What does tradesman insurance cover?

Whatever policies you put in the package. Public liability covers claims from customers or the public for injury or damage your work causes. Employers' liability covers claims from your own staff injured or made ill by the job. Tools cover pays out on stolen or damaged kit, contract works covers damage to the job while it is in progress, and professional indemnity covers a claim that your design, advice or certificate was wrong. Check which of these a quote actually includes before you compare prices.

How does tradesman insurance differ from general business insurance?

The policies are the same kinds, public liability and employers' liability above all. What changes is what the package is built around and how it is priced. A shop or office policy centres on the premises and what is inside it. A trades package centres on working in other people's homes and carrying kit between them, so it adds cover for tools, hired-in plant and work in progress, and the premium is set on your trade's risk. The legal position is identical: employers' liability once you have staff, everything else your choice.

What insurance do tradespeople need to work legally?

Two at most. Motor insurance on any van or car you drive on a road, and employers' liability of at least £5 million from the day you employ someone who is not a close family member. Public liability, professional indemnity, tools and income cover are all optional in law, though customers, trade bodies and Google's Local Services ads ask for public liability, so most trades carry it.

What insurance does a self-employed tradesman need?

Working alone, the law asks only for motor insurance on the van, and the policy has to cover driving for work. Employers' liability does not apply until you take someone on. Most self-employed trades still buy public liability, because gov.uk says a sole trader is personally responsible for all of the business's debts, so an uninsured claim reaches your own savings. Tools cover and income protection are the next two most sole traders weigh up, and professional indemnity only if you design, advise or certify.

Is tradesman insurance the same as public liability?

"Tradesman insurance" is the umbrella term for the whole bundle. Public liability is one policy inside it, the one most sole traders buy first, but the phrase covers employers' liability, tools, van and professional indemnity too.

What is tradesman liability insurance?

Usually the two liability policies in the bundle sold together: public liability for claims from customers and the public, and employers' liability for claims from your own staff. A sole trader with no staff needs only the public liability half, and that half is optional in law.

How much does tradesman insurance cost?

Nobody publishes a price table, only worked examples that change. SimplyBusiness shows a real quote dated 8 September 2026 for a self-employed builder in Hyndburn with no employees and £1 million of public liability: £7.32 a month or £87.89 a year. Rhino Trade Insurance advertises public liability from £5.21 a month, £62.50 a year, on cover ranging from £1 million to £5 million. Both are entry-level, single-cover, no-staff cases. Add employees and employers' liability becomes a legal requirement, and the premium moves with it.

Is it illegal to trade without insurance?

Not generally. There is no law forcing a sole trader to carry public liability insurance. The hard legal requirements are motor insurance on any vehicle you drive on a road, and employers' liability insurance under the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 the moment you take on an employee who is not a close family member.

Do tradesmen need public liability insurance?

Not by law. It is not illegal to trade without it, in any part of the UK, employed or not. In practice most trades carry it, because customers and main contractors ask for proof, NICEIC requires at least £2 million of it for its Approved Contractors, the FMB checks it before membership, and Google's UK Local Services Ads screening lists it for every home-services category.

Do I need liability insurance as a sole trader?

Not by law, but functionally yes for most trades. gov.uk says sole trader owners "are personally responsible for all of the debts of the business", so an uninsured claim against you reaches your own house, van and savings, with no separate business pot in the way. Plenty of clients, letting agents and trade bodies also ask to see proof of public liability before they will use or accredit you.

Can I be sued as a sole trader?

Yes. A sole trader and the business are the same person in law, and gov.uk says the owner is personally responsible for all of the business's debts. 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 employers' liability insurance?

Yes, if you employ anyone the Act covers. Under the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 it is an offence for every day you are not properly insured, and gov.uk puts the fine at £2,500 a day. Failing to display the certificate, or to show it to an HSE inspector who asks, is a separate fine of up to £1,000.

Do sole traders need employers' liability insurance?

