Public Liability Insurance

[smudger]

I'm a new business and I'm struggling to find reasonablt priced insurance. Quotes that I've had exclude all hot work, which seems a bit pointless for a plumber. Either that or its around £500 pa. Does that sound about right?

 

[kay-jay]

direct line business. i pay £4.10 a week. which is about 200 quid a year, i can use a blowtorch unlike with some policies. tools cover is extra...

not the most comprehensive but its pretty cheap

KJ

 

[smudger]

The AXA one included hot work (not oxy) but no tools, £2m pl which is req by some approved contractor schemes, but thats approx £550 pa. Think I'll check out DL, sounds better. Thanks Kay-Jay (seems like many people don't have any pl insurance - madness!)

 

[kay-jay]

madness indeed!

i heard tell of a bloke who about 2 months ago accidentally clobbered a load bearing wall with a mini jcb the house damn near fell down apparently gonna cost him in the region of 100k to put right. guess what??? yep he had no pl insurance....he now has to sell his own house to raise the funds necessary. he's in his late 50's and has basically lost everything he has ever worked for.


KJ

 

[smudger]

I was talking to a plumber a couple of months ago, been in the trade for over 30 years and he has set fire to 3 houses! (He's actually a great plumber)

 

[MickBrown]

I have direct line, similar price to Kay-Jay, you can also pay monthly for no extra cost. The only thing about my policy is it says I am not covered for full central heating installs, not a problem at the moment as I am not a qualified heating engineer. However I hope to one day so the premium may go up.

 

[HoodedClaw]

I got mine with Insurantz.com for £168, paid monthly. residential only though but with torch.

 

[Henno82]

Im with Direct line too and pay 8.49 per month which covers blow torches and pl upto 2 million try them i find them quite reasonable

 

[WaterTight]

I've hear some won't cover you unless you turn out to have full nvq.

 

[Henno82]

Really? i'd never heard that before?

 

[madharris]

Hi im also looking for insurance but im unsure for the PL do i have to have 2 mil cover is can i have 1 mil? oh im gas fitting not sure if that matters

 

[PlumbBobBob]

the higher the cover the better. your "mistake" might take out a whole street worst case scenario

 

[WaterTight]

Public liability insurance brings me no comfort. I've never had to claim but I just presume it's like all insurances and they'll just find away not to pay.

 

[kay-jay]

i have similar concerns, WT i only hope that choosing a reputable insurance broker (direct line) rather than some obscure online (nobody's heard of em but they're cheap) kind of outfit will prove to be the right choice in the event of a claim.

KJ

 

[Blackcatgas]

£370 a year, £75 if I was a Spark or wood butcher.

 

[Hankers]

I've also just switched to Direct Line. £160 for £2m cover and includes blow lamp. £500 excess though which I think is pretty standard.

Steve

 

[carpstu]

hi all i carry 2 mill again with direct line covers me to do building work and plumbing (not gas) in domestic, rented and shops as i ddo a lot of land lord repairs for a few local estate agents can use heat/blow torch with a £500 exess mine around the £200 mark

 

[tamz]

A word of advice whichever insurer you choose.

Carefully read your policy wording with regards hot work and make sure you can comply with it
.
All insurers have a raft of terms and exclusions that must be adhered to.

Generally a 6 or 9kg ABC fire extingisher (dry powder) must be beside you.
Any flammable materials have to be removed (almost impossible)
Any remaining flammables have to be covered up (a heat mat doesn't count)
After hot work the area has to be checked for up to an hour.
etc etc etc.

Read through and understand your policy and make sure it covers what you are actually doing. Should the worst happen you will need to prove all the terms were complied with.

 

[dontknowitall]

Only reasons I have insurance are OFTEC requires it and it helps as a selling point. I reckon any claim I make will be sent to the bin and only paid out with massive legal costs and time.

That's why I go for the cheapest.

Insurance companies are there only to make money and if they paid out all their filed claims the premiums would be too much so they'd lose customers.