Caretaker insurance
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Based on 39,376 reviews
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Why is caretaker insurance important?
The clue is in the name – you’re taking professional care of someone’s property. Caretaker services are relied on by thousands of businesses and residents in the UK, to apply expert skill and knowledge to everyday problems. Your work carries specific risks and liabilities, so clients will often require you to have a certain level of insurance in place, starting with public liability cover.
- public liability insurance, from £1 million to £10 million
- rated 4.7/5 based on 39K+ public liability customer reviews
- optional personal accident cover for your own injuries, or anyone on the policy
What does caretaker insurance cover?
Typically, we’ll start with public liability insurance, designed to protect caretakers against claims for third party injuries and property damage. From there, you can add cover for your tools and personal accidents, depending on the work you do. Most quotes also include options for employers’ liability insurance – usually a legal requirement, if anyone’s working for you.
Public liability insurance for caretakers
In case your caretaking business causes an injury or property damage.
Employers’ liability insurance
In case an employee gets sick or injured because of working for you.
Business and office equipment insurance
In case essentials like your laptop or phone are lost, stolen, or damaged.
Tools insurance
In case your work tools are lost, stolen, or damaged.
Stock insurance
In case something happens to the stock you keep in supply.
Legal expenses insurance
In case you’re faced with legal costs in connection with your business.
Personal accident insurance
In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at or away from work.
Public liability insurance for caretakers
In case your caretaking business causes an injury or property damage.
What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?
Claims against your business for:
- damage to someone’s property, caused by your work
- injuries caused by your business activities
- accidental damage or injury caused by your employees, if you have any
For example:
- a child slips on a floor you’ve just cleaned, fracturing their knee
- you damage your client’s wall while removing some lighting, and they raise a claim for compensation
Read more about public liability insurance
Employers’ liability insurance
In case an employee gets sick or injured because of working for you.
What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?
Claims against your business for:
- an employee, including a contractor or casual labourer, suing you after falling ill because of working for your caretaker business, or
- making a claim for an injury they’ve had while working for you
**Employers’ liability insurance is required by law if you have people working for you. Without it, you could be fined up to £2,500 a day for each employee.**
For example:
- a trainee employee falls off an incorrectly set-up ladder, breaking their shoulder
- your employee receives an electric shock from a socket you’ve just installed, causing nerve damage
Business and office equipment insurance
In case essentials like your laptop or phone are lost, stolen, or damaged.
What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?
- theft, flood, fire, or accidental damage to the equipment you use to run your business
- operational equipment like your laptop, rather than the trade tools you take out and about
For example:
- two ladders and your laptop are stolen from the back of your van while you’re parked at a local builders’ merchants
- your phone and two-way radios are damaged in a flood on your client’s premises
Read more about business and office equipment insurance
Tools insurance
In case your work tools are lost, stolen, or damaged.
What’s typically covered by tools insurance?
- loss, damage, or theft of your hand tools, power tools, and specialist equipment
For example:
- your tool kit is stolen from your parked, locked van during an overnight break-in
- an employee accidentally leaves your drill on a neighbouring site, and it’s never recovered
What you’ll need additional cover for
- larger plant items you use to carry out your work, like a cherry picker – these may require specific plant cover Read more about tools insurance
Stock insurance
In case something happens to the stock you keep in supply.
What’s typically covered by stock insurance?
- loss, damage, or theft of your work materials, or items you’re planning to sell
For example:
- you pick up new paint and aggregate for you client and it falls out of your truck
- a stock of bulbs, light fittings, and paint you’ve ordered for a school client are damaged in a flood
Read more about stock insurance
Legal expenses insurance
In case you’re faced with legal costs in connection with your business.
What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?
- legal costs attributed to your caretaking business
- property damage, nuisance, or trespass – specifically, the associated legal claims and compensation payouts
- tax and compliance disputes and investigations you need help with
- includes a tax advice helpline, a 24/7 confidential legal helpline, and crisis support to help you protect your reputation as a trusted trade professional
For example:
- a client breaks the terms of your contract and you need to pay for legal representation
- you incur legal costs when a neighbouring business claims your employee has trespassed on their property
Read more about legal expenses insurance
Personal accident insurance
In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at or away from work.
What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?
- accidental injury or death at work or elsewhere, for anyone covered on the policy
- lost income, medical costs, and hospitalisation benefit
For example:
- your insured employee breaks their knee while running a half marathon, and needs time off work
- you trap your leg in some collapsed scaffolding, and can’t work as normal for at least three months
Read more about personal accident insurance
This content has been created for general information purposes. Make sure you have the right level of business insurance by checking your policy documentation for details. Read our full Terms and Conditions
How much does caretaker insurance cost?
Find out how much you’ll pay by comparing prices from a range of trusted insurers. You choose what goes into your policy, so you only pay for what you need.
Prices start from £6.56 per month
Get your quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.
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How we work out example prices We take the highest price from the bottom 10 per cent of all our customers paying in monthly instalments (based on data from 1 January - 31 August 2021). Most customers pay more than this but some pay less.
Example caretaker insurance quotes, real prices
£9.09 /month
£70.85 /month
A self-employed caretake who performs simple repairs and maintenance tasks on the local community building
- 1-2 years' experience
- Sole trader
- No employees
- Based in Leeds
Public liability
£1,000,000
Employers’ liability
Not included
Contents & business equipment
Not included
£50.38 /month
£447.81 /month
A small ltd caretaking company that provides repairs, maintenance and security nationwide
- 5+ years' experience
- Limited company
- 3 employees
- Based in Manchester
Public liability
£5,000,000
Employers’ liability
£10,000,000
Contents & business equipment
£5,000
How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 16/08/2021). They’re based on a range of factors, like employees and location. Your own quote will be based on what you tell us about your business. Prices may go up or down from day to day, so the prices you’re quoted may differ to the ones you see here.
