The life of a painter and decorator can get pretty eventful. You probably work long hours, find yourself in some ungodly messes, and deal with all sorts of colourful characters in your pursuit of getting the job done. But at the end of the day, the transformations you deliver to your clients are worth it.
But who’s looking out for you if the ‘you know what’ hits the proverbial fan?
Let’s talk about tradesman insurance – and why all painters and decorators need it.
Tradesman insurance is a type of cover that protects tradespeople from losing out financially if there’s an incident at work. From on-site injuries, public liability claims to stolen tools, tradespeople are exposed to scores of different hazards, all of which can hit you where it hurts – your pocket.
Rhino Trade Insurance – the trade insurance experts – offer Painters Insurance specially designed for self-employed painters and decorators in the UK. These policies are created with painters and decorators in mind – so you can be assured that every eventuality you could face while on the job is covered.
As a self-employed painting and decorating professional, you pride yourself on a good job well done, with the minimum of fuss – and your clients love you for this.
But your working life is also full of risk. Being self-employed brings a host of factors that run-of-the-mill salaried employees don’t have to worry about. Things like sick pay, public liability protection and free replacements if equipment gets damaged or stolen come as standard when you work for The Man, but not when you’re your own boss.
There’s more bad news. Working in the trades means your job comes with plenty of extra hazards.
Let’s consider a few of the risks the average painter and decorator has to deal with in their work:
These are things most painter and decorators deal with day in, day out.
Have you ever considered what would happen in the event of any of the following:
An accident at work
Workplace accidents are far more common in jobs like painting and decorating than in sedentary jobs. If and when an accident happens to you, you’re going to need a safety net to cover lost income and recovery expenses while you get fit for work again.
Personal Accident Insurance, one of the policies no painter and decorator should be without, will pay out a lump sum if you have an accident. You can use the sum however you like – most people use it to cover their mortgage and bills while they’re off work with the injury and don’t have money coming in.
Becoming too ill to work
You’re a painter and decorator, not a superhero. You’re at risk of getting sick just the same as anyone else.
And sickness equals time off work. Time that a self-employed tradesperson just doesn’t have. Income Protection Insurance is another policy worth its weight in gold should anything happen to your health to prevent you from pulling in your regular income. How does £2,500 per month sound until you recover? Many tradespeople take out both Personal Accident cover and Income Protection Cover, in order to protect their business from any eventuality.
A public liability claim
As a self-employed painter and decorator, you’re going to be working in various different locations and interacting with customers and members of the public. You’ll also be coming into contact with customer’s homes and property. Whether you’re restoring a heritage building, or simply giving a bathroom a new coat of white, it’s possible that something could happen to either harm someone, or harm the surroundings you’re in.
Public liability claims against small trades businesses are relatively common. Getting Public Liability Insurance in place is essential to cover the costs of legal fees and compensation costs that these claims bring.
A claim from one of your employees
Just as a member of the public can come to harm, so can one of your employees. If you’re one of the many painters and decorators who employs someone else in your business, you’re going to need Employer’s Liability Insurance in case anything happens to one of them and they bring a claim against you.
This can be anything from tennis elbow to accidental death. Either way, you’ll be liable so you’d better get Employer’s Liability Insurance in place ASAP (it’s also a legal requirement, so if you’ve got any employees you should already have this).
Your tools are stolen
Unfortunately, this is incredibly common in the UK. We are willing to bet you know several tradies who’ve had their tools, equipment or materials stolen, leaving them out of pocket and unable to work until they’re replaced. It might have even happened to you.
Before tool theft burns a hole in your pocket, get Tools insurance in place. This is a popular policy which means that even if your tools are nicked from your van overnight, you don’t need to stress as replacements will be paid for by your insurer.
Your work vehicle is stolen
This also happens more often that it should. Van theft is a serious setback for any tradesperson, as not only do you need it to travel to and from jobs, but it’s probably where you keep most of your kit. You’ll need specialist insurance for your work vehicle – regular motor insurance policies won’t cut it.
Van insurance helps protect you from the financial loss associated with anything happening to your precious work vehicle – whether that’s an accident or theft.
Someone is unhappy with your work
Hey, it happens. Despite your best efforts, if a customer simply isn’t happy with the job you’ve done, they can decide to lodge a claim against your business for damages. Maybe they see streaks in the finish, or maybe you damaged their antique window frames by using the wrong type of paint and they need to get the work re-done at their expense. Don’t lose sleep over it, get Professional Indemnity Insurance instead.
With this in place, if a customer thinks your designs were dodgy, your finishing is faulty and your shade mixing was sub-par, at least won’t have to dip into your own kitty to have it put right.
The taxman opens an enquiry
As a self-employed tradesperson, stressing about having the correct tax status is probably nothing new.
A tax enquiry opened at random by HMRC means you’ve got an expensive battle on your hands to defend your tax status. This is where Tax Enquiry Insurance comes in. It covers costs including accountants fees and lawyer fees, which otherwise you’d have to pay out of your own money. This type of cover is saving painters and decorators thousands in legal bills, so it’s well worth considering.
Well, we think it’s a no-brainer.
As you can see, insurance for tradesmen will protect you against all manner of financial blows that can befall even the most conscientious tradesperson.
We at Rhino Trade Insurance don’t just offer a generic one-size-fits-all tradesperson insurance. We know that not all trades are the same, which is why we created our special cover for painters and decorators.
Contact us today on 0116 243 7904 or head over to our handy quote engine to get a personalised quote in an instant.
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