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It’s not just the finishing touches – painting and decorating is the first thing a customer sees, and the stage that makes their dreams a reality. With high expectations and common accidents to manage, insurance is an important consideration. Public liability protection will be a key part of your policy, plus other specific covers depending on your business type.
Public liability insurance for painters and decorators will form a key part of your policy, plus employers’ liability if you’ve hired anyone (it’s usually a legal requirement). Once these are in place you can add specific cover for the things you need, from your laptop to your hand tools and other machinery.
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 painting and decorating tools are lost, stolen or damaged.
Stock insurance
In case something happens to the materials you keep in stock, like your paint.
Business and office equipment insurance
In case things like laptops or office filing cabinets are lost, stolen, or damaged.
Own plant insurance
In case plant machinery, like excavators, you own is lost, stolen, or damaged.
Contract works insurance
In case your painting and decorating work in progress is damaged by something like a fire, flood or vandalism.
Legal expenses insurance
In case you’re faced with legal costs from running your painting and decorating business.
Personal accident insurance
In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at or outside of work.
In case you or your employee injure someone or damage their property.
Claims against your business for:
For example:
Read more about public liability insurance
In case an employee gets sick or injured while working for you.
Claims against your business for:
**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:
In case your painting and decorating tools are lost, stolen or damaged.
For example:
Read more about tools insurance
In case something happens to the materials you keep in stock, like your paint.
For example:
Read more about stock insurance
In case things like laptops or office filing cabinets are lost, stolen, or damaged.
For example:
Read more about business and office equipment insurance
In case plant machinery, like excavators, you own is lost, stolen, or damaged.
For example:
Read more about own plant insurance
In case your painting and decorating work in progress is damaged by something like a fire, flood or vandalism.
For example:
Read more about contract works insurance
In case you’re faced with legal costs from running your painting and decorating business.
For example:
Read more about legal expenses insurance
In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at or outside of work.
For example:
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
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.
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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.
£8.83 /month
£68.32 /year
A local painter and decorator who works alone
Public liability
£1,000,000
Employers’ liability
Not included
Tools
Not included
£92.00 /month
£817.78 /year
A small painting and decorating limited company who occasionally use casual workers
Public liability
£2,000,000
Employers’ liability
£10,000,000
Tools
£5,000
How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 23/09/2020). 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.
It’s quick to buy cover online
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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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 painters and decorators insurance cover my work correctly?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?
In some situations you may need more than public liability to cover certain kinds of property damage. Learn about own plant cover and contract works cover.
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.
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.
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.
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 handyman insurance or interior design insurance?
If you provide other services, make sure you’re covered:
Other types of insurance
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.
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
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.
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.
Having insurance through Simply Business has saved painters and decorators thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.
Kevin (not his real name) was spraying cladding as part of a job. An overspray occurred, covering three cars at a second-hand car dealership next door. Kevin’s painting and decorating insurance covered the damage.
£19,380.00
Covering the cost of accidental damage
£100
The excess amount stated in Kevin's policy terms
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.
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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 insurance for painters and decorators. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.
Despite best efforts and lots of experience, accidents do happen. Public liability insurance for painters and decorators is usually a key cover, and can protect you if someone is injured or property gets damaged because of your business.
If you’re using machinery or tools you own yourself, own plant and tools insurance can be important covers. Finally, employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ anyone, even in your own home – failing to take out the right cover often results in heavy fines.
This depends on your business, and which insurer is providing your cover. Prices start from £6.56 a month for our painting insurance customers – we work this out by taking the highest price from the bottom 10 per cent of all our customers paying in monthly instalments (based on data from 1 July - 31 December 2020). Most customers pay more than this but some pay less.
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.
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.
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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