Welding insurance
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Rated 4.7/5
Based on 39,375 reviews
Claims paid in 24 hours
For 80% of settled claims
Insurance for welders – why is it important?
From employer and tools protection to public liability insurance, welding professionals rely on expert, comprehensive business insurance. It’s a backstop for the common risks you face, letting you focus on the job, not the what-ifs. Third party property damage and injuries, an employee claim, equipment theft, and personal accidents – tell us about your business and add the covers you need.
- mobile welding insurance, or cover on your premises
- product and public liability between £1 million and £5 million
- rated 4.7/5 based on 39K+ public liability customer reviews
What does welders insurance cover?
You know your trade best, so we let you design a bespoke policy, focusing on the cover you need. Public liability insurance is often a priority for our welding business customers, and employers’ liability cover is usually a legal requirement, if you’ve hired anybody. From there, you can add cover for your specialist tools and equipment, or our own personal accident protection.
Public liability insurance for welders
In case someone is injured or their property gets damaged, because of your welding business.
Employers’ liability insurance
In case an employee gets sick or injured because of working for you.
Business and office equipment insurance
In case things like laptops or office filing cabinets are lost, stolen, or damaged.
Tools insurance
In case your welding tools are lost, stolen, or damaged.
Stock insurance
In case something happens to the welding stock you keep in supply.
Legal expenses insurance
In case you’re faced with legal costs in connection with your welding business.
Personal accident insurance
In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at or outside of work.
Public liability insurance for welders
In case someone is injured or their property gets damaged, because of your welding business.
What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?
Claims against your business for:
- damage to someone’s property, caused by your work
- injuries caused by your business activities
- accidental damage or injury caused by your employees, if you have any
For example:
- a customer gets an electric shock while going over work in progress with you
- a spark from your working area burns your customer’s wooden coving
If you do employ anyone, you’re usually required by law to have employers’ liability insurance too.
Read more about public liability insurance
Employers’ liability insurance
In case an employee gets sick or injured because of working for you.
What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?
Claims against your business for:
- an employee, including a contractor or casual labourer, suing you after falling ill because of working for your welding business, or
- making a claim for an injury they’ve had while working for you
**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 apprentice burns their arm while training with you, and raises a claim
- a former employee brings a claim against you for an eye injury sustained while working for you
Business and office equipment insurance
In case things like laptops or office filing cabinets are lost, stolen, or damaged.
What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?
- theft, flood, fire, or accidental damage to the equipment you use to run your welding business
- operational equipment like your laptop, rather than the trade tools you take out and about
For example:
- your employee drops your phone from a height, damaging it beyond repair
- a fire in your small rented garage damages your new laptop, which you use for work
Read more about business and office equipment insurance
Tools insurance
In case your welding tools are lost, stolen, or damaged.
What’s typically covered by tools insurance?
- loss, damage, or theft of your hand tools, power tools, and specialist welding equipment
For example:
- you buy new tools for a bigger commercial job and these are damaged in a flood over the weekend
- you invest in three new welders for the team which are stolen from your locked garage during the Christmas holidays
Read more about tools insurance
Stock insurance
In case something happens to the welding stock you keep in supply.
What’s typically covered by stock insurance?
- loss, damage, or theft of your work materials, or items you’re planning to sell
For example:
- your stock of screens, wire, and gas are destroyed in a fire at your garage unit
- a large order of steel electrodes are stolen from the back of your business partner’s truck
Read more about stock insurance
Legal expenses insurance
In case you’re faced with legal costs in connection with your welding business.
What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?
- legal costs attributed to your welding business
- property damage, nuisance, or trespass – specifically, the associated legal claims and compensation payouts
- tax and compliance disputes and investigations you need help with
- includes a tax advice helpline, a 24/7 confidential legal helpline, and crisis support to help you protect your reputation as a trusted trade professional
For example:
- your contractor disputes their agreement with you, and you need pay for legal services
- an employee sues you for unfair dismissal, and you need to recover legal costs
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?
- accidental injury or death at work or elsewhere, for anyone covered on the policy
- lost income, medical costs, and hospitalisation benefit
For example:
- you fall off your tower and break your knee, keeping you off work for six weeks
- an employee breaks their hand while playing squash, and needs time off work during a busy period
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 welding business 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 £5.69 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 January - 31 August 2021). Most customers pay more than this but some pay less.
Example welding insurance quotes, real prices
£14.88 /month
£128.78 /month
A self-employed welder who works locally and does not undertake oxyacetylene welding
- 1-2 years' experience
- Sole trader
- No employees
- Based in Bristol
Public liability
£1,000,000
Employers’ liability
Not included
Tools
Not included
£209.43 /month
£1861.57 /month
A small limited welding company who work on medium-sized contracts (residential and commercial)
- 5+ years' experience
- Limited company
- 2 employees
- Based in Cardiff
Public liability
£2,000,000
Employers’ liability
£10,000,000
Tools
£8,000
How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 09/06/2021). 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.
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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 welders 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?
In some situations you may need more than public liability to cover certain kinds of property damage. Learn about tools insurance and personal accident 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 tool 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 welders 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 heating engineer insurance or engineering consultant 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 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.
£28 million in claims paid out in 2021
Paying 80% of settled claims within 24 hours in 2021
Example claim
Having welding insurance through Simply Business has saved metal professionals thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.
Phil saved more than £11,600
Phil (not his real name) and two colleagues were carrying steel bars weighing approximately 200kg, as part of his day-to-day work. He felt a sharp pain in his hand and went to hospital, where he was signed off work for two weeks.
Insurance payout
£11,631.50
Covering the cost of personal accidents
Phil’s costs
£100
The excess amount stated in Phil’s policy terms
Chosen by 800,000 small businesses and landlords
We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then with 800,000 customers across 1,500 trades now trusting us to provide their business insurance.
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Welder 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 business insurance for welders. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.
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.
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 instalments.
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 043 8527. 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
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