You've never had a claim. So far, you've been lucky. But luck isn't a strategy. One accident, one injury, one customer lawsuit, and everything you've built disappears if you're not insured properly.
The problem is: there are a dozen different insurance products for tradespeople, they have confusing names, they overlap sometimes and have massive gaps other times, and most people don't understand what they actually cover.
You think you're covered. You're not. Then someone gets hurt and you lose everything.
This guide tells you what you actually need, what each one covers, what the common gaps are, and how not to be that person.
Public Liability Insurance: The Essential One
If you do work in customer properties or on customer land, you need public liability. Full stop. No exceptions.
Public liability covers damage you cause to someone else's property, or injury to a member of the public, as a result of your work. You damage their wall. Your van hits a parked car. Someone slips on something you left on site. Someone gets hit by something falling from your scaffold. Public liability covers it.
You need at least £6 million cover. Most customers don't ask for this, but if they do and you don't have it, they won't hire you. Some large construction contracts demand £10 million. For most trades starting out, £6 million is fine. Cost: £200-500 per year depending on your trade and risk profile.
What it doesn't cover: Damage to your own equipment. Your tools. Your van. That's what other insurance is for. It also doesn't cover work that's rubbish quality (you installed a fence wrong and it blew down). It covers accidents, not bad workmanship.
Important detail: Some public liability policies have exclusions. Check if yours covers scaffolding (you'll need it), if it covers electrical work (essential if you're electrician), if it covers roofing (if you're a roofer, you need this). Generic public liability sometimes excludes high-risk work. Don't get generic. Get a policy for your specific trade.
Employer's Liability: When You Have Staff
The second someone works for you (employee or apprentice), you need employer's liability insurance. It's also legally required. You'll get fined if you don't have it and it comes out that you have employees.
Employer's liability covers injury or illness to an employee caused by your business operations. Someone gets their hand caught in equipment. Someone develops back problems from the work. Someone gets food poisoning at the site. Someone slips and breaks their leg on a job site. Employer's liability covers it.
Cost: £200-400 per year as a tradesperson. Not expensive. But mandatory if anyone's employed.
What it doesn't cover: Claims from the public (that's public liability). Claims from contractors (they're usually their own responsibility, though some policies cover certain scenarios).
Important: You need both public liability AND employer's liability if you have employees. They're different. Both matter.
Professional Indemnity: For Design or Advice
If part of what you do is advise customers on how to solve a problem (not just physically fix it), you might need professional indemnity.
An electrician just installing a socket: doesn't need it. An electrician who designs a whole electrical upgrade for a house: might need it. A roofer who just replaces tiles: doesn't need it. A roofer who surveys and advises on structural issues: needs it.
Professional indemnity covers claims that your advice caused the customer loss. You told them something was safe and it wasn't. You designed something wrong. You specified the wrong materials.
Cost: £300-800 per year depending on your trade and risk.
When it matters: If you work for building companies or contractors, they often require this. If you do design work. If you do property surveys. If you advise on building regulations compliance.
If you're a plumber who just unblocks drains, you probably don't need this. If you're a plumber designing a full bathroom rework with regulatory compliance, you should have it.
Tools and Equipment Insurance: The Overlooked Gap
Your public liability doesn't cover your tools. If your van gets broken into and your equipment is stolen, that's a loss you absorb.
Tools and equipment insurance covers your kit. Stolen, damaged, lost on site. Most policies have a limit per item (usually £1,000-3,000). Most have an overall limit (£10,000-50,000).
Cost: £150-400 per year depending on the value of your tools.
The gotcha: Some policies require equipment to be locked in a secure vehicle when not in use. Some require you to photograph items. Some don't cover theft from vehicles at all. Read the terms. Many tradespeople get stung by discovering their theft loss isn't covered because they left tools in the van overnight.
Common mistake: People assume their home contents insurance covers business tools. It doesn't. Business tools need business insurance. Home contents explicitly excludes business use.
