Electrical Contractors Insurance

Whether your business is just domestic electrical work or you work on larger commercial installations, one of the vital business protections is Electrical Contractors' Insurance, specifically for Electricians.

As an electrical contractor, your business faces many risks each day, so it's essential that you have robust insurance in place.

At Sills insurance, we specialise in placing business insurance for contracting businesses, whether you are a sole trader or a larger entity working on multiple locations.

What is Electrical Contractors' Insurance

As an electrician or electrical contractor, Public Liability Insurance is one of the most essential insurance protections, mainly as you work at your customer’s home or on construction sites. Site owners or your employer may require that you have a minimum amount of cover in place even before they will let you on site.

Electricians' Public Liability covers you against allegations that you have caused a loss, damage, or injury to a third party, such as a member of the public. You will be provided with legal cover to ensure you are represented and defended. Then if you are found to be at fault, the insurer will pay compensation up to the “limit of indemnity” on your insurance policy.

A limit of indemnity is the amount of cover you have chosen at the commencement of your electrical contractor's public liability insurance policy. This can vary depending on the business risks or the amount your employer wishes you to have on a contract and can vary as there are a number of options available to you.

CALL US ON 01522 527232.

Whether your needs are business insurance or personal insurance we have experienced, knowledgeable insurance professionals available to assist you with your insurance requirements.

With our insurance partners spanning the UK insurance market, we are able to provide first-class insurance coverage combined with competitive pricing.

You can complete the simple form here and we will contact you as soon as possible or you can call us at the number above.

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What insurance is available for electrical contractors.

Electrical contractors usually fall within the definition of building and allied trades; there are usually two types of policy available, so its a good idea to understand what policy you are being quoted because whilst they both provide the same types of insurance cover for your electricians business one is a little more restrictive than the other.

Per-Capita liability insurance will provide cover based on the number of employees in the business; whilst they give you some flexibility, it's your responsibility to keep your insurer up to date on the number of employees you have in the business.

Whilst Per-Capita Liability insurance provides flexibility, like when you have Labour-Only Sub-Contractors and Bona-Fide Sub-Contractors; for instance. For larger electrical contractors through, a wages and turnover-based policy is likely to give you much more flexibility.

Wages and turnover-based insurance policy is rated on precisely what the name suggests, the wages and turnover of the business. All you need to do annually is declare the projected wages you anticipate for the forthcoming year and the expected turnover.

Many policies of this type will have their premiums based on what you estimate. Still, they will have a declaration at the end of the year to determine whether you have kept within your estimates or exceeded them. If you exceed them, it's important to remember that you may have to pay an additional premium at the end of the year.

When you provide your estimates, you must consider all your electrical work types, general domestic electricians, installation and maintenance electricians, or those doing specialist tasks such as electromechanical work and even data cabling and alarm installation. And don't forget it's all your estimates; these will include PAYE employees and those that provide just Labour Only, such as Labour Only Sub Contractors.

It's also essential that you inform your insurers of work that might be more than just cabling and installation, as this could make a difference to the type of cover required. Slipping in the occasional Air Conditioning work might seem okay. Still, the insurer might think otherwise, the point being let them know.

Do electrical contractors have specialist insurance policies

Yes, as an electrician, you are faced with risks that many other types of contracting trades don't; these might be where there is a failure of the installation or where you have given advice that turns out to be negligent.

For example, you might find that following an electrical installation, a fault occurs, which means the intended outcome fails; this is usually referred to as failure to perform or efficacy insurance cover.

Being Involved in the design of an electrical installation could open you up to allegations that, due to your planning or advice, the installation has failed, leading to costs being incurred. Professional Indemnity insurance protects you and your business against professional negligence.

Because electricians and electrical contractors are specialists with particular needs, specific policies offer specific covers, for example, if your electrical business ventures into alarm system installation, or you are involved in environmental or green projects. The electrical contracting sector has a number of specialist associations such as the ECA, NICEIC and NAPIT by the very nature of the work carried out by electricians brings in other sectors such as cabling and alarm systems, useful advice and assistance can be found with NSI and SSAIB for instance

Can I cover my business tools while I am on-site?

Yes, as a sole trader, you might have a number of tools that need cover against theft, for instance, whilst on site or in your van. Portable hand tools insurance for electricians is an extension to many available liability insurance policies, particularly those for smaller traders; you choose the limits you require; it's as simple as that.

Plant & Machinery Insurance for Electrical Contractors.

For the larger contractor, you might find that you have more than just portable tools. There might be a broader range of plant and machinery such as ladders, tower scaffolds, and other similar larger equipment. Installation of commercial lighting systems, as an example, may mean you are working at height, so towers and other scaffold systems or even scissor lifts and cherry pickers might need cover.

When you have so many items of plant, you need an insurance policy that provides cover for these. This might be just an Own Plant insurance policy or one that provides much more comprehensive cover such as a contractors combined, a contract works/contractors all risks policy; these are ideal for bringing not only own plant but also hired in plant cover too. Sometimes hiring in plant is the way to go; there is no point in buying expensive plant when you only need it for a day or two.

Don't automatically assume Hired In plant comes with insurance cover; it doesn't usually, so it's prudent to enquire whether you are covered as the hirer. Your hire company may offer insurance but not always. We can cover your hired in the plant. We just need a few bits of information - call us on 01522 527232 to discuss your needs.

Do Liability Insurance Policies have an excess?

Yes, just like you would have on most insurance policies you would have to pay the first amount of a claim. Public Liability Excesses are usually referred to as a Third-Party Property Damage excess.

The excess amount varies but could be as low as a few hundred pounds too much higher amounts depending on many factors. This might be the type of work you do, whether at heights or depths and previous claims, and experience are typical examples.

How do I know what public liability indemnity limit I need?

This can be a difficult one to answer, typically insurers will offer £1m, £2m, and £5m; you can have higher such as £10m, sometimes your employer (main contractor) may require you to have a minimum before they allow you on-site.

Choosing the correct amount can be challenging; if you are doing basic electrical repairs on domestic properties, your risk is likely different from that of a much bigger electrical contractor working on commercial premises.

Please discuss your requirements with us at Sills in Lincoln; we make it our business to understand your business, providing you with the best advice and options based on your business needs.

Do I need to provide insurance cover for employees?

Yes, when you employ people or have people carrying out work for you, it's a statutory requirement to have something called Employers Liability in force. This provides cover for you as the employer, giving legal defence against claims from one of your employees that may have been injured or suffered illness whilst working for you. Should you be found responsible, your insurer will pay compensation up to the limit on the policy - usually £10m.

As an electrical contractor, you need insurance to be in place; it's essential, the cost of dealing with paying a claim for negligence can be substantial.

At Sills insurance, we have access to a wide range of markets, both the ones you may have heard of and many you haven't; it's a vast market.

Whilst cover is the primary focus, we pay attention to the cost of buying insurance too. Because of this, we can offer you options that best suit your business requirements.

Speak to a human, don't leave it to hoping for the best filling in online forms, we are sure that you know what you are doing, but we are experts. Oh, and we are not a call centre either, so you will be dealing with very knowledgeable people that have been in the industry for many years.

We can provide cover for all types of electricians and electrical contractors.