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Joinery insurance

Join over 7,500 joiners like you with cover from £3.19 per month*

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Rated 4.7/5

Based on 39,760 reviews

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Claims paid in 24 hours

For 80% of settled claims

What's on this page

  • Why is insurance important?
  • What does it cover?
  • How much does it cost?
  • How do I choose insurance?
  • How do claims work?
  • FAQs
  • Helpful articles

Why do you need joiners insurance?

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

Start your quote

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 for joiners

In case you or your employee injure someone or damage their property.

What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?

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?

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.

  • 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

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 joinery 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 £3.19 per month

Get your quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.

Get your tailored quotes in 7 minutes

Start your quote

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 joinery insurance quotes, real prices

optima insurance

£6.87 /month

£48.73 /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

churchill insurance

£121.49 /month

£1,079.89 /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 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

  • Pick what goes into your policy

    Only pay for what you need

  • Get prices from a range of insurers

    Choose the best fit for you

  • Buy online in minutes

    Get your documents the same day

Start your quote

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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?

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.

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 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 other services, 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 09.00am - 05.30pm, Thurs 09.30am - 05.30pm, Fri 09.00am - 05.30pm, Sat 09.00am - 02.00pm

Call our team

0333 043 8527

Online

Contact us on our website whenever suits you

Phone

Call our insurance experts during office hours (calls are charged at a local rate)

FAQs

Find answers to common insurance questions

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 above is rounded across our range of products. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis.

£39 million in claims paid out in 2022

Paying 80% of settled claims within 24 hours in 2022

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 900,000 small businesses and landlords

We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then with 900,000 customers across 1,500 trades now trusting us to provide their business insurance.

  • Compare and buy in minutes

    Documents arrive today

  • Rated 4.7/5

    Based on 39,760 reviews

  • Here to help

    Help from UK-based experts

  • 24/7 claims

    Make a claim any time

Joiners 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 Joiners’ 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 0146 683 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 0146 683 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.

  • Each insurer looks at CCJs and IVAs differently – some apply stricter rules than others, but having a CCJ or IVA doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t be able to buy insurance.

  • 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 installments.

  • 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 0146 683. 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

Helpful articles for joiners

A female carpenter working at a workbench

14 Aug 2018 • 5-minute read

How to become a joiner in the UK: a step-by-step guide

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