Van Insurance: The One You Can't Skip
Obviously you need van insurance. But most tradies don't realize: standard van insurance is for vans used for personal use or light commercial. If you're using your van as a tool of your trade, you need commercial van insurance.
The difference: personal use van covers you driving to the shops or commuting. Commercial van covers you working out of it. Using it to transport equipment and materials. Using it as a mobile workshop.
Claims on a personal van while using it commercially get rejected. You'll discover this when you need it.
Cost: Usually £50-150 more per year than personal use, but you're legally obliged and insured properly.
Legal Expenses Insurance: The Cheap Protection
If you get sued or get into a dispute with a customer, legal expenses insurance covers the cost of defending yourself or pursuing a claim.
Legal costs are brutal. A solicitor letter costs £300. Going to court costs thousands. If you're in the wrong, you pay. If you're in the right but it's expensive to defend, this covers it.
Cost: £100-200 per year. Often included in combined business packages.
When it matters: Payment disputes. Customers claiming you damaged property. Disputes over workmanship. These are expensive to resolve without help.
The Dangerous Gaps (What People Miss)
Gap 1: Geographic limits. Your public liability says "UK only." You do a job in France or Spain, you're not covered. Check if international work is covered.
Gap 2: Exclusions for specific work. You're a general builder but you start doing asbestos removal. Your insurance doesn't cover asbestos work. You need specific asbestos removal insurance. This kills people who switch what they do without updating insurance.
Gap 3: Underinsurance. You're covered for £6 million. A claim comes in for £8 million. You're liable for the gap. Get adequate cover for the actual value of your work and the risk.
Gap 4: No cover for unqualified staff. You employ someone without proper training and they cause damage. Your insurance says the employee wasn't qualified. Claim rejected. Ensure anyone you employ is properly trained and documented as such.
Gap 5: Assuming one policy covers everything. Public liability + employer's liability + tools + van insurance = four different policies usually. People get "combined" policies that claim to cover everything. Read them. They usually have massive gaps. Better to get specific policies for what you need.
The claim that kills businesses: "I didn't realize I wasn't covered for that." Get the policy document. Read the exclusions. Ask your broker to explain specifically what is and isn't covered. Don't assume. Assumptions cost you six figures.
How Much You Actually Need
Absolute minimum: Public liability £6 million (if you work in customer properties). It costs £250 a year. Non-negotiable.
If you have employees: Add employer's liability £10 million. Another £300 a year.
If you carry valuable tools: Add tools insurance. Depends on value but typically £200 a year.
If you do any advisory or design work: Add professional indemnity. Another £400 a year.
Commercial van insurance: Already mentioned, but essential. Not optional.
Total for a full-time tradesperson with employees and decent equipment: roughly £1,500-2,500 per year. That's not a luxury. That's baseline risk protection. No competent tradesperson operates without it.
What Your Customer Will Ask For
Larger customers (building companies, contractors, businesses) will ask for proof of insurance before hiring you. They want to see your certificate.
What they typically ask for:
Public liability certificate: Proof that you have at least £6 million cover. They'll often ask for a higher amount (£10 million). Have your certificate ready to email.
Employer's liability certificate: If you have employees, they'll want to see this.
Health and safety documentation: Risk assessments, method statements, H&S policies. This isn't insurance but it's related. Larger clients always want this.
Not having these ready means you lose jobs. Having them ready and actually being properly insured means you win jobs and you operate safely.
The Investment Perspective
Insurance is expensive. It feels like money you're throwing away if you never claim. But it's not an expense. It's business survival insurance.
One claim that's not covered wipes out years of profit. You're uninsured and someone sues you for £20,000. That's 18 months of work gone. That's a business ending incident.
For £2,000 a year, you're protected. That's 4% of a £50,000 annual income. For that 4%, you eliminate a risk that could cost you 100%.
Get properly insured. Update it as your business changes. Review it annually. Don't cheap out. Don't leave gaps. Insurance done right is the cost of doing business. Insurance done wrong is how businesses fail.