What's the Best Insurance for Self-Employed Electricians?
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Making sure you’re covered for any eventuality as an electrician is extremely important. It’ll offer you the financial peace of mind you need to do your best work and sleep easily at night, and your customers will be reassured that you’re a quality tradesman who will take the necessary precautions and preparations to complete the work to a high standard.
A well-rounded Electricians insurance policy might include a number of different policies—our guide to Electrician’s insurance goes into more detail if you’re wondering about some of the additional coverages that might be nice to have.
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Best Insurances for Self-Employed Electricians
A quality self-employed sparky will always protect themselves with Public Liability. They might also opt for Professional Indemnity, Tools & Equipment and Income Protection coverages, depending on their situation.
What insurances does a Self-Employed Electrician need?
Public Liability
A staple of any quality tradesman, Public Liability insurance helps protect you if a third party has their property damaged or becomes injured due to your work. This could include your clients, other businesses on-site or even members of the general public passing by.
Public Liability will cover both any compensation a court awards and any legal fees you accrue in the process, up to the agreed amount of your policy—usually £1M, £2M, £5M or £10M, although it can go higher if you work on more expensive projects.
Examples
- You’re carrying your toolbox through a client’s office when you drop it on their foot, injuring them. Their doctor recommends they spend 2 weeks off work, and they sue you to compensate for their lost wages
- You’re working on an expensive chandelier when you make an error and it drops to the ground, smashing in the process. Your client sues you for the cost of replacing the chandelier
Product Liability
Often sold alongside Public Liability, Product Liability insurance can help keep you covered after you’ve completed your work. It’ll protect you in the event that a product you sell causes injury or illness to one of your customers, and they sue you as a result.
Like Public Liability, you’ll be covered for both compensation and legal fees, so if something does go wrong you know you’ll be protected financially.
Examples
- You sell a faulty fuse to a customer. When they install it, it blows their entire fuse box and they have to have it replaced. They sue you for the cost of repair and replacements
- Your business manufactures a beginners electrician tool box for sale locally. A couple of the tools are faulty and cause injury to those using them. They sue you for their damages
Professional Indemnity
Professional Indemnity insurance will protect you against claims made by customers who are unhappy with any service, advice or recommendations they received from you. If you provide certifications, draw up blueprints or regularly advise your clients on what they should do, it’ll help keep you covered if your advice causes damages to a client, or even if they’re just unhappy with your general service.
Examples
- You’ve drawn up a wiring blueprint for a new office building, but an error in your measurements means it has to be re-done. The construction company sues you for the cost of the error
- You’ve finished a piece of work in a client’s home but they’re unsatisfied with the work you’ve done, and are paying to have it redone properly. They sue you for the cost of redoing it.
Your Public and Product Liability can likely be packaged together, and once you have a Professional Indemnity policy you should be well covered for anything that could go wrong customer-side. However, there are a few more insurances you should keep in mind that could help to protect you and your business.
Business Protection insurances
Employers’ Liability
Employers' Liability insurance is a legal requirement for nearly any business hiring staff. Whether they’re full-time, part-time, or even on a one-off, you must have an Employers’ Liability policy before bringing them on board, so if you're thinking of growing your business from just yourself, or bringing on a friend to help with a piece of work, you'll need to have this sorted.
Employers’ Liability will cover the cost of compensation and legal fees if an employee believes their work for you caused them injury, or to become unwell.
Example
- You provide a staff member with a faulty set of pliers, and they cut themselves. They believe you’re at fault, and sue you for damages as they’re unable to work for a week
Tools and Equipment
While not mandatory by any means, if you have any expensive tools or equipment that it’d be difficult to replace then a good Tools and Equipment cover might make sense for you. It’ll cover the cost of replacing any tools and equipment on the policy up to an agreed value, typically between £1,000-£20,000, although they can go higher if needed.
Example
- You own an expensive toolbox with around £2,000 of tools in it. It’s stolen from a secure lock-up. Your Tools insurance covers you for this, so your insurance covers the cost of equivalent replacements
Income Protection
Often referred to as Income Protection or Critical Illness, these policies can help support you financially if you’re unable to work due to injury or illness. They can prove valuable to trades that involve high risk, such as being around electricity, and offer a peace of mind if something were ever to go wrong.
Example
- While at a customer’s home, you hurt your back and can’t return to work for 3 months. You’re covered for a % of income (typically between 50%-70% depending on provider)
What Next?
Check out our guide to the cost of popular insurances for an Electrician here to get an idea of how much you're likely to pay—basic Public Liability policies start from around £89 for the year, so it's good to be clued up on cost (and we've even got some great tips on how to reduce your costs!)
Find Electricians insurance today.
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