trades in the UK as a worthwhile career. According to a blog posted on the website Show House, the trade sector has attracted an additional 18% of workers – either taking up the employment as an additional string to their bow or as a new career.
Commenting on that upsurge in numbers – and the upturn in work available – Business Lancashire on the 5th of January 2022 stressed the importance of insurance if you take up work as a tradesman. And here’s why.
Public liability
Probably the most critical reason for arranging insurance protection is your public liability as any tradesman.
In your work, you will be entering many people’s homes during the day, making repairs and servicing equipment.
In the course of that work, you run the risk of one of your customers, a visitor of theirs, or even a member of the public suffering an injury or having their property damaged. If they hold you – or the work you are doing – responsible, you may have to pay substantial damages.
Public liability insurance safeguards you against those risks (up to pre-agreed limits).
Professional Indemnity
As a tradesman – whether that is as a carpenter, builder, plumber, electrician, gas engineer, or any other – your advice and recommendations will also carry a great deal of weight with your customers. They are entitled to rely on the advice you give – as a tradesman, your knowledge and experience are reasonably assumed to be greater.
Yet mistakes can be made, and the advice you have given in all good faith results in their suffering an injury or financial loss. By holding you liable for faulty advice, they can claim substantial damages from you – and professional indemnity insurance is designed to safeguard you against such claims.
Employers’ liability insurance
As you grow your business as a tradesman, there comes a time when you may need to employ someone else to help do the work.
As soon as you take someone on in this capacity – and except for a very few exceptions applicable to close family members if you’re a sole trader – the law demands that you also arrange employers’ liability insurance of at least £5 million.
The insurance cover will ensure that you can meet your obligations as an employer – or even a former employer – to anyone who suffered an injury or contracted a longer-term illness because of the work they were doing for you. You can be fined up to £2,500 for every day you are without that insurance cover.
Contract works insurance
If your work involves taking on bigger building or contract works, a failure to complete the job within an agreed timeframe may attract financial penalties.
Specialist contract works insurance provides you financial compensation if an otherwise uninsurable event – such as steady rainfall – prevents you from completing a contract or destroys structures on which you work.
Tools and equipment
A tradesman is nothing, of course, without his tools – and their loss, theft, or damage is likely to result in immediate loss of income.
Insurance cover against such losses – which might even include the theft of tools stored in your van overnight – will ensure that you have the wherewithal to replace or repair lost items.
The importance of insurance for tradesmen
As you can see, therefore, the appropriate type and level of insurance can protect and safeguard many aspects of your livelihood as a tradesman. Why not contact us today to see how we can help you protect your business?