Not while you work alone. The duty starts the day you take on an employee, and HSE judges that on how the person actually works for you, not on what you call them or how they are taxed. A sole trader whose only staff are close family is exempt, but that exemption does not carry over if the business becomes a limited company.

Do I need employers' liability insurance as a limited company?

Not if the company's only employee is its owner and that owner holds 50% or more of the shares: HSE lists that as an exemption. The family exemption does not apply to limited companies, so once the company employs anyone else, a husband, wife or son included, it needs at least £5 million of cover from an authorised insurer.

I am taking on my first labourer. What insurance do I need before they start?

Employers' liability of at least £5 million, from an insurer on the Financial Conduct Authority register, in place from their first day. Put the certificate where they can see it, on paper or electronically, and keep your old certificates. Tell your public liability insurer as well, so the policy is priced for two people on site rather than one.

Do I need employers' liability for a labour-only subcontractor?

Possibly, and the CIS label does not settle it. HSE says someone can be self-employed for tax and still count as your employee for this Act. A labourer who works only on your jobs, uses your tools and materials, takes your instructions and cannot send someone else in their place looks like an employee on HSE's own tests. Ask your insurer to cover them if in doubt, since an uninsured day is the offence.

Do I need public liability insurance for Google Local Services Ads?

Yes, for the trades. Google's UK screening and verification page lists public liability insurance under the insurance requirements for every home-services category, including electricians, plumbers, roofers, handymen, carpenters and general contractors. The professional-services categories ask for professional indemnity instead.

Does my van insurance cover me for work?

Only if the policy says so. The Road Traffic Act 1988 makes it an offence to drive on a road unless a policy is in force for the use of the vehicle by that person, so the question is what your schedule lists as permitted use. If it does not include driving for your business, ask your insurer before the next job, not after a claim.

Do sole traders need professional indemnity insurance?

Only if part of what you sell is design, advice or a sign-off. No law requires it. It matters to the electrician issuing condition reports, the heating engineer sizing a system or the builder making a structural call, and NICEIC makes £250,000 of it a condition for its approved contractors who carry out periodic inspection. A trade that only installs to someone else's spec rarely needs it.

Do I need professional indemnity insurance as an employee?

Not usually. Professional indemnity is a business policy bought by whoever sells the advice or design, and nothing in law requires an employee to hold their own. If your job involves design or certification, ask your employer whether their policy names you and covers the work you sign off. It becomes your problem the day you start pricing jobs on your own account.

Do plumbers need insurance?

In law, only employers' liability once they take on staff, plus motor cover on the van. In practice nearly every plumber carries public liability, because one leak through a ceiling is the kind of claim that ends a small business, and many customers and contractors ask for proof. A plumber doing gas work also needs Gas Safe registration, which is a separate legal requirement and a registration, not an insurance policy.

Last updated 2 November 2026

What insurance does a tradesman actually need?

Short answer: by law, a UK tradesperson needs two insurances at most. Motor insurance on any van they drive, and employers' liability from the day they take on someone who is not close family. Everything else, public liability included, is optional in law. Most trades still carry public liability, because customers, trade bodies and even Google's Local Services ads ask to see it. "Tradesman insurance" is the name brokers give to that bundle, not one policy.

The insurers and comparison sites ranking for this term are selling a policy. This guide sets out, from gov.uk, HSE and the law itself, what you must carry working alone, what changes the morning your first labourer starts, what you get if you are off sick, what cover really costs, and why it only wins work when a customer can see it.

The term, defined

What is tradesman insurance, exactly?

Tradesman insurance is a name brokers use for a package of separate business policies sold to trades. No law defines it and no single policy is called that. So it is not the same thing as public liability insurance: public liability is one part of the package, usually the first one a sole trader buys, and HSE describes it as "generally voluntary" while employers' liability is compulsory.

What it covers depends entirely on which parts you put in it:

Public liability: a customer or passer-by hurt, or their property damaged.
Employers' liability: your own staff injured or made ill by the job.
Tools and plant: stolen or damaged kit, owned or hired in.
Contract works: damage to the job itself while it is in progress.
Professional indemnity: a claim your design, advice or certificate was wrong.
Legal expenses and personal accident: common add-ons.

