Insurance You Need to Join a Trade Platform

What Insurance Do You Need to Take Work Through a Trade Platform?

Public liability insurance is the one piece of cover you will be asked for by almost every trade platform, and employers’ liability is a legal requirement the moment you have staff. Everything else — tools, van, professional indemnity, contract works — depends on what you do and what you would struggle to replace. This is the checklist to work through before you start taking marketplace work.

Public liability: the non-negotiable one

Public liability covers injury to members of the public and damage to their property arising from your work. It is what responds when a pipe you fitted floods a downstairs flat, or a customer trips over your cable and breaks a wrist.

It is not compulsory by law for domestic work, but in practice it functions as though it is. Platforms ask for it, letting agents ask for it, main contractors ask for it, and homeowners increasingly ask for it. Working in customers’ homes without it exposes your personal finances to a claim that could easily run beyond anything your business holds.

Two things to check when you buy it:

The limit of indemnity. Higher limits cost surprisingly little more, and commercial contracts often specify a minimum.

The activity description. Insurers price and respond based on the work you declared. If you have added a trade — say a plumber who has started doing bathroom tiling and plastering — tell your insurer.

Employers’ liability: legally required once you have staff

If you employ anyone, employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement and the penalties for not holding it are significant. “Employ” is broader than people assume. Casual labour, temporary help and some labour-only subcontractors can fall within it, even if you pay them through CIS and they invoice you.

If you use subbies at all, do not assume you are outside this. Describe the arrangement to your broker and let them tell you.

Tools cover: the one most trades regret skipping

Tool theft from vans is one of the most common losses a trade suffers, and standard van insurance does not cover the contents. Tools cover is a separate policy or an add-on.

Read the conditions carefully, because insurers impose them and then decline claims when they are not met. Common ones include overnight storage requirements — tools removed from the van, or the van kept in a locked garage or on a driveway — specified security devices such as deadlocks or slam locks, and single-item limits that leave an expensive piece of kit underinsured unless it is listed separately.

Keep a tool inventory with serial numbers and photographs. It makes a claim dramatically faster and it makes recovery of stolen kit more likely.

Van insurance: get the class of use right

You need commercial vehicle insurance, and the class of use must match reality. “Carriage of own goods” is the usual class for a trade carrying their own tools and materials. If you carry goods for others, you need a different class.

Two extras worth pricing: cover for tools in transit if it is not on a separate policy, and a courtesy or replacement van, because a trade without a van is not working.

Professional indemnity: if you advise as well as install

Professional indemnity responds when advice, a design, a specification or a certificate you provided turns out to be wrong and the client suffers a financial loss.

You need to think about it if you size systems, produce designs, issue certificates or write reports that customers rely on. Heating engineers doing heat loss calculations, renewables installers designing systems, electricians certifying installations and design-and-build contractors are the usual candidates. If the customer is paying for your judgement and not just your labour, PI is the cover that fits.

Contract works and other job-specific cover

For larger projects, contract works insurance — sometimes called contractors’ all risks — covers the work in progress and the materials on site against damage, fire or theft before handover. On a big extension or refurbishment that is a serious sum of money sitting exposed, and it is not covered by public liability.

You may also want to consider legal expenses cover, which helps with the cost of pursuing debts or defending claims, and personal accident or income protection, which covers you rather than the customer. Nobody pays a sole trader who cannot work.

Registrations customers check alongside insurance

Insurance is only half of what a homeowner or a platform looks for. Depending on your trade, the credentials that matter are:

Gas Safe Register — a legal requirement for anyone working on gas appliances and pipework

Part P competent person scheme registration such as NICEIC or NAPIT, for notifiable domestic electrical work in England and Wales

MCS certification, needed for installations under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, where the grant is £7,500 towards a heat pump

Waste carrier registration, if you remove waste from site

Relevant cards and qualifications for site access

Keep digital copies of everything in one place with the renewal dates diarised. Chasing a lapsed certificate while a customer waits is a bad way to lose a job.

Why this matters more on a platform

When a homeowner finds you through a neighbour, they trust the neighbour. When they find you on a platform, they have nothing to go on but what the platform shows them — so documents do the work that word of mouth normally does.

Trade Pilot verifies the credentials trades hold so homeowners can see who they are dealing with before they get in touch. That means the effort you put into cover and registration converts into work rather than sitting in a folder. Joining is free and you are only charged when a real local job lands in your inbox, with each lead sold to no more than three trades in the area — so a verified profile competes against two others, not twenty.

A short pre-launch checklist

Public liability in force, with a limit that suits your work and an accurate activity description

Employers’ liability if you have staff, or anyone who might count as staff

Tools cover, with the storage and security conditions you can actually meet

Van insurance with the correct class of use

Professional indemnity if you design, specify or certify

Trade registrations current, with renewal dates diarised

Digital copies of every certificate and schedule saved and easy to send

FAQ

Is public liability insurance a legal requirement for tradespeople? Not by law for domestic work, but it is required by most platforms, agents and commercial clients, and working without it puts your own finances at risk.

How much public liability cover should I have? Enough to meet any contractual minimum your clients specify and to cover a realistic worst case for your work. Higher limits usually cost far less than trades expect.

Do I need employers’ liability if I only use subcontractors? Possibly. Some labour-only subcontractors count as employees for insurance purposes. Describe your arrangements to your broker rather than assuming you are exempt.

Does my van insurance cover my tools? Generally not. Tools are usually excluded from standard van policies and need separate cover, often with conditions about overnight storage and van security.

What is the difference between public liability and professional indemnity? Public liability covers injury and property damage caused by your work. Professional indemnity covers financial loss caused by your advice, design or certification.

What documents should I have ready before joining a trade platform? Your public liability certificate, employers’ liability certificate if applicable, any trade registration or scheme membership documents, and relevant qualifications — all as digital copies you can send in a couple of minutes.

Related reading: public liability insurance for tradespeople · employers' liability insurance · do you legally need public liability insurance? · TrustATrader vs Which? Trusted Traders