Cabinet Makers Insurance

Cabinet makers can have a board range of business insurance needs.

Our team can assist your cabinet making business, whether you’re doing installations or manufacturing, or a combination of both.

We’ve been helping cabinetmakers, tradies and builders with their business insurance needs since 2010, and we’ve put together a comprehensive guide below just for you.

If you’d prefer to speak with a specialist, hit the buttons below.

In this guide we’ll look at the various types of insurance required by different cabinet making businesses, along with other factors to consider.

Use the links to jump straight to the relevant section:

• Types of cabinet making business
• Insurance types for cabinet makers
• Cabinet makers insurance costs
• Next steps
• Frequently asked questions

If there’s anything we haven’t covered, or if you have more specific questions, please get in touch with us.

Types of cabinet making business

This won’t be news to you, but it’s still important to discuss when looking at the insurance needs of a cabinetmaking business.

Installers

Some cabinetmakers we deal with are doing installation work only.

They might run their own installation business, or they might subcontract to a builder or kitchen renovation company.

Whilst there are still risks that need to be insured against, they are not doing any of the manufacturing work, which brings additional risks.

Manufacturers

On the other side we have the manufacturers. This business would have a factory and machinery that requires insurance.

Whilst both the installers and manufacturers are both referred to as “cabinet makers”, clearly their risks are a little different.

Combination

And of course there are business that do both the manufacturing and the installation.

These businesses will have the risks that come as a manufacturer – such as their factory and machinery – whilst also having the worksite risks of the installer.

Insurance types for cabinet makers

We’ll start with the insurance types that will be common amongst installers and manufacturers.

Public Liability Insurance

This is the most common form of insurance for anyone in the construction industry, and almost any industry for that matter.

This form of insurance will protect you in the event that your business activities result in property damage or personal injury to a third party.

Most public liability policies will also include products liability as a standard inclusion, which is especially important for manufacturers.

As an installer, a claim could involve leaving your tools or materials in a walkway without any safety signage, and a member of the public trips over them, resulting in injury to the person.

As a manufacturer, it could be that a visitor suffers an injury whilst on your premises.

Important Tip: Some policies will have exclusions or special conditions around silica and dust extraction. If this impacts you we strongly recommend speaking with you broker about it.

Tool Insurance

This will be more important for an installer.

As a cabinetmaker you’ll have a range of power tools and other equipment, and if they are stolen or damaged by fire, you’ll be left out of pocket.

Tool insurance – also known as general property insurance – can cover the costs of replacing your gear.

Plant & Equipment / Machinery Breakdown

For manufacturers, it’s more about your plant and machinery rather than smaller power tools.

There is the risk that these items are damaged by fire or some other insured peril.

Additionally, there is the risk that the machinery is unable to operate for some other reason, which costs your business money as you’re unable to produce the cabinets.

Both risks can be covered under the relevant policies such as plant & equipment insurance and machinery breakdown insurance.

Professional Indemnity Insurance

If you’re undertaking the design work, you may have an exposure that is not covered by a standard public liability policy.

If there is a flaw or deficiency in your design, which down the track results in loss or damage to a third party, you’ll need professional indemnity insurance.

Whilst public and products liability is more about your physical work and physical products, professional indemnity is about covering your risks around design and advice.

In some cases you can obtain a combined public liability and professional indemnity policy, or it may even be appropriate to look at a design & construct policy.

This area is much better handled by a qualified insurance broker, such as those we have at Trade Risk.

Personal Accident Insurance

Typically this form of insurance would be associated with self-employed installers, but in reality it can be relevant for anyone.

Personal accident insurance is similar to income protection, in that it can replace a large portion of your income whilst you’re unable to work due to injury or (optional) illness.

There are plenty of options to consider with personal accident insurance, such as the waiting period, benefit period and benefit amount.

If you and your family rely on the income generated from your cabinetmaking activities, personal accident insurance is mighty important.

