Not all insurance is created equal. Here at imar, we review policies for clients on a daily basis. We commonly see inadequate ‘off the shelf’ products that offer a basic blanket coverage for a wide range of occupations, but don’t consider the individual aspects of an occupation.
For public liability insurance, this can be a problem; particularly for tradies, who often work in higher risk locations. A stock-standard policy might not provide adequate cover for them, and they’d be better off with a tailored tradesman insurance coverage that mightn’t cost any more than they’re currently paying.
Let’s take a look at 3 areas where we regularly see gaps in coverage, so you can look over your own policy and see if there’s any exposures. Or better yet, give our experienced team of Client Managers a call and they can review your current policy for you.
1. The Basics Aren’t All There
With public liability insurance, there’s at least 3 basic covers that should be included at a minimum. These are:
- Public Liability
- Products Liability
- Goods in Physical or Legal Control, also called Care, Custody and Control
Having these three staples included is essential with tradesman insurance. Commonly, we’ll see covers leaving out Products Liability or Goods in Legal Control.
This presents an exposure for tradesmen if there’s damage or injury to a third party resulting from their completed works, which could be well after a job’s finished. Or if there’s damage to third party property when the tradesman is legally responsible for looking after it, ie. an appliance repairer or mechanic who keeps customer’s property at their premises overnight.
2. Limitations
It’s expected that policies won’t cover you for doing absolutely anything; most need activities to be in accordance with Australian Standards, for example. But be mindful of restrictions that will impact your daily activities.A window cleaner who cleans external glass on 5 storey buildings could be severely impacted by a 2 storey height limitation on a policy.
3. Exclusions
Exclusions on public liability insurance are common. Once again, they don’t cover everything. The thing to watch out for are the exclusions that mightn’t immediately jump out at you, but could impact you.A Plumber/Gas fitter, for example, wouldn’t seemingly be affected by a Welding and Hot work exclusion. However, when gas fitting, small oxy torches are commonly used to fuse and solder pipes. This exclusion could affect your coverage in a claim example such as this.
So if any of these signs pop up when you’re looking over your tradesman insurance, your policy mightn’t be up to scratch. Time to call us here at imar. Our team of Client Managers will review it for you and can organise a tailored public liability insurance policy that’s designed for your occupation
