Flooring Contractors Insurance
Comprehensive Liability Insurance for Flooring Contractors
Flooring Contractors Insurance
Flooring contractors insurance to cover your liabilities is something that is vitally important, protecting you against claims not just from the general public or other contractors on a site but also from your employees too.
Being a flooring contractor puts you in many different situations, whether you are fitting carpets or perhaps installing hardwood flooring for a number of retailers, floor tiling of large spaces or screeding floors in readiness for the flooring to be laid.
Working on new build homes, renovation projects or larger commercial properties, it’s essential to get the right cover in place, whilst ticking boxes on a website might get cheap cover, speaking to someone that understands your business, its insurance needs and can offer advice on the best policy for your business should be a priority.
Who needs Flooring Contractors Insurance
The flooring sector can be diverse and it doesn’t matter whether you are a one man band or a larger business, it’s essential that to have robust cover in force to protect you against any alleged loss, damage or injury that you might do to someone or their property that could cost your business a great sum of money. The flooring trade can face multiple risks so as a contractor having the peace of mind that your Public Liability Insurance is there to protect you is essential.
Having employees, whether they be PAYE or a Labour Only Sub-Contractors, casual labour or otherwise, Employers Liability will protect your business against claims for injury or accident from an employee whilst working for you and it’s also a legal requirement.
For many contractors in the construction sector, not just flooring contractors, insurance must be in place before you are allowed on a construction site, most notably Public Liability insurance so making sure you have the cover well in advance takes any last minute complications away.
What type of insurance do Flooring Contractors Need?
Public Liability and Employers Liability are the key two covers that are required by any flooring contracting businesses.
Public Liability
Cover is available that reflects the exact requirements of your business, as already stated public liability insurance is essential and should be viewed as the cornerstone of any business insurance policy.
It will protect you against claims that might be made by members of the public where they have alleged to have been injured or suffered a loss through a direct consequence of the actions of your business or one of your employees.
What Public Liability insurance limit might you need?
The amount of cover under a Public Liability Insurance policy varies on the needs of a business. We would always consider £2million to be a minimum amount of cover, although £1million is available.
Sometimes a contract may require a higher limit such a £5million or higher, typically local governments or larger main contractors will insist on higher limits with £10million not being out of the ordinary, cover is obtainable even into the £10’s of millions.
The amount of cover on a public liability is called a limit of indemnity, put simply this just refers to the amount of cover the policy will provide.
Employers Liability
As a flooring contractor it’s inevitable that you will require help, whether this is other floor layers, labourers, drivers or even apprentices, as we have already seen Employers Liability isn’t just a nice to have protection it’s actually a legal requirement where you have people carrying out work for you.
Anyone can be injured through the course of their work, even with the best care, training or working conditions, employers liability is there to not only defend the business against any claims for loss or injury sustained by your employee but to pay compensation so you don’t have to.
Who is an employee for Employers Liability Insurance?
An employee for insurance purposes can sometime be confusing; particularly in the contracting sector so it’s always a good idea to make sure you seek the correct advice. An Employee can be thought of as someone that is fully employed by your business such as PAYE where the business pays the Tax and National Insurance so a labour only sub- contractor could be ignored.
If someone that works for you is injured it doesn’t matter whether they are employed, self-employed an apprentice or even a volunteer, its crucial to understand that these would be classed as an employee.
To avoid confusion, speak to Real Insurance, we know the difference between PAYE, Labour Only Sub-Contractors as well as Bona Fide Sub-Contractors; we can ensure that the flooring contractors insurance policy you buy for your business protection is on the correct basis.
It’s easy to tick boxes on a website, it’s also easy to get it wrong which could invalidate your insurance cover leaving you and your business without the protection it needs.
What other types of insurance might a flooring contractor need?
If you run your business from an office you may need to include the building that that your office is in, you may have office contents and computer systems that need to be protected too against all types of perils, for instance, storm, flood, fire as well as theft.
Most flooring businesses will have expensive tools that are taken to site as well as being transported between jobs, these need to be insured against anything happening to them, theft can be a risk so a policy covering them is important whether they are tools owned by the business or if they are hired in.
A flooring contractor will need to get from job to job, not only moving employees about but materials and tools too so a commercial vehicle insurance policy is ideal. If you have multiple vehicles in your business then a mini fleet policy can be cost effective as well as providing greater flexibility and less admin with a common renewal date.
Why Real Insurance for your Flooring Contractors 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 flooring contracting 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 Flooring Contractors Insurance.