Tradesmen working around your home-who covers them for insurance?

martin57

Hi folks,

Just wondering can you be held personally responsible if say you have a painter painting the outside of your house and an unfortunate accident happens to him such as falling off a ladder, who would be resposible for any compensation or is that generally convered to a certain extent by household insurance?

Thanks for any advice.
martin57

vaio

my guess is you would only be liable if your negligence (in the legal sense) had caused or contributed to the accident

southcoastrgi

vaio wrote: »

my guess is you would only be liable if your negligence (in the legal sense) had caused or contributed to the accident

yes that's true all trades should have their own insurance & unless you have done anything to cause the accident (like kick the bottom of the ladder) then it isn't your responisibility, of course it is always wise to make sure that any trade you employ has public liability insurance & any good self employed trade will have this.

southcoastrgi

btw ladders these days are only suppost to be used for access you aren't suppost to work off of them

vaio

southcoastrgi wrote: »

btw ladders these days are only suppost to be used for access you aren't suppost to work off of them

urban myth, it's all to do with risk

HSE guidance.......

....Ladders can be used if after assessing the risks the use of more suitable work equipment is not justified because of the low risk and short duration.

Short duration is taken to be between 15 and 30 minutes depending upon the task.


Ladders can also be used for low risk work where there are features on the site that mean a ladder must be used.......

southcoastrgi

vaio wrote: »

urban myth, it's all to do with risk

HSE guidance.......

yes that is true however i was replying to the OP's question regarding painting of the house & therefore it is unlikely that the safety req could be met, but maybe i was being slightly too cautious.

CKhalvashi

southcoastrgi wrote: »

yes that is true however i was replying to the OP's question regarding painting of the house & therefore it is unlikely that the safety req could be met, but maybe i was being slightly too cautious.

I'd say that whilst scaffolding may be the best option from the H&S POV, a ladder would be perfectly sufficient to do this.

I've stood at the top of a ladder whilst sanding/painting windows twice since I've been at this house, and Street View shows a builders ladder outside my house in 2009 to replace a window pane; they actually cane down there with one of the windows. :eek: On the occasion that I did it, the ladder was propped against the wheel of OH's car to give extra stability on the ladder.

Their insurance should cover it unless you took dodgy risks.

CK