Tilers insurance
Whether it’s a customer cutting themselves on a loose tile or an employee becoming ill from inhaling dust, running a tiling business involves risk. Understand these risks and why it’s so important for tilers to have adequate business insurance in place.
What insurance do tilers need?
There are a number of policies that can protect your business. These include public liability insurance and employers’ liability cover, as well as contract works insurance.
Other types of business insurance you might consider include:
- Insurance for your commercial van
- Cover for your commercial property and its contents, or home office insurance if you do your admin from home
- Business interruption insurance, which can help you recover lost profits if you’re unable to operate.
What is public liability cover?
Public liability insurance can protect your business if a member of the public or a customer sues you for injury or damage to their property due to negligence. For example, you may have tiled a bathroom floor and a customer slips on a loose tile, injuring themselves. The result could be an injury lawsuit, as well as a damages claim against you for lost earnings suffered by them.
You’d need to find the money for legal fees and possibly compensation, which could be very expensive indeed.
You’re not legally required to have public liability insurance, but it could give you considerable peace of mind. Some customers may expect you to have public liability insurance before starting a job. You should be able to claim the cost of it against tax.
Frequently asked questions
What is employers’ liability cover?
Employers’ liability insurance could cover you if one of your employees becomes ill or is injured as a result of working for you.
If you employ one or more people or are a limited company with multiple directors, it’s a legal requirement to have cover. If you’re not a limited company, it’s not a legal requirement to have employers’ liability insurance if the employees are immediate family members, though if a policy is in place it would still cover immediate family members working for you.
What happens if I don't have employers' liability insurance?
You can be fined a whopping £2,500 for every day you’re not insured. You can also be fined £1,000 if you don't display your certificate of employers’ liability insurance or fail to show it to an inspector if they ask.
What else do I need to know?
Your policy must cover you for at least £5 million, and most insurers will provide cover of £10 million as standard.
What if I’m self-employed?
Around 20% of people working in the construction sector are self-employed. If you're a self-employed tiler, it's important that you sort out your own insurance as you won't have an employer to do it for you.
In addition to Public Liability and Employers Liability insurance, you may also want to consider these types of cover to protect your income or business:
What other insurance would a tiler need?
As a tiler, you’re likely to have expensive equipment like an angle grinder, trowels, drills and other tools. Replacing them all at once would be pricey, which is where business tool insurance can help. This can protect your equipment from serious events such as fire, flood, storms, theft and vandalism.
You might also find you need contract works cover. This is useful if you take on big projects for other people. It covers work in progress on a site for problems including fire, flood, storms, theft and malicious damage.
Say, for example, you’ve been tiling a new kitchen extension and a storm damages the building. Without contract works insurance in place, you could find yourself having to do the work all over again, without pay. A contract works policy can cover both your time and any materials or fittings.
Finding the right insurance cover
We’re here to take the hard work out of comparing tiling insurance quotes. We’ll ask you a few questions about you and your business, then use it to tailor quotes to suit you.
Whether you’re a one-man operation or a big contracting firm, we have insurance providers that could offer you cover. If you'd like to speak to someone about your business needs, you can call 0800 316 3655 or request a callback.
Try it today. Compare tiling insurance quotes and get the right cover for you.
What won’t tilers insurance cover?
What is and isn’t included in your insurance will depend on the policy you go for. Some policies will cover you for things like jury service, for example, while others won’t.
However, you almost certainly won’t be able to claim for:
- deliberate acts causing illness or injury
- injuries arising while you’re out and about (for this you’ll need your car/travel insurance)
- employees working off-shore
For a complete list of what is and isn’t included, you’ll need to read your policy documents.
How much does tilers insurance cost?
How much you pay for your insurance will depend on a lot of things, including:
What do I need to get a quote?
When you start a tilers insurance quote with us, it’s a good idea to have some basic information about your business ready to note down, including:
- how long your business has been trading and your turnover
- how many employees you have
- the value of your tools, business premises, et cetera
- the level of cover you need and any additional cover
- how long it’s been since you’ve made a claim
What our expert says...
“Tiling is one of those jobs that comes with risks attached. Having the right insurance in place will help ensure that you, your business, and your customers are all protected.
“That will give you peace of mind and let you focus on running your business.”
- Mubina Pirmohamed, Business and landlord insurance expert
