Gardener's Insurance

Fingerbobs

Hi all.

I am planning to hire a local gardener to butcher a large Laurel hedge on the boundary of my property, facing a public footpath.

As the hedge in question forms the boundary between my property and land owned by the council, the gardener will necessarily have to carry out part of the work from the council's land, the public footpath.

Is there any particular type of insurance I should check the gardener holds before employing them to do the work?

Thanks.

paddyandstumpy

Public liability insurance.

Quentin

The only legal requirement is employers liability (not necessary if it's a one man band)

Fingerbobs

Thanks both. So for a one-man band, is it just Public Liability Insurance?

I'm not so concerned about legal minimums, but what would it be advisable to have?

Quentin

You could insist on Public Liability, though your one man band may have bought a gardeners package which includes public liability/tools/professional indemnity but with self employed one man bands it's difficult to get confirmation that any claimed "fully insured" status actually exists.


(short of getting a copy of the certificate and then somehow getting confirmation from the insurer that the policy is still alive)