Tradesman Insurance
Protect your livelihood with tailored tradesman insurance from Cotter Insurance, reliable cover built around the way you work.
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Tradesman insurance that covers what actually happens on site
You’re halfway through a bathroom refit and the homeowner’s cat knocks your heat gun off the vanity unit. Scorch mark on the vinyl. The customer wants the whole floor replaced. That’s a public liability claim, and without the right cover, it’s coming out of your pocket.
Most tradesmen know they need insurance. The tricky part is knowing exactly what you need for the work you actually do. Public liability is the obvious one. But employers’ liability is a legal requirement the moment you take someone on, even a labourer for a week. Tools cover matters when your van gets broken into overnight. And professional indemnity isn’t just for office workers. If you’re signing off designs, drawings, or specifications, you need it.
Tell us your trade and we’ll connect you with an insurer who covers your specific work. Not a generic policy. Not a one-size-fits-all package. Cover that’s matched to what you actually do on site.
What does tradesman insurance cover?
Public Liability Insurance
This covers injury to third parties or damage to their property while you’re working. If a customer trips over your toolbox, if…
Employers' liability
It’s a legal requirement if you employ anyone. And that includes subcontractors in many cases. The minimum cover is £5 million. If…
Tools and equipment cover
Your tools are your livelihood. A decent set of power tools, specialist kit, testing equipment. Replace all of that after a van…
Professional indemnity
If you provide advice, designs, or specifications as part of your work, this covers claims from errors in that advice. Electricians signing…
Commercial vehicle insurance
Your van isn’t just transport. It’s your mobile workshop. Standard motor insurance won’t cover tools stored inside or business use across multiple…
Tell Us Your Trade
Let us know what you do and we’ll connect you with an insurer who understands your work. It takes minutes, it’s free, and there’s no obligation.
What trades do we cover?
We work with specialist insurers across every trade discipline. If your trade isn’t listed below, tell us what you do anyway. We’ll find the right insurer for it.
Builders and general contractors
Electricians
Plumbers and heating engineers
Carpenters and joiners
Plasterers and renderers
Roofers
Painters and decorators
Landscapers and groundworkers
Tilers
Kitchen and bathroom fitters
Window fitters
Scaffolders
Why do tradesmen use Cotter Insurance?
Generic insurance forms don’t understand the difference between a plasterer and a roofer. They lump trades together, offer blanket cover, and leave you hoping everything’s actually included when you need to claim. That’s not how tradesman insurance should work.
Say you’ve got three lads on the books and two subcontractors who come and go. You store materials on a rented yard. You’ve got a company van and a personal vehicle you sometimes use for site visits. That’s a real situation, and a standard online form won’t capture half of it.
We take the detail seriously. You tell us what you do, how your business works, and what you need covered. We connect you with an insurer who specialises in your type of trade and understands the risks that come with it. Because when something goes wrong and you need to claim, the last thing you want to discover is that your cover doesn’t apply because your policy didn’t account for how you actually work.
FAQs
It’s not a legal requirement, but most customers and main contractors won’t let you on site without it. In practice, you can’t operate without public liability cover. Most tradesmen carry at least £1 million, and many commercial clients require £5 million. Tell us your trade and we’ll connect you with an insurer who can get the right level of cover in place.
It depends on the insurer and the policy wording. This is one of the most common claims tradesmen make, so it’s something we always check before connecting you with an insurer. If your tools stay in the van overnight, we’ll make sure your insurer knows and that your cover accounts for it.
Public liability covers physical damage or injury. You put a drill through a water pipe, that’s public liability. Professional indemnity covers mistakes in your professional advice or design work. You specify the wrong boiler and it costs the client money to replace, that’s professional indemnity. Some trades need both, and we’ll help you work out which applies to your work.
Yes, but you need it in place before they start work. Not after their first week. If you’re thinking about hiring, sort the cover first. Let us know and we’ll connect you with an insurer who can add employers’ liability to your existing arrangement or set up a new policy.
It depends on your trade, turnover, number of employees, and the cover levels you need. A sole trader painter with £1 million public liability will pay less than a roofing contractor with five employees and
£5 million cover. Tell us your trade and we’ll get you an accurate price from an insurer who covers your type of work.