Trades people experience a unique set of risks every day. Whether you’re a plumber, builder, electrician or otherwise, making sure you have the right Trades Insurance is essential to protect yourself, your business and your employees in the event of accident, damage or loss.
Just the thought of unexpected disastrous events can be mentally draining. Developing a better understanding of the range of Insurances available for Tradies has never been more important and selecting the right cover for your individual risk provides a level of comfort in the unfortunate event of a claim.
With everything from selecting the right cover to handling a claim, here are some of the basics explained to offer peace of mind before accidents happen.
What are Personal Accident & Illness covers for Tradies?
This form of insurance provides financial protection for tradespeople should they experience injury, accident or illness preventing your ability to continue to trade. This could be as a result of a worksite injury or even an injury not involving your Trade. These policies provide a selected weekly financial benefit for a period of up to 2 years.
This coverage provides peace of mind and is able to help ensure that you can continue to meet your financial commitments both business related and personal.
From Liability Insurance cover to Tools Insurance, there are a range of policies that are available that each serve to protect you from a different type of industry risk. It’s important that you are aware of all coverage options available to select the right cover for your specific needs.
What are the most common claims made by tradies?
Public and Product Liability claims are commonly made. A Public Liability Insurance policy is crucial in an industry where accidents may lead to damage or injury not only to you and those associated with the business, but to a customer or member of the public. Product Liability Insurance will also cover you in the event that any product you have supplied causes harm or damage.
Claims are commonly made on Tools Insurance, which is necessary to cover the cost of loss, damage or theft of your tools. Injury & Illness claims have been lodged by many who have been found unable to work due to personal injury or sickness. A policy such as this is essential to ensure you get back on your feet as soon as possible.
Find out more about useful policies and risk management here.
How or when is the right time to file an insurance claim?
After an accident occurs or when an unfortunate scenario presents for which you are potentially liable, the first step is to engage your Insurance Broker to first determine whether lodging a claim is the appropriate course of action. At this time in the Insurance Cycle, premiums are high and making unnecessary claims or having poor claim history can make it difficult to find the right coverage moving forward. Many policies also now have inflated excesses to off-set premium increases so determining whether a loss is likely to fall beneath an excess level is also an important consideration.
If lodging a claim is the right move in these circumstances, Understand Insurance help to explain the lodgement process and how to trigger an appropriate response. From this point, your claim will be accepted and the policy’s promise will be fulfilled as long as the claim meets all terms and conditions and is not subject to any exclusions under your Policy.
What should you consider when choosing coverage?
You should consider which Brokers offer comprehensive, competitive policies that make it easy to create an Insurance Package best suited for your needs. At Atlantic Insurance, we work to arrange all policies to a common due date, simplifying annual reviews and avoiding confusion or potential gaps.
Are there any building contract insurance requirements, and how are these actioned?
Especially when working on Council properties, a contractual requirement of a Public Liability and, if you are providing advice, a Professional Indemnity policy is commonly required. A small or medium-sized business can purchase Professional Indemnity cover for $1 million, $2 million or $5 million.
A contractual request is often seen for the Professional Indemnity limit to match the Public Liability limit, which is generally unviable and can be very expensive to secure, potentially around $20 million. Atlantic can assist in pushing back on these requests to secure a more viable and affordable solution.
Trades Insurance with Atlantic Insurance
At Atlantic Insurance, we have been catering to the insurance needs of those within the trades business for over 25 years. You can always rely on your experienced Client Manager to work with you to select the appropriate policies to protect your business, and to assist in lodging any claims and seeing them through to finalisation.
Contact us to receive a quote or receive any more information around claims and insurance for those in the trades industry.
Any information contained on this page of the website is general advice only and has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Your should consider these, having regard to the appropriateness of this advice and the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (‘PDS’), Target Market Determination (‘TMD’) and Financial Services Guide (‘FSG’), which will be provided following any formal recommendation to you.
