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Insulation Installers Public liability insurance

As a trade contractor, whether you run a small, medium or large business or operate as a sole trader, it is highly recommended that your business be covered by public liability insurance. This covers you against any claims resulting from personal injury or damage to property caused to third parties as result of business operations. This can potentially range from minor damage worth a few hundred dollars to the destruction of property, and from minor injury to serious injury or death.

Although all precautions are taken to minimize accidents, they still happen from time to time. As a very basic example, in the course of installing roof insulation one of your employees could break or damage roof tiles or the internal ceiling panels. The customer would have the right to claim for the damages and your business would be liable.
A more serious incident, such as a fall through the ceiling or a dropped tool or piece of equipment, could injure a customer below. They would be then be able to claim damages for the injury sustained and your business would again be liable.
In both of these instances, and any others in which it can be shown that you or your employees were responsible for the loss, public insurance will cover both the cost of damages and the cost of legal action.
Importantly, public liability claims can be made at any time up to three years from the date of the incident and the amount of cover available to you is fixed at the date of occurrence, so it is vital that you keep your level of cover at an appropriate rate. When deciding how much cover is required, bear in mind that your policy covers all claims that arise from “any one occurrence”. In other words, if an incident results in injuries to more than one person, your sum insured needs to be sufficient to cover all the claims from injured parties—it does not apply separately to individual claimants.
While a majority of policies have typically been for the minimum amount of $5 million, it is becoming more common to take $10 million cover as the cost of the increase is generally not significant. In some situations a contract may stipulate $20 million is required (such as work on a shopping centre or school and government contracts) and, though rarely needed, up to $50 million cover can be taken if necessary.
One more important factor to take into account is that the amount of cover you require is in no way related to the value of the work you carry out. While the potential for major property damage may be slightly reduced on smaller jobs, you need to ensure that you are covered for the personal injury claims that could arise as well.
For professional advice on public liability insurance, speak to a broker today. They will work out the most suitable level of public liability cover for your business and find the best rates for you.