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You may require tradesman insurance if you are a tradesman who works in clients homes or offices.

Running a scaffolding business comes with unique risks and not only is it important to ensure the safety of your clients and their properties, it’s crucial to protect your business too. With our help, you can quickly and easily find scaffolding insurance to suit your needs – here’s what to consider.

Why do I need scaffolders insurance?

Scaffolders insurance can help cover the cost if things go wrong, for example if an employee falls, breaks their leg and asks for compensation or if poles and boards are stolen. Policies can also pay your legal fees if you need to resolve a dispute or if a client sues you and takes you to court.

If you didn’t have insurance, you’d have to cover these costs yourself and needless to say, replacing equipment and covering legal fees and compensation can quickly spiral into the thousands of pounds.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that in a trade as potentially dangerous as scaffolding, your clients may well expect you to have appropriate insurance – particularly if you work on commercial projects.

What does scaffolding insurance cover?

Policies cover a range of incidents and events and you’ll be able to combine several different types of insurance to give your business the all-round protection it needs. Typical policies usually include two or more of these types of insurance:

• Scaffolding public liability insurance – pays for legal fees and covers compensation costs if a member of the public blames you for injury or damage to their property and decides to sue you.
• Employers’ liability insurance – covers the cost of compensation if an employee is injured or becomes sick because of work. If you have any members of staff, even part-time or temporary workers, you’ll need this by law.
• Tools and equipment insurance – compensates you if tools or equipment are damaged or stolen.
• Legal expenses – meets the cost of legal fees and court expenses if you need to settle a dispute.
• Business buildings and contents insurance – covers the cost of repairing, replacing or rebuilding any commercial premises you own along with office contents because of an insured event (like a fire, flood or attempted theft).

What else should I consider?

As a scaffolder, it’s important to make sure your policy adequately covers you for working at height. Check whether your policy has a height limit in place (for example you may only be covered to work up to 15 metres high) and if it does, make sure it’s appropriate for you.

If you work on commercial buildings and need a policy with greater height limits, you usually be able to extend your policy to include this (for a slight increase in your premium).

What level of scaffolding insurance do I need?

Levels of insurance vary – some are set by the insurer, for example, tools cover may be limited to £10,000. You can of course ask for more, but this is likely to be reflected in your policy price.

On the other hand, many insurers provide a minimum of £1 million of public liability insurance with some going up to as much as £10 million. If this is the case, then it’s up to you to decide what’s right for your business.

As a rule of thumb, the more hazards you face, the more cover you’re likely to need. To give you an idea of scope, contractors working for local authorities are expected to have at least £5 million worth of public liability. If you think that sounds a lot – remember that scaffolding can be dangerous, after all, it only takes one loose pole or plank to fall for a member of the public to get hurt.

If you need employers’ liability, then by law, you must have a minimum of £5 million worth of cover. If you don’t have cover in place, you could be fined £2,500 for each uninsured day.

How much does scaffolding insurance cost?

Scaffolders insurance is tailored to your needs so price can vary considerably. First and foremost, it’s essential that your policy gives you the protection you need so always compare features and familiarise yourself with any conditions and exclusions (events that aren’t covered).

Cheap scaffolding insurance might initially seem like a bargain but you could find you need to add on extra features and increase levels of cover – both of which can push up your premium. In contrast, policies that look expensive might actually represent great value for money if they already include everything you need.

Search for scaffolding quotes

At Quotezone.co.uk, we understand how important it is to find the cover you need at a price that suits your budget which is why we work with a panel of trusted UK insurers to bring you both choice and value.

So far, we’ve helped more than three million happy customers find protection and peace of mind. To join them, simply start your quote right here and let us do the searching for you.