Public liability insurance for sole traders

The detail behind the answer

A quotation starts with the facts of the work. That includes the places you visit, the people around you and anything that could cause damage away from your own premises.

Insurance sits alongside safe working and decent records. It cannot correct an excluded activity or replace precautions required by the policy.

Three parts of the work deserve a closer look: working alone in a customer’s home; leaving tools or materials where someone could trip; and accidentally damaging fixtures or belongings. Use the list to find the parts of the work that need a clear answer in the quotation and policy.

Before opening a quotation form, find the information behind these answers: every trade or service that appears on your invoices; use of labour-only or bona fide subcontractors; and work at height, heat, digging or other higher-risk tasks. A brief written clarification is easier to rely on than a half-remembered conversation.

If a customer requested the insurance, compare the certificate with the contract before sending it. Dates and limits should agree. If the answer is not clear, ask before the first job relies on the cover.

What can go wrong around the work

The risk becomes clearer when it is broken into real events:

• Working alone in a customer’s home
• Leaving tools or materials where someone could trip
• Accidentally damaging fixtures or belongings

Do not assume that a familiar accident is automatically insured. Conditions and exclusions still apply.

Use “accidentally damaging fixtures or belongings” as a practical example. Describe the people, property and work involved, just as you would if explaining the job to somebody outside the trade.

Then consider “working alone in a customer’s home”. If it is a regular possibility, it should be recognisable from the business description and quotation answers.

Stay with work the business genuinely carries out. The aim is an accurate description, not a list of unlikely disasters.

Have these answers ready

Use actual business records where you can. The provider is likely to need:

• Every trade or service that appears on your invoices
• Use of labour-only or bona fide subcontractors
• Work at height, heat, digging or other higher-risk tasks

Work through “every trade or service that appears on your invoices”, “use of labour-only or bona fide subcontractors” and “work at height, heat, digging or other higher-risk tasks” using the business records already to hand. The aim is a fair description of the work, not a polished answer that leaves out inconvenient details.

If another person completes the form for the business, read the answers before cover is accepted. The responsibility for accurate information does not disappear.

Two reminders from this page are “a trading name must match the policy record” and “personal possessions are not automatically business tools”; keep them beside the documents when you check the quotation. If the policy takes a different approach to “every trade or service that appears on your invoices”, ask about it before the cover is needed and retain any written reply.

Keep the quotation record with the policy. If the wording describes a narrower business, ask why.

Check the limits and restrictions

• A trading name must match the policy record
• Personal possessions are not automatically business tools
• Hiring help may create employers’ liability duties

The certificate is only a summary. Use the schedule, wording and endorsements for the fuller picture.

What to look at one last time

Confirm who works for the business and how subcontractors are used. Employment status and working arrangements can affect more than one type of insurance.

This is a paperwork check, not a safety plan. The job still needs suitable precautions and competent work.

Read the cancellation and payment terms as well. Cover can be affected if an instalment fails or a requested document is not supplied, even though the original quotation looked satisfactory.

One point is easy to lose among the paperwork: hiring help may create employers’ liability duties; check how this affects the jobs you accept and ask for clarification if the policy takes a different approach.