Commercial Motor Insurance

Whether you’re installing or manufacturing – or both – it’s highly likely that you’re going to have utes, vans or trucks in your business.

Whilst many smaller commercial vehicles can be insured directly without the need for a broker, there are benefits to having a broker manage your vehicle insurance.

This can be especially important if your vehicles are specially fitted out for cabinetmaking.

You can quickly end up with thousands of dollars’ worth of fit out such as shelving and racking for the cabinetry, and this may not be covered under a standard vehicle insurance policy.

A proper commercial motor policy can cover all of the vehicle fit out along with vehicle signage that can also extend well into the thousands for a full wrap.

If you’re running a fleet of vehicles in your business, the saving of having a fleet policy over multiple standalone policies can be significant for a cabinetmaking business.

Business Interruption Insurance

This typically won’t be relevant for an installer, but is very important for a manufacturer.

Even if you have your factory and machinery properly insured, you’re still going to be in financial trouble if it takes months and months to get your operations up and running again.

Business interruption insurance can cover you lost revenue whilst you’re unable to operate the business for certain reasons, such as rebuilding after a fire or flood.

This is a more specialised form of insurance, and it’s important to discuss it with a qualified insurance broker.

Other Insurance Types

Given the wide variety of cabinetmaking businesses out there, there are plenty of different business insurance types that could be relevant to you.

This could include cyber insurance, management liability insurance for larger employers, and workers compensation insurance, which will differ depending on which state or states you operate in.

The best option is to speak with a qualified insurance broker – such as those we have at Trade Risk – who can get an understanding of your business and your risks and make recommendations.

Cabinetmakers insurance costs

How much business insurance costs for a cabinetmaker will vary hugely depending on the type and size of the business.

If you’re a sole trader doing installations, your public liability insurance will likely cost less than $1,000 per year.

Adding on tool insurance and personal accident insurance will bump that up, and will depend on just how much cover you need.

At the other end of the scale are the manufacturers. For a large operation doing ten of millions of dollars a year in revenue, the insurance costs can stretch into the hundreds of thousands per year.

Again, the best option is to speak with a Trade Risk insurance broker who can put together a range of quotes that are tailored to your specific business.

Next steps

Getting started is easy at Trade Risk.

If you prefer to speak with a real person, you can call us during business hours on 1800 808 800.

You’ll be able to speak with one of our insurance brokers straight away, and given our specialisation in construction, you’ll be speaking with someone who understand you.

If your business is located in Brisbane – as we are – we can even come out and see you or welcome you to our Hendra office.

We deal with cabinetmakers from all over Australia, and most get everything they need by dealing with us via phone and email.

If you prefer to deal electronically in your own time, you can jump straight into our quote request form, which will allow you to provide information about your business, in order for us to get started on your quotes.

We’ve been helping cabinetmakers for over a decade, and we’d love the opportunity to help you and your business.

Frequently Asked Questions

For most questions we recommend contacting us and speaking with a broker, but here are a few common questions we get from cabinet makers.

Does it matter if I’m just installing vs manufacturing?

Yes! The risks involved in installation vs manufacturing are significant.

Your Trade Risk broker will know to ask this question, but if you are speaking with other brokers, we strongly recommend that you let them know exactly what works you are doing.

How much does cabinet makers insurance cost?

The costs can vary hugely depending on the size and the activities of your business.

For a sole trader only doing installation the cost could by under $1,000, whilst for a large manufacturer it could be well into the hundreds of thousands.

Is public liability mandatory for cabinet makers?

It’s not mandatory in terms of the law, in the same way that it can be for licensed electricians and plumbers, but it will often to stipulated in contracts.

For example if you’re an installer contracting to a builder, they will most likely require that you hold public liability insurance before entering their worksite.

Likewise if you’re a manufacturer or supplier, contracts you enter into will often require that you hold public liability insurance.

Is personal accident mandatory for cabinet makers?

As is the case with public liability, it’s not mandatory under law, but many worksites will require that all subcontractors hold income protection or personal accident insurance.