Joiners’ insurance
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Rated 4.7/5
Based on 38,488 reviews
Claims paid in 24 hours
For 80% of settled claims
Why is joiners’ insurance important?
Business insurance for joiners can protect you against the cost of mistakes and accidents in the joinery trade. Sometimes the unexpected happens, but having the right cover in place can help you manage the risks. Joiners’ insurance could give you, your team and your customers the reassurance you’re looking for.
- Protection from accidental injuries sustained over the course of your trade
- Cover from accidental damage to a customer’s property
- Peace of mind if your tools or materials get lost or stolen
What does joiners’ insurance insurance cover?
You can customise your policy to suit the way you run your business. The key piece of insurance for most joiners or carpenters is public liability, which tends to cover the main legal and medical costs you could face if things go wrong on site.
Public liability insurance
In case you or your employee injure someone or damage their property.
Employers’ liability insurance
In case an employee gets sick or injured while working for you.
Tools insurance
In case your tools are lost, stolen or damaged.
Stock insurance
In case materials you're responsible for, like noggins, are lost, stolen, or damaged.
Hired-in plant insurance
In case plant machinery you've hired is lost, stolen, or damaged.
Own plant insurance
In case plant machinery you own is lost, stolen, or damaged.
Legal expenses insurance
In case you’re faced with legal costs from running your business.
Personal accident insurance
In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at or outside of work.
Public liability insurance
In case you or your employee injure someone or damage their property.
What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?
Legal and medical expenses relating to claims against your business for:
- damage you’ve caused to someone else’s property while you’re working, or as a result of something you’ve made
- injury you’ve caused to a third party while you’re working, or as a result of some work you’ve carried out
- damage caused to someone else’s property by a member of your staff while they’re working, or as a result of something they’ve made
For example:
- you’ve made a door frame for a customer and when they open the door, the frame collapses and damages the flooring underneath
- you're putting up a staircase and you damage your customer's wall
- your employee is fitting a bay window at a customer’s house and damages the surrounding brickwork by mistake
What you’ll need additional cover for
- any work that’s specifically associated with builders or carpenters, rather than joiners
Read more about public liability insurance
Employers’ liability insurance
In case an employee gets sick or injured while working for you.
What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?
Legal and medical expenses relating to claims against your business for:
- injury caused to someone else by a member of your staff while they’re working, or as a result of some work they’ve carried out
**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:
- you leave your saw on the floor and your employee trips over it and hurts their leg
Tools insurance
In case your tools are lost, stolen or damaged.
What’s typically covered by tools insurance?
- you're working on site and your nail gun is stolen
- one of your employees spills their tea over your tool box
For example:
- tools that are lost, stolen or damaged while you’re in transit
- tools left in your van, hired plant, machinery, stock and contents
Read more about tools insurance
Stock insurance
In case materials you're responsible for, like noggins, are lost, stolen, or damaged.
What’s typically covered by stock insurance?
- accidental damage to the joinery materials you're using to carry out your work
- theft of the materials you're using for a job
For example:
- the wood you’re using to install a window is stolen from the site you're working on
Read more about stock insurance
Hired-in plant insurance
In case plant machinery you've hired is lost, stolen, or damaged.
What’s typically covered by hired-in plant insurance?
- accidental damage to items of the plant that you’ve hired from someone else
- loss or damage to the hired-in plant
- legal liability for the loss or damage to the hired-in plant and ongoing hiring charges
For example:
- you put the wrong type of fuel into a hired strimmer, which burned out the engine and broke it
- a specialist drill you hired is stolen from your construction site, and you’re responsible for paying the ongoing hiring charges as you wait for a replacement
Read more about hired-in plant insurance
Own plant insurance
In case plant machinery you own is lost, stolen, or damaged.
What’s typically covered by own plant insurance?
- theft of the machinery that you own
- accidental or malicious damage to your own plant items
For example:
- your spindle moulder accidentally tips over and bends the main spindle and locking nut
Read more about own plant insurance
Legal expenses insurance
In case you’re faced with legal costs from 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
- the cost of legal claims relating to property damage, nuisance or trespass
- HMRC investigations, and tax and compliance disputes
- includes a tax advice helpline, a 24/7 confidential legal helpline, and crisis PR support to help you protect your business’s reputation
For example:
- if you’re investigated by HMRC (or selected at random for an audit), this cover could help with the tax enquiries – for you and any other directors, as well as for the business
- you need to defend your legal rights following the dismissal of an employee
Read more about legal expenses insurance
Personal accident insurance
In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at or outside of work.
What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?
- injury or death, whether at work or elsewhere, for anyone covered on the policy
- lost income, medical costs and hospitalisation benefit
For example:
- you lose a finger while you’re working on site
- a casual labourer breaks a leg when they’re on a night out
Read more about personal accident insurance
How much does joiners’ insurance 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 £6.82 per month
Get your quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.
Get your tailored quotes in 7 minutes
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 October 2019 - 31 March 2020). Most customers pay more than this but some pay less.
Example quotes, real prices
£9.99 /month
£79.89 /year
A self-employed joiner who largely works on second fix in residential homes
- 2-3 years' experience
- sole trader
- no employees
- based in Manchester
Public liability
£1,000,000
Employers' liability
Not included
Tools
Not included
£113.21 /month
£1,006.34 /year
A small limited joinery company who work on medium-sized contracts for both first and second fixes (residential and commercial)
- 5+ years' experience
- limited company
- 3 employees
- based in Glasgow
Public liability
£5,000,000
Employers' liability
£10,000,000
Tools
£10,000
How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 25 September 2020). 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 |
You'll get a complete breakdown of the excesses for each quote when you compare with us. 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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We handle claims, so you can get on with business
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 joiners' 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 to cover certain kinds of property damage. Learn about hired-in plant and stock insurance.
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 insurance.
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 joiners' 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 builders insurance or bathroom fitter insurance?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
If you provide these services alongside building work, make sure you’re covered
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 09.30am - 05.30pm, Thurs 09.30am - 05.30pm, Fri 09.30am - 05.00pm, Sat 09.00am - 02.00pm
Call our team for free
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. 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.
£30 million in claims paid out in 2019
Paying 80% of settled claims within 24 hours in 2019
Example claim
Having joiners’ insurance through Simply Business has saved joiners thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.
Jonah saved more than £18,348
Jonah (not his real name) had fitted a ceiling hatch for a customer two weeks previously, but the adhesive failed and the hatch fell down. Luckily, his insurance covered the associated costs.
Insurance payout
£18,348.2
Covering the costs of the accident
Jonah’s costs
£100
The excess amount stated in Jonah’s policy terms
Chosen by 600,000 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 38,488 reviews
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Joiners’ insurance FAQ
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 Joiners’ insurance.
We create this content for general information purposes and it should not be taken as advice. Always take professional advice. Read our full disclaimer
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