liability insurance

neilneilorange

I am going to start working on a house for someone who requires me to have liability insurance.I have a quote from aviva for £78, which seems reasonable enough. The person I spoke to said he can offer no guidance on the policy I need, so I wonder if anyone on here can help.
I want basic cover to assure my customer that if I cause damage or injury etc, that I would be covered.
The policy is a "Self employed tradesman policy" for a " Builder - PDH Alteration and Repair".
Is this the type of thing I need? Also, what does the PDH stand for please?

dacouch

What type of work are you undertaking in the home?

paddyandstumpy

PDH is residential

Chickenlips

You may find contacting a broker beneficial.

tacpot12

You need to consider two sets of liabilities; public and professional.

Professional Liabilities are those to the person paying you to do the work: you are liable to them for the job you do; e.g. if you bodge it and the house falls down, you need professional liability insurance to cover you for this sort of risk.

Public Liabilities are those to people who are NOT paying you to the work; you are liable to them for any injuries or damage you cause to their property; e.g. you drop a hammer on the head or car of a passer-by. You need Public Liability insurance to cover you for this sort of risk.

If the person asking you to get liability insurance isn't able to specify what sort of risks they want covering, they are at risk of being taken advantage of by contractors who only have Public Liability insurance. When the job goes wrong; they will suddenly find that their contractor has no insurance and no resources to cover the cost of the damage caused.

neilneilorange

many thanks

rs65

tacpot12 wrote: »

Professional Liabilities are those to the person paying you to do the work: you are liable to them for the job you do; e.g. if you bodge it and the house falls down, you need professional liability insurance to cover you for this sort of risk.

Public Liabilities are those to people who are NOT paying you to the work; you are liable to them for any injuries or damage you cause to their property; e.g. you drop a hammer on the head or car of a passer-by. You need Public Liability insurance to cover you for this sort of risk.

Which insurer differentiates in this way? Got a link?

Dangermac

tacpot12 wrote: »

You need to consider two sets of liabilities; public and professional.

Professional Liabilities are those to the person paying you to do the work: you are liable to them for the job you do; e.g. if you bodge it and the house falls down, you need professional liability insurance to cover you for this sort of risk.

Public Liabilities are those to people who are NOT paying you to the work; you are liable to them for any injuries or damage you cause to their property; e.g. you drop a hammer on the head or car of a passer-by. You need Public Liability insurance to cover you for this sort of risk.

If the person asking you to get liability insurance isn't able to specify what sort of risks they want covering, they are at risk of being taken advantage of by contractors who only have Public Liability insurance. When the job goes wrong; they will suddenly find that their contractor has no insurance and no resources to cover the cost of the damage caused.

This is absolutely not correct. Not in the UK anyway.

Generally, Public Liability will provide cover for damage/injury to 3rd parties or their property, including customers. Policy may exclude 'property being worked on' although most decent policies do not have such an exclusion. Policy will exclude damage to the actual Contract Works (i.e the actual project that you are undertaking - Contract Works can be purchased).

Professional Indemnity is, in effect, cover for negligent design, advice or breach of professional duty. So if you're undertaking design-type work, this cover may be applicable.

If you're having any labour to assist you (i.e self employed persons or PAYE), you may well need Employers Liability cover

Hope this helps

DM

Lulu0110

I have Business Public Liability which is reasonable in cost, the expensive part of my insurance is called the Contract Works. This covers my builds if the burn down mid way. If you are altering the house, you need to know if they are staying resident in the property, and if their insurance on their building is sufficient. Another poster mentioned talking to a broker, we have used the same one each year, you get in writing what you need covered and they refer back to the insurer to confirm things.