Two quotes both labelled "tradesman insurance" can hold quite different combinations of these, which is why the cheaper one is often the thinner one. Compare what is inside before you compare the monthly figure.

How is it different from general business insurance?

The policies are the same kinds. A shop or office package is built around the premises and what is inside it. A trades package is built around working in other people's homes and carrying kit between them, which is why it adds tools, hired-in plant and contract works, and why the premium is set on your trade's risk rather than your floor space. The law treats both the same: employers' liability once you have staff, the rest your choice.

Legal versus optional, at a glance

What insurance do you legally need as a tradesman?

Two covers carry the force of law: motor insurance on the road, and employers' liability once you employ someone. Everything else is asked for by customers, trade bodies or your own sense of risk, and most guides for this term run the two kinds of requirement together as if they were the same. Here they are side by side.

Cover	Required by law?	Who asks for it	What it pays for
Motor insurance	Yes, on any van or car you drive on a road	The law, and it must cover driving for work	Injury or damage you cause on the road
Employers' liability	Yes, from your first non-family employee	HSE inspectors; TrustMark scheme operators	Staff injured or made ill by the work
Public liability	No	Customers, contractors, NICEIC, FMB, Google	Injury or damage to customers and the public
Professional indemnity	No	NICEIC (periodic inspection), design clients	A claim your advice, design or certificate was wrong
Tools, plant, contract works	No	Your own call	Stolen or damaged kit, hired plant, the job in progress
Income protection	No	Your own call	Your income while you are too ill to work

That gap surprises a lot of sole traders, who assume "insurance for tradesmen" means one compulsory thing. The law reaches only as far as the road and your employees. Protecting yourself, your tools, and the customer whose ceiling you are working under is left to you.

Sole trader, no staff

Insurance for a self-employed tradesman working alone.

Working on your own, the law asks for one insurance: motor cover on the van, and that policy has to fit how you use it. The Road Traffic Act 1988 says you must not drive on a road unless a policy is in force "in relation to the use of the vehicle by that person", so check your schedule lists driving for work as well as personal use. Employers' liability does not apply while nobody works for you, and public liability and professional indemnity are your choice.

The reason most sole traders buy cover anyway is on gov.uk's own page about setting up as one: owners "are personally responsible for all of the debts of the business". There is no company standing between a claim and your house, van and savings. What most self-employed trades weigh up, in roughly the order they buy it:

Public liability. The one customers, main contractors, trade bodies and Google's Local Services ads ask to see.

Tools cover. Because a van full of kit is the thing that gets broken into, and a week without it is a week without income.

Income protection. You get no Statutory Sick Pay as a sole trader, so time off sick comes out of your own pocket. More on that below.

Professional indemnity. Only if you design, advise or sign work off.

Trading through a limited company changes the employers' liability rules, covered in the next section, and changes the tax maths too, which we work through in should a tradesman be a sole trader or a limited company?

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's employers' liability page 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. Plenty of small firms are exposed: in a 2026 survey for the Association of British Insurers, 39% of firms with one to nine employees said they did not have employers' liability insurance.
£1,000 for not displaying the certificate. Having the cover is not enough on its own. The certificate has to be where staff can get at it, and HSE has allowed that to be electronic since 1 October 2008, so a page on your website or a shared folder they can open counts. You also have to show it to an inspector who asks.
Two exemptions that matter to sole traders. Close family (spouse, civil partner, parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, brothers and sisters, including step and half relations) and staff based outside England, Scotland and Wales. The family exemption only works if every employee is family.
A different rule for limited companies. HSE's employers' liability guide exempts a company whose only employee is its owner, holding 50% or more of the shares. The family exemption does not apply to limited companies at all, so the day the company employs anyone else, your husband or wife included, it needs cover.

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.

Working alone, then not

Sole trader taking on your first labourer? Read this first.

