Construction Industry Scheme questions - insurance.

Drumstation

My son is 18 and has started working on site under the CIS scheme. He is sorted for with the Inland Revenue with his self assessment number and he’s registered with the CIS scheme. He is paid an hourly rate and the contractor he works for is deducting 20%. All ok so far, I think.

We will keep all receipts for tools and workwear he needs. At the moment he gets a lift to site so no travel costs. I am wondering about insurance policies and what anyone with more experience than me has to recommend? I assume personal injury is worthwhile but I am not sure about public liability if that’s needed? The builder he is working for is an exclusive builder, small sites so not huge places like Taylor Wimpey. Current site is 8 houses Next one is 7.

He is going to see a pension expert in a. couple of weeks to sort that out.

Thank you for any help or tips you can give. much appreciated.

MyRealNameToo

By personal injury do you mean protecting his income in case he is injured or ill?

This comes in a couple of flavours, the basic one is an Accident and Sickness (also known as PPI). They're ok but they are an annual policy so you have no guarantees what next years premiums will be or if they would even offer you a renewal. Medicals arent done at time of taking it out so what's excluded isnt known (though if you know your medical history you should have a reasonable idea). The unemployment, if you go for full ASU, can be a bit complex for those self employed but doesnt sound your wanting that side of the cover. Payouts normally max out after 12 or 24 months irrespective of if you are fit to g back to work or not.

The full fat version is income protection (formally PHI) but be aware that some AS/ASU policies are marketed as IP after PPI became toxic. These are a long term policy, you can make a single purchase with monthly premiums to cover you up until you are 70 (or an age of your choosing). No risk the insurer will stop writing it or triple premiums because of a pandemic. The fullest fat version pays out until the end of the policy if you are still unfit to work or there is a semi-skimmed version that pays out up to X years. Someone here used to quote the average payout being something like 8 years so the extra premiums are covering much higher payouts.

Generally the main contractor will have the PL/EL insurance for the site but maybe an idea to have their own insurance and especially if they are considering doing work outside of the main gig.