Trade Insurance

Trade insurance isn't a type of cover itself, instead the term is used to describe a range of covers that are often used in the trades industry by all sorts of trades including carpenters, electricians, plumbers and more.

So what are the types of policies available under trade insurance, and what exactly do they cover?

Public Liability Insurance

The policy that most tradies will have heard of is public liability insurance. This insurance covers you for any damage you cause someone property, or any injury that you cause to a person.

Some public liability claims can be quite minor, for things such as $500 worth of damage caused by slipt paint or broken glass. The really serious claims often come from personal injury, where your actions result in injury to someone.

For a minor injury you may find that a payout of a few grand will settle the matter, but in cases of serious injury where the victim requires a long time off work, the payout for loss of income can be huge. If your work results in someone's death the financial consequences can be enormous.

Thankfully public liability insurance for tradies will protect you against the big financial hits when things like this go wrong.

Tool Insurance

Another popular policy as part of a trade insurance pack is tool insurance. As the name suggests, tool insurance simply covers your tools against loss or damage.

Most tool insurance policies are fairly similar, but the cover can vary from one insurer to the next. Most policies will cover you for theft, but some policies will only cover the tools whilst they are locked up, whilst others will give the option to cover them even when they're not locked up.

Some insurers will also cover your tools of trade for accidental damage, but others will only cover for damage caused by fire, water or in a vehicle collision. Unfortunately there are no insurers we know of that will cover your tools for damaged whilst they're actually in use.

Income Protection

Some people also refer to income protection as Accident and Illness insurance, however there are some very important differences between the two, and the results at a time of claim can be very different between the two policies.

Basically income protection is there to protect your income when you cannot work in your trade. Your policy will have a waiting period and a benefit period, as well as a monthly benefit amount. If you cannot work, you will start to receive your monthly benefits as soon as the waiting period has ended, and you will continue to receive benefits until the benefit period ends or your are able to return to work, whichever is sooner.

Also included in a trade insurance pack can be other types of insurance such as life insurance, TPD and trauma insurance, but generally speaking the big three covers for the average tradesman are public liability, tool insurance and income protection.

Depending on the trade insurance company you use, you may be able to get a multi-policy discount by combining your public liability, tools and income protection. It is worth asking your broker or adviser about any deals they may be able to offer.

Here are Trade Risk we always aim to get the best deal for you. Sometimes the cheapest company for your public liability won't be the same as the cheapest insurer for your income protection, so in those cases we can mix and match your cover to get the best possible deal on your trade insurance.

For more information about trade insurance and how it can help you, please give us a call or complete our online quote request.

Information on this website should be seen as general advice only, as it does not take into account your personal circumstances. You should not act upon any information on this website without first consulting a qualified financial adviser or insurance broker
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