The legal picture changes on the morning somebody else starts working for you. Whether that person is your employee for this Act is not decided by what you call them, or by whether you pay them through the Construction Industry Scheme. HSE's own guide says tax status does not settle it, and someone self-employed for tax can still count as your employee. What HSE looks at is how the work actually happens:

Points to an employee, on HSE's tests

You decide where and when they work, and how.
You supply the tools and the materials.
They cannot send somebody else in their place.
You deduct tax and National Insurance from their pay.

That is why a labour-only subcontractor is the trap. A labourer who only works your jobs, turns up when you say, uses your kit and cannot send a mate instead ticks most of those boxes, whatever the CIS paperwork says. The opposite case, a subbie with their own tools, their own other customers and the freedom to send someone else, points the other way. If you are unsure, insure: the offence is counted in days, and a labourer wrongly left off the policy is the expensive way to learn which side of the line they sat.

Before your first labourer's first day, in order:

Buy employers' liability of at least £5 million and check the insurer on the FCA register.
Tell your public liability insurer you are no longer working alone.
Put the certificate where they can see it, on paper or online.
Keep every old certificate, because HSE warns some illnesses surface decades later.

When you cannot work

Do self-employed tradesmen get sick pay?

Not Statutory Sick Pay. SSP is only for people classed as employees, and gov.uk says plainly that the self-employed do not get holiday or sick pay when they are not working. A sole trader off a ladder for a fortnight has no employer to pay them.

What you may be able to claim is New Style Employment and Support Allowance. gov.uk says you can qualify for it "through employment or self-employment", usually if you have worked in the last two to three years and have Class 1 or Class 2 National Insurance contributions, paid or credited. Depending on your record it can be claimed with, or instead of, Universal Credit. It is a state benefit set by your National Insurance, so if being off would empty the account before the benefit lands, the only cover that tops it up is a policy you buy yourself, usually sold as income protection.

Your labourer is the other way round. Once they are your employee, have done some work for you and are off ill for at least one full working day, they can qualify for SSP. It is one more reason to settle which side of HSE's line they sit on before they start.

Not the law, but everyone effectively needs it

Who asks for public liability when the law doesn't?

Customers and contractors, first. Rhino Trade Insurance, a broker ranking for this exact term, says plainly that public liability "isn't a legal requirement", then makes the practical case: "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."

Google sets the same bar. Its UK screening requirements for Local Services Ads list public liability insurance for every home-services category, electricians, plumbers, roofers, handymen, carpenters and general contractors among them. If you want to run those ads, the policy is the price of entry. How they work and what they cost a trade is in our guide to Google Local Services Ads.

Several accreditation schemes make it a hard condition too. NICEIC's Approved Contractor scheme requires at least £2 million of public liability, plus £250,000 of professional indemnity if you carry out periodic inspection. The Federation of Master Builders checks public liability cover as part of its membership vetting. TrustMark's bar depends on the scheme you register through: NICEIC's TrustMark application asks for an employers' liability certificate of at least £5 million, or written confirmation you are a sole trader, while FENSA's asks for at least £2 million of public liability and, if you employ staff, £10 million of employers' liability. If you hold, or want, one of these, insurance stops being optional in practice even though it remains optional in law.

Gas work adds a separate legal box. Registering with Gas Safe Register is a legal requirement for anyone carrying out gas work in the UK, and it is a registration, not an insurance policy. A customer checking your credentials deserves to see both: the Gas Safe card and the public liability certificate.

Professional indemnity is the narrower one. A general labourer with no design or sign-off role usually has no need for it 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: the electrician issuing condition reports, the heating engineer sizing a system, the builder making a structural call.

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 published examples show where the bottom of the range sits:

Business	Cover held	Cost	Source
Self-employed builder, Hyndburn, sole trader, 0 employees	Public liability, £1m	£7.32/mo (£87.89/yr)	SimplyBusiness quote dated 8 Sep 2026, read Nov 2026
Public liability alone, entry-level cover	From a £1m to £5m range	from £5.21/mo (£62.50/yr)	Rhino Trade Insurance, read Nov 2026

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.

