Painter and decorator insurance

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Painter and decorator holding a tub of wallpaper paste and a brush

Why do you need painter and decorator insurance?

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.

  • protection from big claims for accidental damage or injuries
  • help to keep going if something unexpected gets in the way
  • specific painting and decorating insurance for the risks your business faces


What does painter and decorator insurance cover?

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.


How much does decorator 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 £4.74 per month

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

Example painter and decorator insurance quotes, real prices

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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


How it works

Pick what goes into your policy

Get prices from a range of insurers

Buy online in minutes

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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.


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 any time, day or night. Call them on 0333 207 0560 or claim online. They’ll do their best to be fair and supportive.

£51 million in claims paid out in 2023

83% of claims were settled in 2023

Example claim

Having insurance through Simply Business has saved painters and decorators thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.

Kevin saved more than £19,300

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.

Chosen by nearly 1 million small businesses and landlords

Painting and decorating 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 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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