What insurance does a tradesman actually need?
Short answer: “tradesman insurance” is not one policy, it is a bundle. Public liability is the one most sole traders buy first. Employers' liability is the one that is actually the law, but only once you take on staff. Tools, van and professional indemnity cover sit on top depending on what you carry, drive and advise on. Which of these you genuinely need comes down to your trade, whether you employ anyone, and what your clients or trade body demand to see.
Every comparison site ranking for this term is trying to sell you a policy. This is not one of those. It is the honest version, sourced from gov.uk and the trade bodies themselves, of what you legally must carry, what you practically should, what it really costs, and why the cover means nothing to a customer unless they can actually see it.
The distinction almost every guide blurs
Do you legally need insurance?
Only one answer here actually carries the force of law. Everything else is contractual or practical, and most guides for this term run the two together as if they are the same kind of requirement. They are not.
The split, precisely
- Employers' liability: a genuine legal requirement, the moment you employ anyone who is not a close family member.
- Public liability: not a legal requirement anywhere in the UK, for any tradesman, employed or not.
That gap surprises a lot of sole traders, who assume “insurance for tradesmen” means one compulsory thing. It does not. The law only reaches as far as protecting your employees. Protecting yourself, your van, and the customer standing in your way is left entirely to you.
The one that is actually the law
Employers' Liability, in full.
The moment you take on an employee who is not a close family member, the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 requires you to hold cover, and gov.uk sets out exactly what that means:
- Minimum £5 million cover. That is the legal floor, from an FCA-authorised insurer.
- £2,500 a day for trading uninsured. The fine runs per day you are not properly covered, not a one-off penalty.
- £1,000 for not displaying the certificate. Having the cover is not enough on its own, gov.uk requires it to be shown where staff can see it (or, since 2011, made available electronically on request).
- Two exemptions. Close family (spouse, civil partner, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, sibling) and staff based outside England, Scotland and Wales.
A genuine one-man-band with no employees at all does not trigger this Act. The instant you take on your first apprentice or labourer who is not family, you do.
Not the law, but everyone effectively needs it
Public liability, tools, van and professional indemnity.
Nothing forces a sole trader to buy public liability cover. Rhino Trade Insurance, a broker ranking for this exact term, states it plainly: it “isn't a legal requirement.” But the same page makes the practical case in the next line: “many contractors and customers will ask to see proof of cover before offering you work,” and carrying it “can also help your reputation and win you more jobs.” As a sole trader there is no legal wall between your business and your personal assets, so an uninsured claim is a claim against your own house and savings, not a company's.
Several accreditation schemes go further and make it a hard condition rather than a recommendation. NICEIC's Approved Contractor scheme requires a minimum £2 million public liability cover, rising to £250,000 professional indemnity on top if your certification covers EICR inspection and testing work. The Federation of Master Builders asks every applicant for proof of public liability cover as part of its membership vetting. TrustMark asks for an employers' liability certificate of at least £5 million, or written confirmation you are a sole trader with no staff, plus public liability cover. If you hold, or want, one of these, insurance stops being optional in practice even though it remains optional in law.
One genuine surprise here: Gas Safe Register itself does not. Gas Safe registration is the legal requirement for anyone doing gas work, but Gas Safe does not check or require public liability insurance as part of registering or staying registered, it is solely a competence and safety check. Gas Safe's own consumer advice tells homeowners to check a gas engineer has public liability insurance separately, which only makes sense because the register itself does not guarantee it. Being Gas Safe registered and being insured are two different boxes, and a customer checking your credentials deserves to see both ticked.
| Cover | Required by | Who actually needs it | Covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public liability | Contract / trade body, not law | Nearly every trade facing customers or their property | Injury or property damage caused by your work |
| Employers’ liability | Law (1969 Act) | Anyone with a non-family employee | An employee injured or made ill by their work |
| Tools / tools-in-transit | Common sense | Any trade that carries kit worth replacing | Theft or damage to your tools, on-site or in the van |
| Professional indemnity | Client / trade body | Trades that design, specify or certify (e.g. EICR-issuing electricians, heating designers, contractors making design calls) | A claim that your advice or certification was negligent |
A general labourer with no design or sign-off role usually has no need for professional indemnity at all. It only earns its keep once your job includes telling a customer, or a building control officer, that something is safe or compliant.
Real numbers, not a “from” price
What it actually costs.
Every broker leads with a low headline price and lets the real figure hide behind “get a quote.” Two real, published examples show the actual range:
| Business | Cover held | Cost | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-employed builder, Cardiff, sole trader | £1m public liability only | £11.66/mo | SimplyBusiness |
| Plumbing company, Liverpool, 2 employees | £2m public liability + £10m employers’ liability + stock | £425.62/mo | SimplyBusiness |
| Public liability alone, entry-level cover | £1m-£5m public liability | from £5.21/mo (£62.50/yr) | Rhino Trade Insurance |
The honest read: a sole trader buying public liability alone is realistically looking at somewhere in the tens of pounds a month, not hundreds. The moment employers' liability, higher cover limits and stock or tools cover stack on top, for a business with staff, that figure climbs fast. Get a real quote for your trade and cover level rather than trusting anyone's advertised “from” price, ours included.
