Public Liability Insurance Vs Contractor All Risk Insurance: What Is The Difference?

Last updated: 10/12/2024

Trade insurance can quickly become a minefield, with insurance jargon, terms and conditions, plus the different levels and types of cover becoming complex very quickly.

Let's look at the differences between Public Liability Insurance and Contractors All Risk Insurance and break these policies down into something more accessible and easier to understand.

What are both insurance policies for? What are the main differences? And do we really need just one or the other, or can we have a combined trade insurance policy with both of them?

What is Public Liability Insurance?

Put simply, Public Liability Insurance refers to cover for you, as a tradesperson, when you are working on a customer’s property. If, whilst conducting the work, you happen to cause damage to the property or injury to a member of the public, you or your business could be held liable.

Even if it is a complete accident, Public Liability Insurance helps protect you in this eventuality. For a relatively simple and cost-effective piece of cover, your business will have that vital piece of cover to protect you should the proverbial hit the fan.

This is a vital insurance policy for any tradesperson. Want to find out more about Public Liability Insurance? This article highlights the reasons why Public Liability Insurance is important.

What is Contractors All Risk Insurance?

Contractors All Risk Insurance is a broad policy that is used to cover tradespeople for a variety of risks associated with their work. These include risks relating to plant or machinery, tools & effects when they are on a site, and contracted works.

More often than not, Contractors All Risks Insurance is purchased by tradespeople working in construction or as a building contractor who typically work with larger contracts, with more extensive machinery and staff who store possessions on site whilst they work.

Unlike other insurance providers, Rhino breaks down Contractors All Risks Insurance into four categories: Contract Works cover, Hired-In Plant cover, Owned Plant cover and protection for your Employees’ Tools and Effects whilst on site – allowing you to tailor your cover depending on your business requires.

We have worked with thousands of tradespeople for many years and aim to give you the proper protection at the best price. Contractor's All Risk Insurance must be purchased alongside our Public Liability Insurance. Interested in more information? Read all about Contractor's All Risks Insurance for tradesmen now.

What are the risks for tradespeople on the job, and which insurance covers it?

With both policies being closely linked, here are a handful of scenarios where Public Liability Insurance and Contractors All Risks Insurance could help you out.

Having an accident on-site

Imagine you are working as a painter and decorator. On occasions, you will need to work at certain heights and one day you’re up a ladder and drop a tin of paint just as your customer below is offering you a cup of tea. The paint tin hits the customer causing injury and distress. The accident is deemed your fault, but fortunately you have the correct level of Public Liability Insurance in place covering your business against any claims. Any compensation owed to the customer, perhaps to cover medical bills would be covered by your Public Liability Insurance.

Causing some level of damage

Now let’s imagine that you’re a plumber who is fitting a new boiler. You finish the work, but when you’re testing the unit a rubber seal gives way and water leaks out. This has the potential to leak through the ceiling and affect other parts of the property, causing damage. Try not to worry, though. Your Public Liability Insurance will protect you in this instance. You would have been expected to leave the house in the same standard you arrived in, so you would be able to make a claim on your Public Liability insurance to cover the costs of repairing or replacing any damaged items.

Now, these scenarios are made up for effect, but each case (or something similar) is possible for any trade. Don't avoid putting off your Public Liability Insurance. Call us on 0116 243 7904 now and get an instant (and quite frankly cracking) quote for your business.

what does Contractor's All Risks Insurance cover me for?

A whole manner of trades can benefit from having Contractor's All Risks Insurance - Plumbers, Builders and Electricians being the most popular – but here are a few examples where CARs will help protect your business.

• Contractors All Risks insurance can help to cover the 'contract value' of the build if Contract Works cover is taken out. So, if something happens to go wrong, such as a fire starting or materials being damaged whilst on site, and only half of the work is complete, you will be covered to put whatever is wrong right so that the customer doesn't have to foot the bill. We can offer up to £250,000 of cover immediately, and higher levels of cover can be requested from our insurance provider.
• It could also cover you for any plant or machinery you have on-site (whether you own it, or it is hired in). Let's say that machinery is stolen or damaged. This policy would help to pay for repairs or replacement of the plant/machinery. We can offer up to £50,000 of cover for plant/machinery that you might be using, and higher levels of cover can be requested from our provider if needed.
• On top of that, it can also offer cover for any employees' possessions or equipment that are being stored on-site should they be damaged or stolen. We can provide cover for up to £5,000 of tools & effects whilst they are on site.

Are we missing anything?

Rhino has worked extremely hard to create trade-specific policies for almost every trade around.

For our Public Liability Insurance, it all depends on the amount of cover you need for your business - our cover levels start from £1 million and go up to £5 million. And our prices start at just £6.07 a month, which is cheaper than a pint (depending on where you’re buying)!

On top of that, our Contractor's All Risks Insurance is calculated depending on your trade and the type of work you undertake. The vital factor is that this trade insurance starts at just £11.20 a month.

Whether you are a builder, plumber, electrician, carpenter, gas engineer, or anything else, let us know your needs, and we will sort out some fantastic cover for you.