Public liability claims can have a huge financial impact on your business, which is why we recommend public liability insurance for plumbers as a must-have. In fact, many companies won’t even consider you for work if you can’t provide evidence of having public liability insurance. It’s a crucial necessity to safeguard your plumbing business, and ensure you’ll get work.
Risks of being a plumber….
Public liability insurance will protect you as a plumber against some of the accidents that may occur whilst working, whether you work as a plumbing, heating and gas engineer for residential, commercial or a combination of both types of properties.
Likely claims may include a member of public hurting themselves as a result of your work or you accidentally causing damage to the property that you are working on. Perhaps you are installing a dishwasher but make a faulty connection, causing massive amounts of leaking. The leak may have damaged the flooring, the walls and the client’s personal property. Not to mention that if the water damage isn’t restored immediately and thoroughly, this can cause even more problems and even more money! (The foul smell of damp carpet and mould isn’t very pleasant either!) One simple mistake on your part could end up costing tens of thousands of pounds in property damage. Can you afford to make a mistake?
Health and safety of employees and contractors
Many plumbers are self-employed, in which case they don’t have to worry about employers liability insurance, but if you have a number of plumbers or contractors who work for you then employers liability is a legal requirement. If your employee or contractor injures themselves or becomes ill as a result of working for you, then they may hold you liable for their illness or injury. There are numerous risks involved in working as a plumber or a heating engineer:
- Exposure to hazardous substances such as mould, lead, asbestos, solvents, etc (Especially when working with older buildings as asbestos and lead were commonly used for building materials even within the past century. They have since been found to cause serious health issues including cancer and respiratory infections.)
- Working at heights on in confined spaces. The physical strains of working in cramped or confined spaces can cause back injury and joint problems if you aren’t stretching and taking breaks periodically.
- Lifting heavy objects improperly.
- Injury by work tool.
- Exposure to electricity. (Water and electricity don’t match. You don’t need to be told that.)
- Exposure to biohazards such as raw sewage or rodent droppings.
- Burns from hot water or steam.
Other types of plumbers insurance
Tools cover is quite common for plumbers insurance as it protects you against the loss or damage of the tools that you require to work, such as portable power tools and hand tools. Tools cover is often taken out alongside Goods in Transit cover if you tend to keep tools and materials inside a work vehicle such as a van.
Another overlooked type of plumbers insurance is professional indemnity which will cover you in case you are found to be negligent in your advice or service. Though leading insurers are unlikely to include professional indemnity into your insurance policy, many brokers like us will craft an insurance package tailored to plumbers and heating engineers to cover you for professional indemnity too.
If you would like a quote for plumbers insurance, contact us! You can even purchase plumbers insurance for free from your mobile while you are working on site, and get covered immediately! Just give us a call at 0800 1696137!