That same survey, of 1,002 small business owners for the Association of British Insurers (Public First, January 2026), found 28% of sole traders saying they had no insurance at all. If you are properly covered, the only way that 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 cover level. "£2m public liability" tells a customer more than the bare word "insured".

Show a watermarked certificate. Keep the policy number traceable, and never post 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 none if a customer checks the date.

Put it beside the badges. Next to Gas Safe, NICEIC and your reviews, not 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. 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 is tradesman insurance?: It is the name brokers give to a package of separate business policies sold to trades, not one product the law defines. The package is usually built from public liability, employers' liability, tools cover, van cover and sometimes professional indemnity. Apart from the motor cover the law requires on any van you drive, only employers' liability is compulsory, and only once you employ someone.
What does tradesman insurance cover?: Whatever policies you put in the package. Public liability covers claims from customers or the public for injury or damage your work causes. Employers' liability covers claims from your own staff injured or made ill by the job. Tools cover pays out on stolen or damaged kit, contract works covers damage to the job while it is in progress, and professional indemnity covers a claim that your design, advice or certificate was wrong. Check which of these a quote actually includes before you compare prices.
How does tradesman insurance differ from general business insurance?: The policies are the same kinds, public liability and employers' liability above all. What changes is what the package is built around and how it is priced. A shop or office policy centres on the premises and what is inside it. A trades package centres on working in other people's homes and carrying kit between them, so it adds cover for tools, hired-in plant and work in progress, and the premium is set on your trade's risk. The legal position is identical: employers' liability once you have staff, everything else your choice.
What insurance do tradespeople need to work legally?: Two at most. Motor insurance on any van or car you drive on a road, and employers' liability of at least £5 million from the day you employ someone who is not a close family member. Public liability, professional indemnity, tools and income cover are all optional in law, though customers, trade bodies and Google's Local Services ads ask for public liability, so most trades carry it.
What insurance does a self-employed tradesman need?: Working alone, the law asks only for motor insurance on the van, and the policy has to cover driving for work. Employers' liability does not apply until you take someone on. Most self-employed trades still buy public liability, because gov.uk says a sole trader is personally responsible for all of the business's debts, so an uninsured claim reaches your own savings. Tools cover and income protection are the next two most sole traders weigh up, and professional indemnity only if you design, advise or certify.
Is tradesman insurance the same as public liability?: "Tradesman insurance" is the umbrella term for the whole bundle. Public liability is one policy inside it, the one most sole traders buy first, but the phrase covers employers' liability, tools, van and professional indemnity too.
What is tradesman liability insurance?: Usually the two liability policies in the bundle sold together: public liability for claims from customers and the public, and employers' liability for claims from your own staff. A sole trader with no staff needs only the public liability half, and that half is optional in law.
How much does tradesman insurance cost?: Nobody publishes a price table, only worked examples that change. SimplyBusiness shows a real quote dated 8 September 2026 for a self-employed builder in Hyndburn with no employees and £1 million of public liability: £7.32 a month or £87.89 a year. Rhino Trade Insurance advertises public liability from £5.21 a month, £62.50 a year, on cover ranging from £1 million to £5 million. Both are entry-level, single-cover, no-staff cases. Add employees and employers' liability becomes a legal requirement, and the premium moves with it.
Is it illegal to trade without insurance?: Not generally. There is no law forcing a sole trader to carry public liability insurance. The hard legal requirements are motor insurance on any vehicle you drive on a road, and employers' liability insurance under the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 the moment you take on an employee who is not a close family member.
Do tradesmen need public liability insurance?: Not by law. It is not illegal to trade without it, in any part of the UK, employed or not. In practice most trades carry it, because customers and main contractors ask for proof, NICEIC requires at least £2 million of it for its Approved Contractors, the FMB checks it before membership, and Google's UK Local Services Ads screening lists it for every home-services category.