What kind of excess should I expect?
An excess is an amount you pay towards any claim you make on your insurance. For example, if your excess is £250 and you make a claim worth £1000, your payout will be a maximum of £750.
| Insurance cover | Lowest excess | Highest excess |
|---|---|---|
| Public liability | £100 | £2500 |
| Employers' liability | No excess | No excess |
| Tools | £60 | £500 |
| Stock | £100 | £500 |
| Business and office equipment | £50 | £750 |
The figures above are for guidance only and any excess applying to your quote may differ. You’ll get a breakdown of the excesses for each quote when you compare with us.
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How do I choose insurance?
Making sure you have the right type and level of business insurance can be the difference between getting a claim paid and having to cover the cost of an expensive accident yourself. Read our tips for guidance on what to consider when buying a policy.
Can I just cover my most expensive tools?
Which type of workers do I need insurance for?
Will tools insurance cover all my equipment?
Does caretaker insurance cover my work correctly?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?
Can I just cover my most expensive tools?
Make sure you cover the total cost of replacing all your tools or you’ll only get a proportion of your claim paid out if something happens to them. Learn about tool cover.
Which type of workers do I need insurance for?
Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ people.
If you have people working for you, including bona fide subcontractors (BFSC), labour-only subcontractors (LOSC), part-timers, or full-time staff, employers’ liability insurance is required by law.
Read on for our simplified guide to the difference between labour-only subcontractors and bona fide subcontractors.
Will tools insurance cover all my equipment?
Depending on what you use to do your work, you may need other covers.
You may need more than tools insurance – for example, business equipment insurance if you have a work laptop, plant insurance if you use machinery.
Does caretaker insurance cover my work correctly?
Make sure you're picking the right cover to protect you properly. It's important to know that if you have another trade or job, you'll need additional cover. For example, do you need to consider cleaning insurance or window cleaning insurance?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
If you provide these services alongside building work, make sure you’re covered:
Other types of insurance
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?
Think about the maximum possible loss your business could face in the event of a claim, and make sure you take legal fees and damages into consideration. You can choose from three levels of coverage – £1 million, £2 million, or up to £5 million.
Talk to an expert
Our team of UK-based insurance experts are here to help, Mon 09.00am - 05.30pm, Tues 09.00am - 05.30pm, Weds 09.00am - 05.30pm, Thurs 09.30am - 05.30pm, Fri 09.00am - 05.30pm, Sat 09.00am - 02.00pm
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How do claims work?
Unlike price comparison websites, we take the hassle out of claims for you. We know how important it is to get your business back on track quickly – and with a minimum of fuss. That’s why you get access to your dedicated claims any time, day or night. Call them on 0333 207 0560 or claim online. They’ll do their best to be fair and supportive. The figure below is rounded across our range of products. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis.
£28 million in claims paid out in 2021
Paying 80% of settled claims within 24 hours in 2021
Chosen by 800,000 small businesses
We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then with 600,000 customers across 1,500 trades now trusting us to provide their business insurance.
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Rated 4.7/5
Based on 39,376 reviews
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Caretaker insurance FAQs
Whether you’re new to buying business insurance or you’ve been trading for a while, here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about caretaker insurance. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.
Yes. It’s important to make sure you have the right type and level of insurance for the different types of work you do. For example, if you’re a plumber, you may also do building work on certain jobs – you’ll need additional cover for this, but you can have it all on the one policy. When you start your quote, you’ll have the option to add another trade or profession to your policy. If you need to add a third trade, give us a call on 0333 043 8527 and one of our insurance experts will help you set up your policy in minutes.
Yes. You may start offering additional services that require you to use different skills or carry out different tasks. If you find yourself in this situation, it’s important to give us a call on 0333 043 8527 to update your policy before you take on this new work. If you don’t have the correct type of cover in place for the work you do, you may be unable to claim on your policy if something goes wrong.
You can choose the payment type that suits your business and cash flow best. Some customers prefer to pay in one go, while others prefer to pay a regular monthly amount, like you do with lots of other bills. Simply Business offer three ways to pay for your policy:
- one-off credit or debit card payment
- BACS payment
- Direct Debit
If you choose to pay by Direct Debit, our credit provider, Premium Credit, pays Simply Business the full amount for your policy up front. You then repay Premium Credit in 10 monthly instalments.
If you change your business legal structure from sole trader to limited company mid-way through your policy, give us a call straight away on 0333 043 8527. It’ll only take us a few minutes to cancel your existing policy and replace it with one that correctly covers your new legal structure. It’s worth bearing in mind that your insurer and premium amount may need to change.
This will depend on whether you have employers’ liability insurance in place. Public liability insurance is designed to protect your business against the consequences of legal action brought by members of the public for injuries or damage to their belongings. But when it comes to your employees causing injury or damage, this protection only activates if you also have employers’ liability insurance.
If you employ people, you’re required by law to have employers’ liability insurance.
There’s one exception here. Family businesses that aren’t incorporated as a limited company are not legally required to have employers’ liability insurance. The government defines a “family business” as one where all your employees are closely related to you (as a spouse, civil partner, sibling, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, step-parent, stepchild or half-sibling). So if you run an unincorporated family business and you choose not to get employers’ liability insurance, it’s important to know that your public liability insurance wouldn’t cover you against damage or injury caused by your team.
We create this content for general information purposes and it should not be taken as advice. Always check policy documentation for details and seek professional advice. Read our full Terms and Conditions
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