Public liability insurance

In case someone is injured or their property gets damaged, because of your carpentry business.

What’s typically covered by public liability insurance for carpenters?

Claims against your business for:

• damage to someone’s property, because of your work
• an injury caused by your business activities
• accidental damage or injury caused by your employees, if you have any

For example:

• you make a dent in a client’s wall, which will need restoring
• someone trips and falls over a drill you’ve left on the stairs, breaking an ankle

What you’ll need additional cover for

• your tools and equipment – you can add this specific cover when setting up your policy

Read more about public liability insurance

Employers’ liability insurance

In case something happens to an employee while they’re working for you.

What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• an employee, including a temp or casual worker, suing you after falling ill because of working for you, or
• making a claim for an injury they’ve suffered through working for you

**Employers’ liability insurance is required by law if you have people working for you. Without it, you could be fined up to £2,500 a day for each employee.**

For example:

• you send a contractor to a new job, while you finish up with a client. They slip and fall down the stairs on their way out, breaking their wrist
• an employee slips while cutting wood for a job, injuring their finger

Tools insurance

In case your carpentry tools are lost, stolen or damaged.

What’s typically covered by tools insurance for carpenters?

• loss, damage or theft of your hand tools, power tools and specialist carpentry equipment

For example:

• someone breaks into your garage and steals essential tools, including your jigsaw
• your new drill gets dropped and broken on-site

What you’ll need additional cover for

• larger plant items you use to carry out your business – you’ll need to add our specific plant cover for these

Read more about tools insurance

Stock insurance

In case something happens to the carpentry products or materials you keep in stock.

What’s typically covered by stock insurance?

• loss, damage or theft of your work materials, or items you’re planning to sell

For example:

• your customer’s stock gets damaged in a road accident, on the way to another job
• the materials you’ve ordered for a new contract are stolen from the customer’s garden

Read more about stock insurance

Business and office equipment insurance

In case something happens to equipment like your phone or laptop.

What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?

• loss, damage or theft of the equipment you use to run your business (operational equipment, not your carpentry tools)

For example:

• a leak in the roof of your house causes damage to your laptop, which holds your bookings and client invoices
• despite a good CCTV and alarm system, your small office premises are broken into and your computer, printer and a spare monitor are stolen

Read more about business and office equipment insurance

Hired-in plant insurance

In case your rented plant machinery, like a tenoner, is lost, stolen or damaged.

What’s typically covered by hired-in plant insurance?

• loss, damage or theft of things like tenoners, sanders and panel saws which you’ve hired in

For example:

• one of the panel saws you’ve hired malfunctions and damages the materials you’re using
• a water leak on site damages the sanding machine you’ve hired

What you’ll need additional cover for

• tools and plant machinery which you own yourself – you’ll need to add our specific own plant insurance for this

Read more about hired-in plant insurance

Own plant insurance

In case your own plant machinery, like a planer, is lost, stolen or damaged.

What’s typically covered by own plant insurance?

• loss, damage or theft of things like a glue spreader or spindle moulder

For example:

• a machine you’ve just bought is stolen while locked in your work unit overnight
• your customer drives into your workbench, causing significant damage

What you’ll need additional cover for

• plant machinery you’ve rented – you’ll need to add our specific hired-in plant cover for this

Read more about own plant insurance

Legal expenses insurance

In case you’re faced with legal costs from running your carpentry business.

What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?

• legal expenses resulting from your day-to-day business activities, like disputes with employees
• the cost of legal claims relating to property damage, nuisance or trespass
• HMRC investigations, or tax and compliance issues
• includes a tax advice helpline, a 24/7 confidential legal helpline, and crisis support to help you protect your reputation, as a trusted tradesperson

For example:

• your customer raises a contractual dispute, claiming you haven’t fulfilled your obligations and refusing to pay an invoice
• an employee sues you for unfair dismissal

Read more about legal expenses insurance

Personal accident insurance

In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at or away from work.

What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?

• injury or death at work or elsewhere, for anyone covered on the policy
• lost income, medical costs and hospitalisation benefit

For example:

• you lose a finger while working on site
• a casual labourer breaks their leg on a night out (they’ll need to be covered on the personal accident policy already, before their accident)

Read more about personal accident insurance

Is public liability enough for third party property damage?

In some situations you may need more than public liability to cover certain kinds of property damage. Learn about hired-in plant cover and own plant cover.

Can I just cover my most expensive tools?

Make sure you cover the total cost of replacing all your tools or you’ll only get a proportion of your claim paid out if something happens to them. Learn about tool cover.

Which type of workers do I need insurance for?

Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ people.

If you have people working for you, including bona fide subcontractors (BFSC), labour-only subcontractors (LOSC), part-timers, or full-time staff, employers’ liability insurance is required by law.

Read on for our simplified guide to the difference between labour-only subcontractors and bona fide subcontractors.

Will tools insurance cover all my equipment?

Depending on what you use to do your work, you may need other covers.

You may need more than tools insurance – for example, business equipment insurance if you have a work laptop, plant insurance if you use machinery.

Does carpenters insurance cover my work correctly?

Make sure you’re picking the right cover to protect you properly. It’s important to know that if you have another trade or job, you’ll need additional cover. For example, do you need to consider builders insurance or bathroom fitter insurance?

Do I need cover for other types of work?

If you provide other services, make sure you’re covered:

• Joinery insurance
• Handyman insurance
• Tradesman insurance
• Plumbers insurance
• Plasterers insurance
• Kitchen fitter insurance
• Bedroom fitters’ insurance
• Painter and decorator insurance
• Locksmiths’ insurance
• Plasterers’ insurance
• Plumbers public liability insurance
• Roofers insurance
• Insurance for electricians

Other types of insurance

• Limited company insurance
• Self-employed insurance
• Freelance insurance
• Consultant insurance
• Contractors insurance
• Sole trader insurance

Which public liability cover limit should I choose?

Think about the maximum possible loss your business could face in the event of a claim, and make sure you take legal fees and damages into consideration. You can choose from three levels of coverage – £1 million, £2 million, or up to £5 million.