Do I need liability insurance as a sole trader?: Not by law, but functionally yes for most trades. gov.uk says sole trader owners "are personally responsible for all of the debts of the business", so an uninsured claim against you reaches your own house, van and savings, with no separate business pot in the way. Plenty of clients, letting agents and trade bodies also ask to see proof of public liability before they will use or accredit you.
Can I be sued as a sole trader?: Yes. A sole trader and the business are the same person in law, and gov.uk says the owner is personally responsible for all of the business's debts. 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 employers' liability insurance?: Yes, if you employ anyone the Act covers. Under the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 it is an offence for every day you are not properly insured, and gov.uk puts the fine at £2,500 a day. Failing to display the certificate, or to show it to an HSE inspector who asks, is a separate fine of up to £1,000.
Do sole traders need employers' liability insurance?: Not while you work alone. The duty starts the day you take on an employee, and HSE judges that on how the person actually works for you, not on what you call them or how they are taxed. A sole trader whose only staff are close family is exempt, but that exemption does not carry over if the business becomes a limited company.
Do I need employers' liability insurance as a limited company?: Not if the company's only employee is its owner and that owner holds 50% or more of the shares: HSE lists that as an exemption. The family exemption does not apply to limited companies, so once the company employs anyone else, a husband, wife or son included, it needs at least £5 million of cover from an authorised insurer.
I am taking on my first labourer. What insurance do I need before they start?: Employers' liability of at least £5 million, from an insurer on the Financial Conduct Authority register, in place from their first day. Put the certificate where they can see it, on paper or electronically, and keep your old certificates. Tell your public liability insurer as well, so the policy is priced for two people on site rather than one.
Do I need employers' liability for a labour-only subcontractor?: Possibly, and the CIS label does not settle it. HSE says someone can be self-employed for tax and still count as your employee for this Act. A labourer who works only on your jobs, uses your tools and materials, takes your instructions and cannot send someone else in their place looks like an employee on HSE's own tests. Ask your insurer to cover them if in doubt, since an uninsured day is the offence.
Do I need public liability insurance for Google Local Services Ads?: Yes, for the trades. Google's UK screening and verification page lists public liability insurance under the insurance requirements for every home-services category, including electricians, plumbers, roofers, handymen, carpenters and general contractors. The professional-services categories ask for professional indemnity instead.
Does my van insurance cover me for work?: Only if the policy says so. The Road Traffic Act 1988 makes it an offence to drive on a road unless a policy is in force for the use of the vehicle by that person, so the question is what your schedule lists as permitted use. If it does not include driving for your business, ask your insurer before the next job, not after a claim.
Do sole traders need professional indemnity insurance?: Only if part of what you sell is design, advice or a sign-off. No law requires it. It matters to the electrician issuing condition reports, the heating engineer sizing a system or the builder making a structural call, and NICEIC makes £250,000 of it a condition for its approved contractors who carry out periodic inspection. A trade that only installs to someone else's spec rarely needs it.
Do I need professional indemnity insurance as an employee?: Not usually. Professional indemnity is a business policy bought by whoever sells the advice or design, and nothing in law requires an employee to hold their own. If your job involves design or certification, ask your employer whether their policy names you and covers the work you sign off. It becomes your problem the day you start pricing jobs on your own account.
Do plumbers need insurance?: In law, only employers' liability once they take on staff, plus motor cover on the van. In practice nearly every plumber carries public liability, because one leak through a ceiling is the kind of claim that ends a small business, and many customers and contractors ask for proof. A plumber doing gas work also needs Gas Safe registration, which is a separate legal requirement and a registration, not an insurance policy.
Do self-employed tradesmen get sick pay?: Not Statutory Sick Pay, which is only for people classed as employees. gov.uk says the self-employed do not get holiday or sick pay when they are not working. What you may be able to claim is New Style Employment and Support Allowance, which gov.uk says you can qualify for through self-employment if you have enough Class 2 or Class 1 National Insurance, paid or credited, from the last two to three years. Anything on top of that is a policy you buy yourself, usually sold as income protection. A labourer you employ can qualify for SSP once they have done some work for you and are off ill for a full working day.

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