A guide to tradesperson insurance
What is tradesperson insurance?
There are many covers that can make up a tradesperson insurance policy. Each cover — detailed below — is designed to protect those working in the trades with financial and expert support if something goes wrong or leads to legal action or compensation costs.
What does tradesperson insurance cover?
Tradesperson insurance isn’t just one type of cover. It’s not even a specific set of covers. It’s whatever selection of covers you, as a tradesperson, choose for the work you carry out.
The covers you choose may vary depending on the nature of your work. To ensure that you’re paying for the cover you need — no more, no less — it’s important to assess the risks involved with the work you do and to think about what insurance you need to cover these risks.
Is insurance a legal requirement when working in the trades?
The only type of business insurance that is often (but not always) a legal requirement is employers' liability insurance — and this is only usually mandatory if you have employees.
Although insurance isn’t often a legal requirement, some professional bodies and trade associations do require you to have it in order to be a member.
What does tradesperson insurance include?
Every tradesperson will have slightly different needs depending on the work they carry out. These needs may change depending on the project being worked on.
That said, the following covers tend to be relevant for tradespeople:
Public liability insurance
Working with your hands means things don’t always go to plan. Public liability insurance is designed to cover claims made against you by members of the public for things like accidental property damage, or if someone is injured, becomes ill or worse as a result of your work.
Whether it’s a cracked window, a tripped-over toolbox or a loose tile, public liability can support you to pick up the pieces when accidents happen.
Tools and equipment insurance
Tools insurance is a particularly popular cover for those working in the trades. In 2025, 4 in 10 tradespeople experienced tool theft first-hand, with 20% of those experiencing financial hardship as a result.
This type of policy includes cover for portable tools and equipment from damage, loss and forcible theft. It can also be extended to include cover for tools stored in vehicles overnight, too, if you can’t secure them in a securely locked building or compound.
Own and hired in plant
Plant is some of the most expensive equipment for tradespeople to deal with. With insurance through Superscript, you can cover both your own plant and hired-in plant.
Policies through Superscript offer fee-free mid-term adjustments, meaning that if you’re hiring expensive plant machinery for a few months, you can get cover to only cover that period.
Employers' liability insurance
A legal requirement for most businesses with their own staff, employers’ liability insurance is designed to provide financial cover in case one of your employees is injured at work. If you work alone — and don’t hire anyone to work for you — this isn’t a cover you need to consider.
Contract works cover
Contract works insurance is designed to cover accidental damage to a structure you — or a contractor you hire — are building, along with the materials you're using.
Say, if during the course of your work an accident happens that damages your build, you can use this section of the cover to pay to rebuild the work. Events beyond your control — like a fire, theft of integral equipment or storm damage — can happen at any time and having to pay out of your pocket to redo the project could be very problematic for your bottom line.
Stock cover
You can’t get a job done without the right materials, so business stock can cover damage, theft or loss to materials such as wood, paint and tiles, so long as they’re kept in a secure location.
Accident and sickness cover
Due to the physical nature of work in the trades, an accident can mean anything from a few days to a prolonged period off work. 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.
Things to look out for when getting your tradesperson insurance
It’s important to remember that while business insurance covers a range of eventualities and circumstances, it doesn’t cover everything.
That said, there are some specific things to look out for when buying tradesperson insurance, including:
- Location exclusions, in terms of sites you can work at and in what countries
- Depth and height restrictions
- Asbestos or radioactive material
- Cover extending to temporary employees
Make sure to read your policy documents carefully to understand the full details around exclusions, terms and limits of your cover.
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.
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 start a quote and search for your business type, then select the covers you need.
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