The bit no insurance guide mentions
Cover that nobody can see is cover that wins you nothing.
PolicyBee reports that 28% of UK sole traders carry no insurance at all. That is nearly one in three tradesmen a customer might call. If you are properly covered and the other three quotes they are getting are a coin flip on that, the only way it works in your favour is if the customer actually finds out before they decide, and a Google Business Profile or a Facebook page rarely says more than “fully insured” in passing, if it says anything at all.
A proper website is the one place you control completely, and it is where proof of cover actually does its job: a stated cover level, the accreditations you hold, next to your reviews and your photos of real work, all in the one place a wary customer looks before they ring. Rhino Trade Insurance, a broker with no reason to oversell the marketing angle, says as much directly: carrying public liability “can also help your reputation and win you more jobs.” It only helps if it is visible.
How to show it properly
- State the actual cover level (“£2m public liability”) instead of the bare word “insured”.
- Use a watermarked copy of your certificate with a traceable policy number, never the raw PDF as downloaded, since anyone can edit a plain document.
- Keep it current. A certificate that lapsed eight months ago is worse than no certificate at all if a customer checks the date.
- Put it near your accreditations (Gas Safe, NICEIC and the like) and your reviews, not buried on a separate page nobody clicks through to.
We cover exactly how to lay out the badges, tickets and proof that win the call, alongside everything else a trade website needs, in what makes a good trade website. And if you are still weighing up whether you need a website at all versus relying on your Google listing or Facebook page, that honest breakdown is in do I need a website? Insurance is one box to tick before a customer trusts you; getting your books ready for Making Tax Digital is another, and we cover the real thresholds, deadlines and free software options in Making Tax Digital for tradesmen. And the structure your business is registered under changes some of this too, we cover the real 2026/27 tax numbers, not the vague breakeven range still doing the rounds, in sole trader or limited company? None of that matters if a customer just does not pay you at all. Work out exactly what statutory interest and compensation they owe you in our late payment interest calculator.
Straight answers
Questions trades actually ask.
- What insurance do you need as a tradesman?
- A bundle, not one policy. Public liability is the one most trades carry first, employers’ liability is the one that is actually the law the moment you take on staff, and tools, van and professional indemnity cover sit on top depending on what you drive, carry and advise on. Which combination you need comes down to your trade, whether you employ anyone, and what your clients or trade body ask to see.
- How much is tradesman insurance?
- It scales with cover level, trade risk and whether you employ anyone. SimplyBusiness’s own real examples span from £11.66 a month for a self-employed Cardiff builder carrying £1m public liability, up to £425.62 a month for a two-employee Liverpool plumbing company carrying £2m public liability, £10m employers’ liability and stock cover. A solo trader with no staff, buying public liability alone, typically lands far closer to the low end.
- Is it illegal to trade without insurance?
- Not generally. There is no law forcing a sole trader to carry public liability insurance. The one hard legal exception is employers’ liability insurance, required by the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 the moment you take on an employee who is not a close family member.
- Is tradesman insurance the same as public liability?
- “Tradesman insurance” is the umbrella term for the whole bundle. Public liability is just one policy inside it, the one most sole traders buy first, but the phrase covers employers’ liability, tools, van and professional indemnity too.
- How much does tradesman insurance cost?
- See the cost bands above. Realistic full-package cover for a sole trader with no staff typically runs from around £15-£30 a month depending on what is included, rising sharply once employers’ liability and higher public liability limits get added for a business with employees.
- Do I need liability insurance as a sole trader?
- Not by law, but functionally yes for most trades. As a sole trader there is no legal separation between you and your business, so an uninsured claim against you reaches your own house, van and savings, since there is no separate business pot to protect them. Plenty of clients, letting agents and trade bodies also ask to see proof of it before they will use or accredit you.
- Do tradesmen have to have insurance?
- Only employers’ liability is a statutory must, and only once you employ someone outside your immediate family. Everything else, public liability, tools, van, professional indemnity, is driven by contractual demand, trade body membership rules or plain financial common sense, not by law.
- Can I be sued as a sole trader?
- Yes. Because there is no legal distinction between you and your business as a sole trader, a claim for injury or property damage can be pursued against your personal assets as readily as your business takings. That is the practical reason public liability cover matters even though nothing forces you to buy it.
- Is it illegal to trade without public liability insurance?
- No. It is not a legal requirement anywhere in the UK for a sole trader or tradesman to hold public liability insurance. Only employers’ liability insurance carries that legal force, and only once you have employees.
Properly covered, and still nowhere to prove it?
Insurance you cannot show a customer is a cost with no return. Tell us about your trade and we'll build you a website that puts your cover, your tickets and your reviews where the job actually gets decided. Got a question first? Just message us.