Electrician insurance
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For 80% of settled claims
Why do you need electricians insurance?
Electricians’ insurance protects you against the costs of damage, injury or mistakes at work. You know the risks associated with electricity – so make sure you, your tools and your customers are covered.
- Protects you from big claims like accidental injury or damage
- Keeps you on track when the unexpected happens
- You're covered for any associated legal and medical costs
What does electrician insurance insurance cover?
You know the risk when you work with electricity and live wires. Make sure you're covered against injury on site, accidental damage to equipment, and legal and medical costs. Pick and choose which type of insurance best fits your business.
Electrician public liability insurance
In case you or your employee injure someone or damage their property.
Employers’ liability insurance
In case an employee gets ill or injures themselves at work.
Tools insurance
In case your tools are stolen or accidentally damaged.
Stock insurance
In case your stock is accidentally damaged or stolen.
Hired-in plant insurance
In case of loss or damage to hired plant.
Own plant insurance
In case of accidental or malicious damage to your own plant items.
Contract works insurance
In case your work is disrupted on-site due to theft or damage.
Legal expenses insurance
In case there are any legal costs associated with running your business.
Personal accident insurance
In case of injury at work or outside of work.
Professional indemnity insurance
In case a customer suffers financial loss because of you.
Electrician public liability insurance
In case you or your employee injure someone or damage their property.
What’s typically covered by electrician public liability insurance?
Legal costs and compensation payouts that result from claims against your business for:
- damage caused by you to someone else’s property
- injury caused to someone else while you’re carrying out work (including medical costs)
- damage to someone else’s property, caused by an employee
For example:
- your wire work is faulty and causes a small fire in your customer's house
- a customer gets an electric shock injury after you’ve wired a plug
Read more about public liability insurance
Employers’ liability insurance
In case an employee gets ill or injures themselves at work.
What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?
Legal costs and compensation payouts that result from claims against your business for:
- injury or illness to an employee, caused by working for you (including medical costs)
**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:
- your employee does some rewiring and electrocutes themselves
- your employee trips over your toolbox and breaks their arm
Tools insurance
In case your tools are stolen or accidentally damaged.
What’s typically covered by electrician tools insurance?
- theft of your business tools while you're on site
- accidental damage to your business tools when you’re on site
For example:
- your drills are stolen while you're working
- one of your employees spills their coffee over your radio
What you’ll need additional cover for
- your tools when they're in transit between jobs
Read more about tools insurance
Stock insurance
In case your stock is accidentally damaged or stolen.
What’s typically covered by stock insurance?
- accidental damage or theft of the equipment you’re using on a job
For example:
- you leave some equipment outside of a customer’s house and it rains, ruining your equipment
- thieves break into your van and steal your equipment while you're working on site
What you’ll need additional cover for
- you’ll need goods in transit cover for your materials as you travel between jobs
Read more about stock insurance
Hired-in plant insurance
In case of loss or damage to hired plant.
What’s typically covered by hired-in plant insurance?
- damage accidentally caused to items of the plant you hired from someone else
- hire charges you still owe even though you’ve damaged the item
For example:
- the wrong key is used for an item of hired plant and it breaks
- an item of a hired plant is stolen from site, and the hire charges still apply while you wait for a replacement
Read more about hired-in plant insurance
Own plant insurance
In case of accidental or malicious damage to your own plant items.
What’s typically covered by own plant insurance?
- any larger items that you use to complete your day to day activities
- accidental or malicious damage to your own plant items
For example:
- you’re on a job and your plant is locked away – someone breaks in and steals the equipment that’s needed to complete the job
- an employee spills liquid on your plant which means it’s no longer usable
What you’ll need additional cover for
- wear and tear of your own plant
Read more about own plant insurance
Contract works insurance
In case your work is disrupted on-site due to theft or damage.
What’s typically covered by contract works insurance?
- covers work in progress on your construction site
- damage or theft of your customer's tools and equipment that are left on site
For example:
- you’re the main contractor on site, and a fire caused by vandals sets the completion date back. As a result, your customer's materials are damaged, causing a delay in completion
What you’ll need additional cover for
- you need cover for your own tools and materials – if there's a fire on site, causing a delay in completion, your tools wouldn’t be covered
Read more about contract works insurance
Legal expenses insurance
In case there are any legal costs associated with running your business.
What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?
