Looking for Contractor Insurance?
Whether you’re a sole contractor or have your own contracting company, you’ll want to take out financial protection to protect you and your business.
Covering your assets with contractor insurance against claims that might happen to you, your workplace or the products/services that you sell, could help to keep your business up and running. As every client or project has different expectations and requirements, it may be a good idea to look at a couple of options to make sure you have the right level of protection.
What kind of contractor insurance is there?
There are quite a few types of contractor insurance available as such a wide variety of services can fall under the umbrella. Whether you’re a builder, tradesman or simply offering your knowledge and expertise, you may have essential tools and equipment or just a laptop and phone.
Public liability insurance for contractors
This type of contractor insurance covers you in case you cause any property damage or injury to third parties like the general public. This is particularly helpful for tradesmen or builders who are in a higher risk industry than others. If you’re a solo contractor this could be particularly helpful as an expensive compensation payout could be financially crippling and very stressful.
If you deal with members of the public, have visitors to your office or work in-house with your clients, then may be worth considering this type of policy to protect you against unforeseen circumstances.
Do contractors need employers’ liability insurance?
If you’re a solo contractor then you won’t need this type of contractor insurance policy, however if you’re running a business and have employees then you’ll need to purchase this by law. It will help you to pay out any compensation or associated legal costs if one of your staff are injured or become ill during work.
Would a contractor need professional indemnity insurance?
If your business centres around providing advice or professional services to other companies, then this kind of contractor insurance could protect you against claims from dissatisfied clients. If your customer loses money due to your actions, then they may wish to claim this back as well as compensation and legal costs too – it can all add up!
Contractor Insurance – Useful FAQs
Yes. If you’ve got employees that are full time, part time or even casual you’ll need to take out employers’ liability insurance, otherwise you could be fined £2,500 each day.
For contractors or freelancers, the most common types of contractor insurance policies taken out are employers’ liability insurance, public liability insurance and professional indemnity insurance.
It’s down to you as it’s not legally required, but it can help provide financial protection to help you cover legal costs and provide cover against damage to both your own AND your clients’ property and equipment.
You’ll need to provide your insurer with quite detailed information about your clients and the kind of work you complete for them. Most insurers will want to know:
- Any contractual requirements
- What’s expected from your service
- The size and scope of clients and projects
This is particularly important if you’ve got access to clients’ data and rely on your laptop for work. If you suffer from a data-breach it could have consequences for your clients too and if they sue you for negligence then you could be facing a hefty payout as well as legal costs.