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insurance for a self employed electrician

If you are looking  for insurance for a self employed electrician there are a few key factors you need to be aware of regarding the type of cover that you need and some of the main factors that can influence the premium you pay and aspects of insurance that you need to make sure are suitable for your requirements.

What insurance do I need as an electrician?

For the self employed electrician the core insurance requirements to enable safe trading is a suitable liability insurance policy, the cover you require under that policy will be dependent upon how you business is set up  and how you operate.

Public liability insurance for electricians

Third party or public liability insurance protects the policyholder against claims made against then for their legal liability for property damage and personal injury suffered by others arising out of the business. The policy will pay out in respect of compensation awards made against the policyholder and importantly carries the cost of any legal defence in respect of any alleged claims made against the policyholder.

Whilst public liability is not a legal requirement, it is a requirement of certain trade bodies and should be considered an essential cover for the financial protection it offers the policyholder. Increasingly, electricians are required by the terms of the contracts they work under to hold public liability cover and usually the limit of cover is also specified in the policy.

The limit of indemnity represents the insurers maximum liability in respect of any one claim under the policy. Popular limits are £1M, £2M and £5M, with other limits available upon request.

Important aspects of cover for electricians on public liability insurance policies.

In view of the sometimes specialist nature of work undertaken by electricians, there are a couple of issues that require special mention when looking at public liability insurance requirements.

Efficacy or Failure to Perform

In certain circumstances insurers will exclude claims arising under the policy for financial loss arising from a products failure to perform it’s intended purpose. This is quite common in security and alarm installation work. If you undertake this type of work, you need to decide if you require the efficacy cover and if so make sure that any policy you are considering includes the efficacy insurance. You can find more information on our efficacy page.

Commercial and Three Phase Work

Some electricians liability insurance policies are designed to meet the needs of domestic electricians and contain an exclusion in respect of commercial, industrial and three phase work. You need to check your policy or quotes if you undertake this work to make sure that this type of activity is not excluded.

How much does electricians liability insurance cost?

Like other insurances, this depends on your particular circumstances but the key features in pricing are the type of work you undertake, where you work, the number of employees, if any and the number of principals in the business, the limit of indemnity you require under the policy and whether you have previously had claims made against you. Taking all this into account, it is worth pointing out that the premium for electricians public liability insurance is very competitive and policies are available from under £100 a year for may sole traders and new businesses.

Employers Liability Insurance

If you employ people in the United Kingdom you are, with a few exceptions, required by law to have employers liability insurance with a minimum limit of indemnity of £5m. In practice insurers issue policies with a standard minimum limit of £10M. Employers liability insurance is not generally available as stand alone product and you will find that the the cover is usually only available to electricians as part of a package of insurances such as combined liability or tradesman. More information on who does and doesn’t need employers liability insurance is available on our employers liability page.

Additional insurance for self employed electricians

As a self employed electrician there are a number of other insurance products that you might be interested in such as cover for your tools, goods in transit, personal accident. These covers may be available to you on the back of your public liability insurance policy and you can find out more about these products from your insurance adviser.

How do I buy insurance for a self employed electrician?

You can apply on-line to obtain a range of quotes from leading insurers or you can call us directly to discuss your requirements with one of our broker team who will be happy to provide you with any information you need in the arrangement of your business insurance.