Public Liability Insurance for Tradies
Meet builder and contractor requirements and protect your business from third-party injury and property damage claims.
What is Public Liability Insurance for Tradies?
Public liability insurance can cover your trade business if you cause injury to someone else (a third party) or cause damage to their property while carrying out your business activities. It can pay for the third party's losses and, if necessary, your legal defence.
For example, if you drilled through a wall and hit a water pipe, you may be held liable for the resulting water damage. This is the type of situation public liability insurance is designed to cover.
What can Public Liability Insurance cover?
Third Party Property Damage
Third Party Property Damage
If you accidentally damage a third party's property (e.g. a customer's house) while at work, public liability insurance can cover you for the costs you become required to pay.
Injuries to Third Parties
Injuries to Third Parties
If a third party, like a customer or a passer by, is accidentally injured because of your business activities, public liability insurance can cover the cost you become liable to pay.
Reasonable Legal Costs
Reasonable Legal Costs
If there is a claim made against you that you may be legally liable to pay, public liability policies can cover the legal costs incurred to defend or settle it.
Loading and Unloading Vehicles
Loading and Unloading Vehicles
VIZ's public liability insurance can cover you for loss or damage to the property of a third party that happens during the loading and unloading of registered vehicles in the course of your business activities.
Queensland Electrician's Requirements
Queensland Electrician's Requirements
While not the case with all public liability policies, VIZ's Legal Liability policy can provide the necessary $50,000 of consumer protection insurance along with the $5 million in Public Liability Insurance for Qld sparkies. Please see Section 7.1.7 in the policy wording for more details.
Victorian Plumber's Requirements
Victorian Plumber's Requirements
VIZ's Legal Liability policy is compliant with all of the requirements of the Ministerial Order, Licensed Plumbers General Insurance Order (2002). If you are looking to get or renew your plumbing licence in Victoria, you will need to provide Victoria's Building and Plumbing Commission with proof that you hold adequate insurance. The Vic Plumbers extension can cover you for Defect Liability, Trade Practices Liability and Consequential Financial Loss.
What doesn't Public Liability Insurance cover?
Faulty workmanship
Faulty workmanship
While public liability can cover the damages faulty workmanship causes, it cannot cover the cost of redoing the actual work itself. E.g. if you were a plumber working on a hot water system, and you failed to seal a valve properly, the cost to repair the resulting water damage can be covered, but not the cost of finishing the work on the hot water system.
Injury to your employees
Injury to your employees
An employee is considered part of your business, and not a third party. That's why they cannot be covered.
Work outside your stated occupation
Work outside your stated occupation
A public liability policy will typically only cover you for the business activities that you have stated to the insurer. If you are insured for handyman/general maintenance work, you can't expect to be covered if you go ahead start installing outlets. Fortunately, VIZ can cover you for 2 different trades when you select a second occupation - meaning that you could be covered for both general maintenance and electrical work while only paying one premium.
Damage to your own property
Damage to your own property
In the same way that an employee isn't considered a third party, the tools and equipment you use for work cannot be covered by public liability as they are owned by the business.
Work related to asbestos
Work related to asbestos
Insurers often choose to exclude super high risk situations from their public liability policies. For instance, VIZ (as well as most insurers) can't cover you for any work involving asbestos.
Make sure you are aware of what your insurer excludes from your policy.
The information above is a summary only and does not cover all inclusions, exclusions, terms, conditions and limits of VIZ or other Public Liability policies. Please refer to the relevant Policy Wording for complete details before making a decision.
Who might need public liability insurance to get work?
We often see tradies who are asked to hold public liability insurance because they are doing work for a builder, a strata company, a real estate company, or a local council. In many cases, contracts with these businesses and organisations require tradies to hold a minimum level of public liability insurance (usually $10 or $20 million), and are asked to prove it with a Certificate of Currency.
Some trades may also need public liability insurance to get or renew their trade licence. For example, in Western Australia and Queensland, electricians are required to hold public liability insurance before they can obtain an electrical contractors licence.
How much does public liability cost?
The cost of public liability insurance for a tradie business depends on a few key factors:
- ● Your occupation and the level of risk involved
- ● The number of employees in your business
- ● The amount of cover you choose ($5M, $10M or $20M)
- ● Your state - state based stamp duties vary
- ● Whether you do residential or commercial work
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Frequently Asked Questions We Get From Tradies
We can’t tell you how much cover you should choose ($5M, $10M or $20M) - you would need to speak with a licensed insurance adviser such as a broker for personal advice like that.
When deciding how much cover to get, consider the potential cost of damage your business could cause to third parties, as well as the fact that higher cover limits generally mean higher premiums.
We've taken the traditional quote flow and removed all the unnecessary fluff - turns out there was a lot! What's left is all the things we actually need to know about your business in order to cover you.
If you become aware of a potential claim, please notify us as quickly as possible. You can lodge a claim via our claim form, email, or the dedicated claims number, 1300 850 491. If submitting your claim via the form or via email, you will receive confirmation that your claim has been received, after which a claims representative will reach out for further information.
Once you have provided all the information requested, our team aim to make a decision on the claim within 5 - 10 business days. This can take longer due the involvement of third parties, other insurers, and courts. Your excess (often $500) is paid once the claim is approved.
Legal Liability Insurance is VIZ's name for our public liability insurance product. Our Legal Liability Insurance policies include both public liability and products liability coverage.
100%! Our Australian team is based in Perth and Coffs Harbour. We are an Australian business that acts as an agent under binding authority for Ivory Insurance, who are based in Brisbane.
Go for it! Give us a ring on 1300 216 226, or shoot an email through to hello@vizinsurance.om.au.
Public liability insurance protects you if a third party — such as a client, member of the public, or another (third party) worker on site — is injured or has their property damaged as a result of your work. It covers your legal defence costs and any compensation you are required to pay, up to your chosen coverage limit. For tradies, it is one of the most essential business insurance policies.
Yes. While not universally mandated by law for every trade, public liability insurance is practically essential for tradies in Australia. Most building sites, councils, principal contractors, and clients require you to hold a current Certificate of Currency before you can start work. Many state trade licensing authorities also require it as a condition of obtaining or renewing a licence.
The cost of public liability insurance for a tradie depends on your trade, coverage limit, and number of workers. VIZ Insurance offers monthly payment options with no added fees or interest, making it easy to manage as a business expense. Get an instant online quote at vizinsurance.com.au to see your exact premium.
Public liability insurance for tradies covers third-party claims for bodily injury and property damage caused by your work activities. For example, if a client trips over your equipment and is injured, or you accidentally damage a client's property while on the job, your policy covers the legal costs and compensation. VIZ Insurance also includes products liability, covering claims related to materials or products you supply as part of your work.
With VIZ Insurance, your Certificate of Currency is issued instantly when you purchase your policy. You can download it immediately and access it at any time through the VIZ Tradie Pass — Australia's first digital wallet insurance card — directly from your phone. No need to call or email; your certificate is always available when a client or site supervisor asks for it.
*conditions, limits and exclusions apply. Please see the policy wording for more information.
**all data is based upon a sample of VIZ Insurance customers over the last three years.