Insurance for trades
Customisable insurance for independent tradespeople and trades businesses with five-star customer service and claims support, if you need it.
Be quote confident. We'll beat the price of any like-for-like quote. T&Cs apply.
Trades insurance quote from £5.86 a month
10% of tradespeople paid £5.86 a month or less for their Superscript business insurance between January and March 2023.
Why is insurance for tradespeople important?
No matter how skilled you are in your chosen trade, mistakes and accidents can still happen. If you work on construction sites or in clients' homes around members of the public and employees, having the right business insurance can provide vital protection if an incident occurred.
At Superscript, you start with public liability insurance and build your policy from there, only adding the relevant covers you need for your business. If you only need to cover your tools, we offer standalone protection for your equipment — no strings attached.
- Choose from £1m, £2m, or £5m public liability cover
- Add employers' liability if you need it
- Enjoy 5-star customer service and claims support
- Add or remove covers and adjust your limits, with no extra fees
- Pay monthly or annually, it’s your choice
Be quote confident
We're big on fairness. So if you find a lower price for a comparable quote, we won't just match it — we'll go one better and beat it.
So even better than apples to apples, apples to better apples. We're talking Galas to Braeburns.
As you'd expect, T&Cs apply.
Pick your trade
We offer insurance for loads of different trades. If yours isn't featured below, that doesn't mean we don't cover it! Simply click 'Start your quote' and search for your trade.
Builder insurance
For those who make dreams come true and old things good as new.
Construction insurance
For the creators of our man-made cityscapes.
Electrician insurance
For the sparkies who light up our lives.
Window cleaner insurance
For those who make the view crystal clear.
Insurance for cleaners
For the heroes who banish dust and kill germs.
Gardeners' insurance
For those with green fingers who tend and plant.
Tools-only insurance
For protecting the tools and equipment of your trade.
Plumbers' insurance
For those who keep our systems flowing.
Carpenters' insurance
For those who work with timber, from cabinets to whole building frames.
Roofers' insurance
For those working at height, building and repairing rooftops.
Handyman insurance
For those taking on a variety of jobs in property maintenance.
Painter and decorator insurance
For those who make our decor sparkle.
What insurance do tradesmen need?
Public liability insurance
Public liability insurance is a common cover for businesses that involve contact with members of the public, and is designed to cover any claims made against you for injury or property damage as a direct result of your work.
As an experienced tradesman, you could probably operate many of your tools and maybe even navigate a building site in the dark — no problem. But this certainly isn’t the case for a layman, for whom your tools and work area present a host of dangers!
You may find that some clients demand that you have public liability and trade associations will also often require it as a prerequisite to membership.
Employers' liability insurance
Employers' liability insurance is a legal requirement for employers in the UK. If you hire any employees at all, including apprentices, part-time, or even temporary workers, you’ll need to make sure you’re covered and that you have an employers' liability insurance certificate to prove it. Not having it can result in a fine of up to £2,500 per day for each uninsured day.
Our employers' liability cover offers a £10 million limit as standard. It also includes 50 days’ cover for temporary employees, who do not need to be registered with us, each year.
Contract works cover
Sometimes, things don’t go to plan. Contract works cover insures you for things beyond your control, like fire, theft, water damage and wind damage — and accidental mishaps that occur while on a job — and we can offer you limits of up to £500,000.
Tools and equipment insurance
A misplaced spanner is one thing, but damaged, lost or stolen specialist equipment is expensive and can be difficult to replace. And tool theft is no joke — it’s one of the biggest concerns for tradesmen in the UK.
Our cover includes: up to £10,000 cover for portable tools and equipment (maximum value of £1,000 per item); up to £25,000 cover for construction plant and machinery owned by you; and up to £50,000 cover for hired in plant. Just be sure to keep everything in a securely locked building or compound when not in use. We can also offer additional cover for tools stored in vehicles overnight.
Stock cover
It’s not all about the tools! You can’t get a job done without the right materials either. Our business stock covers materials such as wood, paint and tiles, up to £5,000. It’s important that your stock is securely stored at your business premises, or in securely locked conditions elsewhere — even when in transit.
Accident and sickness cover
Unfortunately, the physicality demanded by manual labour means that if you get injured, you may find yourself unable to work in the same capacity for some time — perhaps even permanently. Accident and sickness insurance comes in three parts to cover workers aged between 16-69.
Firstly, it’s designed to provide financial support for up to 50 weeks if you or an employee goes on long-term sick leave. It can also provide financial assistance for up to 180 nights if you, or an employee, were hospitalised.
And finally, a lump sum benefit of up to £50,000 can be paid out if you or an employee suffers a serious injury or up to £25,000 in the unfortunate event that an insured person dies.
Professional indemnity insurance
We all make mistakes, but when you’re surveying, designing or measuring, mistakes could have real life consequences. Tradesperson professional indemnity insurance may help to cover the associated legal costs if a third party accuses you of professional negligence.
