Welders Insurance
Insurance for welders and contractors – Essential Liability cover as well as Plant and Machinery.
Welders Insurance
Whether your business is a mobile welder carrying out work at various locations, a contract welder in a manufacturing environment welding structural steel, or you are on the tenth floor of a soon to be office block welding pads for beams, welders insurance is an essential part of your business armoury.
A man and a fully kitted out van or a much larger firm of welding contractors, whether you use MIG, TIG, Stick or Oxy-Acetylene, you need to ensure that all angles of protection are in place, whether that is Public Liability Insurance to your covering your Plant on site.
Liability Insurance cover for a welder protects you and your business against claims that may be made against you for damage you may do to a third party, such as a member of the public, as well as paying compensation should you be found negligent.
Welders insurance cover can extend to your on-site welding plant and machinery, the premises you work from, and the van you use daily.
Why do you need insurance as a Welder?
Let’s face it: every time you start to work, whether on-site or at your business premises, you have a whole host of exposures and risks to contend with, many of which could cause you financial ruin. Unless you have considerable funds to hand and can pay your claims, then its essential that insurance is in place to protect you and your finances, defending and settling claims so you don’t have to.
Depending on what you do as a welder or a welding contractor can, to some extent, determine the types of insurance cover you need.
Let’s look at a few examples; if you work solely on building contracts, Welders Public Liability will be at the top of the list of priorities for cover. In fact, without proof of your Liability insurance being in place these days, many contractors will not let you on their site.
Working from premises? There is so much more to think about:
If you own the premises you work from, then building insurance should be essential; imagine arriving at your premises for that urgent job only to find overnight the roof has been badly damaged in a storm.
Whether you Own or Rent the premises, your contents will likely be damaged, too; how much does it cost to replace the water-damaged welding station, that heavy-duty welder and all that fume extraction equipment? It isn’t cheap which is why Plant & Machinery cover is essential.
Your Machinery and Plant will likely include many other items essential to your welding business, such as grinders, metal cutting equipment, and even overhead cranes to move the steel around when dealing with large structural contracts.
Whilst your stock, such as steel plates and bars, or large structural steel such as I-Beams could be damaged in a significant fire due to buckling and warping, non-ferrous metals, such as Stainless Steel is thief attractive and is a theft target because of their high value.
Do I need Building and Contents Or Business Interruption Cover?
Having your business Building and Contents insured is just part of the protection you need. Fire damage or losing the roof due to a storm, for example, can have significant consequences for your business; without your premises, you can’t continue to carry out your welding services, and consequently, you could experience a loss of customers who migrate to your competitors, not good for the longevity of your business.
Having cover such as Business Interruption, it is designed to put you back in the same financial position as if the loss at your business had never occurred. An essential business asset, one might say, and is keeping your business “in business” whilst your premises are repaired or rebuilt.
If you work from business premises, Public Liability Insurance to protect you and your business is just as essential as if you were welding on-site.
Is Public Liability Insurance essential for my business?
Welders Public Liability is designed to protect your business against allegations of negligence. This may be where a member of the public has been injured or you have caused loss or damage to their property. If this happens, you have a team of legal specialists behind you to defend, and if you are found responsible for the loss, they will pay any compensation that may be awarded against you or your business.
How much Liability Insurance cover do I need for my welding business?
When taking out Liability insurance you are buying what’s called a Limit of Indemnity; this will be the maximum amount your insurer will pay up to in the event of a claim. Whilst the norm these days is £2 million or £5 million, higher options are available such as £10 million.
When you are working on-site it’s not uncommon for the contractor to expect you to have Welders Public Liability in place, they may also request you have a minimum limit of indemnity.
Does my welding business need Product Liability Insurance?
When you are welding pieces of metal together, you are either manufacturing the complete product or a component part of a larger item. Unfortunately, things can go wrong when the object you have produced fails.
Even being a coded welder doesn’t exclude you; the most qualified of us can’t always be perfect all the time.
Having Product Liability insurance for a welder will protect you against allegations that you have caused loss or damage to a third party; if you have been found to have been negligent, then your insurer will provide not only the legal defense but any compensation that you are liable to pay, just like Public Liability.
Do I need to have Employers Liability Insurance in place?
If you have people carrying out work for you, it is essential and a legal requirement. An employee can be anyone from a voluntary worker, such as someone who might come to sweep up your unit, work experience students, and, of course, PAYE; you should also include people that supply Labour Only, such as subcontract welders, as these will be treated as employees under your control.
Can I insure my Welding Plant whilst it’s on-site?
Of course, this can be done quite simply; any Plant and equipment can be covered, ranging from grinders or cutting gear, your welding plant, generators, to the bigger end such as scissor lifts, cherry pickers, to large cranes.
You can also go one step further and cover the Plant and equipment you hire. Remember that hiring equipment doesn’t always come with insurance cover, so you must check when you hire.
Plant insurance can cover your own Plant and hire Plant against many risks, such as Fire, Accidental Damage, and theft of the Plant, which is a severe issue.
Contract Works Insurance, just as it says, covers the works themselves, the materials, such as stock on site ready for use, and work in progress and finished. This is covered against many perils, just like your plant insurance for Fire, Storm, Flood and, of course, theft of materials.
Management Risks Insurance (Directors & Officers)
As a Director of a company, you have the benefit of the Limited Liability status to protect you, to an extent, when it comes to an individual director, though this isn’t the case. A Management Risks policy will defend you if you are involved in a wrongful act, which can be everything from unintentionally offending someone to a breach of one of the many government or EU directives.
Remember that a Director or Officer can be personally held responsible for their actions, and there is no limit on the amounts involved – their personal livelihood is at stake.
The good thing with Directors & Officers Liability Insurance for welders is still quite competitively priced – speak to us about how you can protect yourself.
Accident Insurance
Accidents happen, and if that means you can’t work, what happens then? The bills, the mortgage, and life just become more complex.
Taking out Accident insurance, whether for yourself or your employees, makes sense; it takes the worry away of being unable to earn a living.
Why Real Insurance for your Welders Insurance?
Real Insurance Group are a business insurance broker that specialises in businesses in the construction sector, let us get the right cover for your business needs.
Speak to us today about your welding business; you can speak to real people with many years’ experience who can offer proper advice and not being guided by what the screen says.
Talk to us today about your Welders Insurance.