- legal expenses resulting from your day-to-day business activities, like disputes with employees
- HMRC investigations, and tax and compliance disputes
- includes a tax advice helpline, a 24/7 confidential legal helpline, and crisis PR support
For example:
- if you're investigated by HMRC – this cover can cover the costs of any tax enquiries
- a former employee takes you to court after you’ve sacked them
Read more about legal expenses insurance
Personal accident insurance
In case of injury at work or outside of work.
What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?
- injury or death for anyone covered on the policy
- lost income, medical and hospitalisation costs
For example:
- you lose a finger working on site
- your casual labourer breaks his leg on a night out
Read more about personal accident insurance
Professional indemnity insurance
In case a customer suffers financial loss because of you.
What’s typically covered by professional indemnity insurance for electricians?**
Legal costs and compensation payouts that result from claims against your business for:
- something you or your employees have or haven’t done
- you or your employees giving the wrong advice to a customer
For example:
- you provide an electrical safety certificate to your customer – after this, they have an electrical fire which forces them to close their business for a month
Read more about professional indemnity 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 electrician 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 £3.19 per month
Get your quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.
Get your tailored quotes in 7 minutes
10% of our customers paid up to £38.32 a year for a public liability insurance policy between 1st April 2023 - 30th June 2023. Equivalent to £3.19 per month based on a monthly cost when paying for the policy in one annual payment. Paying monthly is usually more expensive as you'll pay interest. Most customers pay more than this but some pay less.
Example electrician insurance quotes, real prices
£7.51 /month
£55.12 /year
Domestic electrician working in residential locations
- 5+ years' experience
- sole trader
- no employees
- based in Derby
Public liability
£1,000,000
Employers’ liability
Not included
Tools
Not included
£105.61 /month
£938.74 /year
Domestic and commercial electricians with employees and casual workers
- 5+ years' experience
- limited company
- 2 employees
- based in Birmingham
Public liability
£5,000,000
Employers’ liability
£10,000,000
Tools
£8,000
How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 21/02/2022). 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.
How it works
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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.
Is public liability enough for third party property damage?
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 electricians' insurance cover my work correctly?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?
Is public liability enough for third party property damage?
You may need more than public liability to cover certain types of damage
In some situations you may need more than public liability cover to cover certain kinds of property damage. Learn about professional indemnity cover and buildings cover.
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 tools 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 electricians' 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 electrical contractors insurance or builders insurance?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
If you provide other services, 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
Call our team
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 team any time, day or night. Call them on 0333 207 0560 or claim online. They’ll do their best to be fair and supportive.
£39 million in claims paid out in 2022
Paying 80% of settled claims within 24 hours in 2022
The figure above is rounded across our range of products. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis.
Example claim
Having electricians’ insurance through Simply Business has saved electricians thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.
Richard saved more than £4,600
Richard (not his real name) was fitting lights when he dropped his cutters in the bath. As a result, the bath was chipped. Luckily, Richard’s accidental damage insurance paid out.
Insurance payout
£4,660.00
Covering the majority of the cost of the damage to someone else’s property.
Richard's costs
£100
The excess amount stated in Richard's policy terms
Chosen by 900,000 small businesses and landlords
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Electricians’ 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 electricians’ insurance. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.
Without this insurance, you could be liable for thousands of pounds in legal fees and compensation claims.
You need professional indemnity insurance if you give advice to customers. If that advice is incorrect, or your customer files allegations of mistakes or carelessness against your work, you could be out of pocket. You can even lose income from wasted time defending these claims.
Some trade bodies require you to have some level of professional indemnity insurance.
It’s important to have public liability insurance. Working with electricity means serious consequences should anything go wrong. And if anything did go wrong, the financial implications can be hefty.
Public liability insurance can protect you against claims arising from injury or loss suffered by a member of the public as a result of your work.
If you have people working for you, you’re required by law to have employers’ liability insurance. Without it, you could be fined up to £2,500 a day for each employee.
While you may not be required by law to have other types of insurance, it’s important to protect your business. You should also protect your tools, your employees, your customers, and members of the public should anything happen at work.
Three types of insurance you should consider as a self-employed electrician are:
- employers’ liability insurance (a legal requirement)
If you’re working under the main contractor ’s supervision, you’re unlikely to need your own public liability insurance policy. Their insurance should cover you – but please remember to check this with them.
But, if you’re working independently, you’ll need your own public liability insurance. Either way, it’s best to check with the main contractor.
The most common types of insurance for a contractor are public liability and professional indemnity.
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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