Once you've completed a quote, you'll be able to view a summary of cover. Please always refer to your policy documents for full details around exclusions, terms and limits of your customised cover. Read our guide to understanding your policy documents.
Just need to insure your tools and equipment?
At Superscript, we offer special cover for just the tools and equipment of your trade. You won't be tied into taking out any other covers in your policy so you only pay for what you need.
As a tradesperson, you can get simple, standalone cover for vital tools and items of business equipment such as:
- Power tools
- Laser level
- Step ladder
- Work bench
- Laptop and phone
Read more about our tools-only cover.
Tradesperson claims examples
Insurance claims are different for every type of trade, but here are a few examples of the types of claims that could involve legal or compensation costs and, as always, terms, conditions and exclusions apply:
Improper training
An employee lifts a heavy piece of construction material and injures their back. They claim they weren't trained on how to lift heavy items properly. Employers' liability insurance can cover legal fees and compensation costs associated with the claim.
An injured passerby
You're putting up some scaffolding and accidentally let go of one of the mid rails. It falls and lands on a member of the public, injuring them enough to require hospitalisation. Public liability insurance can cover any legal fees and compensation costs associated with the claim.
Stolen drills
While working outside a client's house on some external building you step inside for a minute, putting your tools in a hidden place. You return only to find that your set of expensive drills has been stolen. Tools insurance can cover the cost to replace them.
Water damage
While working on a construction site, a mains water pipe bursts, causing water damage to the many of the surrounding materials and major project setbacks. Contract works insurance can cover the cost to replace the damaged materials up to a limit of £500,000.
How do claims work?
You make a claim
Contact us by email at claims@gosuperscript.com, by 24/7 freephone on 0800 772 3059 or by logging in to your customer portal.
We'll ask you for some details about your claim, including a crime reference number (if applicable), the date of loss or claim made against you, type of claim and its detailed description.
In the portal, you can also attach any relevant supporting documentation like proof of loss, proof of purchase, a letter of demand or a statement of claim.
We'll get on the case
Once submitted, your claim will be assessed by our experts.
If the claim is large, we may need more information from you. If it's small, however, our team may be able to settle it within a couple of days (or hours, in some cases).
Either way, we'll keep you regularly updated and you'll be able to see the status of your claim on our customer portal.
Your claim is settled
After it's been assessed, we'll let you know if your claim has been successful or not.
If items have been lost, stolen or damaged, we might arrange for the items to be replaced or make a payment to you.
If you’re liable for something we will assist you with legal support.
Tradesman insurance FAQs
What trades do you cover?
We can cover a wide range of trades. If you can’t see your trade as an option when you get a quote, please don’t hesitate to contact our customer success team via chat, email or phone — we may be able to offer you cover!
Will I be covered to work abroad?
Our cover gives you the freedom to work temporarily (up to 180 days) anywhere within the European Union, knowing you’re covered as per usual.
Do you cover tools stored in a vehicle overnight?
Our standard cover does not include this. It specifically excludes theft of tools and equipment from any vehicle left unattended between the hours of 9pm and 6am. However, we do offer the option to insure your tools stored securely in your van overnight, if the vehicle is parked in a locked compound, at an additional cost.
Do I need to tell you each time I get a new employee?
If you have employers' liability insurance with us, you will need to let us know each time you get a new permanent employee. For temporary workers, however, we’ll automatically cover you for up to 50 days in any one period of insurance.
What will affect the cost of my insurance?
The cost of your cover will vary depending on the work you carry out. Jobs that could more easily cause harm to the public, or tools of high value, present more risk and a bigger payout in the event of a claim. This typically means the cost of your insurance will be higher than it would be to cover a lower work, or less valuable equipment.
What excess would I need to pay?
This will vary depending on the nature of your claim. For example, the excess on a public liability claim, or a tools claim, would be £250, while the excess on a hired-in plant claim would be £500.
Is business insurance a legal requirement for tradesmen?
The only cover that is a legal requirement is employers' liability insurance, for businesses with employees. However, you may want to consider insurance for other reasons, such as: your trade association may require it; your clients may require it; you may decide that the risk of a claim against you — or tools theft — is too high a price to pay, not to insure.
What is tradesperson professional indemnity insurance?
If a third party accuses you of negligence on the job, having professional indemnity (PI) insurance may help to cover any associated legal costs.
As always, terms, conditions and exclusions apply so always check your policy documents. Read our guide to tradesperson professional indemnity insurance to learn more.
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A-rated financial strength
Our insurance products are underwritten by Standard & Poor’s A-rated financial strength or higher. This means the underwriter has been independently assessed by the world’s leading credit rating provider and found to have a strong capacity to meet financial commitments (pay claims).
Protected by the FSCS
If you are a business with an annual turnover under £1m, charity with an annual income under £1m, or trust with net assets under £1m, then you will be entitled to compensation from the FSCS in the unlikely event we cannot meet our obligations. Full details and further information on the scheme are available at www.fscs.org.uk.