Public liability insurance

In case you or your employee injure someone or damage their property.

What’s typically covered by public liability insurance for painters and decorators?

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 employee, if you have one

For example:

• while painting a customer’s bedroom, you spill a pot of undercoat on a dressing table
• you leave a ladder out and your customer’s child trips over it, breaking their arm

Read more about public liability insurance

Employers’ liability insurance

In case an employee gets sick or injured while working for you.

What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• employee illness or injury caused by working for you
• medical bills and legal fees due to employee illness or injury
• some temporary or casual workers may be covered too

**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:

• your employee falls off a ladder, breaking their arm
• a casual labourer claims that you encouraged unsafe working practices and takes you to court

Tools insurance

In case your painting and decorating tools are lost, stolen or damaged.

What’s typically covered by tools insurance for a decorator?

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

For example:

• a leak in your customer’s roof causes damage to your rollers, brushes and sprayer
• your tools are packed into your van incorrectly, and get damaged on the drive home

Read more about tools insurance

Stock insurance

In case something happens to the materials you keep in stock, like your paint.

What’s typically covered by stock insurance?

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

For example:

• you’re parked at the wholesalers and someone drives into the back of your van, causing damage to the client’s stock of paint
• all of the paint for a commercial client gets stolen from your site unit

Read more about stock insurance

Business and office equipment insurance

In case things like laptops or office filing cabinets are lost, stolen, or damaged.

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 painting and decorating tools)

For example:

• your laptop, which holds your client invoices, gets stolen from your home office
• you spill coffee on your work phone while driving between clients

Read more about business and office equipment insurance

Own plant insurance

In case plant machinery, like excavators, you own is lost, stolen, or damaged.

What’s typically covered by own plant insurance?

• a paint sprayer you’ve just bought is stolen while locked in your work unit overnight
• your customer drives into your van, causing significant damage to your steamer

For example:

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

Read more about own plant insurance

Contract works insurance

In case your painting and decorating work in progress is damaged by something like a fire, flood or vandalism.

What’s typically covered by contract works insurance for a decorator?

• repair costs for the work you have in progress if it’s damaged or destroyed
• labour, materials and tools to get the job back to the stage it was at before it was damaged or destroyed
• damage caused by things like fire, flood, storm, vandalism or theft

For example:

• a fire on site causes damage to painting work you’ve already finished, as well as your tools and equipment
• flooding causes water damage to the decorating work you’ve done over Christmas, delaying the job into the new year

Read more about contract works insurance

Legal expenses insurance

In case you’re faced with legal costs from running your painting and decorating 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 client raises a contractual dispute, claiming you’ve delayed their shop’s opening date and caused a financial loss
• a paid apprentice 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 outside of 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 fall off a ladder, breaking your wrist and delaying a job by a week
• an employee runs over your foot while reversing the van, keeping you off site for three weeks

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 own plant cover and contract works 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 painters and decorators 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 handyman insurance or interior design insurance?

Do I need cover for other types of work?

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

• Artist insurance
• Carpenter insurance
• Joinery insurance
• Bathroom fitter insurance
• Plasterers insurance
• Tilers insurance
• Construction insurance
• Flooring contractor insurance
• Insurance for gardeners
• Glazier insurance
• Tradesman insurance

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.