According to statistics from Safe Work Australia, construction is the third most dangerous occupation in Australia.
In their latest statistics, the organisation found that 40 labourers and 26 technicians and trades workers died while at work in 2016. Labourers also saw the highest number of claims for injury at work (26,410 claims in 2016) taking up 25% of the total number of serious injury claims made in all occupations.
While your work may not feel particularly dangerous, the statistics speak for themselves.
Many job sites across Australia now require workers and subcontractors to take out their own injury and illness insurance and it is easy to see why.
Tradies injury and illness insurance is designed to pay out a nominated amount of your income in the event you can’t work for an extended period due to an injury or illness and Rosemary Callaghan, Team Leader at imar, said the cover is undervalued by tradies.
“It is under appreciated a little,” Rosemary said. “I don’t think it is a cover people particularly want but they can’t get on site without it and it offers valuable protection should the worst happen.”
Rosemary said that imar are able to set-up cover quickly and easily but for more complex trades or those that require more extensive cover, a financial advisor is on hand to guide tradies through the process.
There are some misconceptions around the need for an injury and illness cover when combined with employee covers such as workers compensation. Different states have different laws and regulations surrounding workers compensation but Rosemary said that personal cover is still important.
“It can be a minefield,” Rosemary continued.
“Even if you are a subcontractor, you work full-time and the boss should be paying workers comp, if you think that because the boss is paying workers comp for me then I must be covered under his liability – that is not true.”
“Even if people are covered under their bosses work cover, we recommend they consider personal accident cover.”
Find out more
Discover the ease of dealing with imar for all your tradies insurance needs. Call us today on 1800 284 627, or pop your details into the form on our ‘Get a quote’ page.
This is a general overview of insurance issues. To the extent that any material in this document may be considered advice, it does not take into account your objectives, needs or financial situation. You should consider whether the advice is appropriate for you and review any relevant Product Disclosure Statement and policy wording before taking out an insurance policy.
