Compare plasterer insurance

Insurance for plasterers pays out if your work damages a client’s property or injures someone, from a dropped hawk to a ceiling that comes down. Most plasterers add tool cover and contract works cover for jobs in progress, plus employers’ liability once they take on labourers.

Compare quotes from a single Quotezone form, whether you skim walls on your own or run a crew on new builds.

Covers plasterers usually choose

Plasterer insurance is built from sections. These are the main ones:

• Public liability: claims from people your work injures, or whose belongings it damages (business.gov.uk). Splashes on a new kitchen, or a trip over a mixer lead in a hallway, are typical.
• Tools and equipment: mixers, paddles, stilts, trowels and plasterboard lifters, on site and in the van (business.gov.uk).
• Contract works: damage to work you have done but not yet handed over, such as fresh plaster ruined by a burst pipe.
• Employers’ liability: claims from people you employ, such as a labourer who falls from a hop-up.
• Personal accident: a set payment if an injury stops you working for a while.

Plasterers insurance will not usually pay to redo work that was simply done badly. Declare every service, including rendering, dry lining and screeding, as some insurers rate them separately.

Dust, cement and skin

Mixing and sanding throw up a lot of dust. HSE says regularly breathing construction dust can cause diseases like lung cancer, asthma and COPD (HSE).

It adds that, for Great Britain, the COSHH Regulations say you must protect against the risks from hazardous construction dusts, and points to on-tool extraction as one control (HSE).

Sand and cement render brings a skin risk too. HSE warns that cement-based products such as mortar can cause serious skin problems, including dermatitis and burns (HSE). If a worker you employ makes a claim like this, it falls under employers’ liability.

Working at height and on old ceilings

Ceilings mean ladders, hop-ups, stilts and towers. HSE guidance for Great Britain says employers and those in control of work at height must make sure work is properly planned, supervised and carried out by competent people (HSE). Tell insurers the highest point you work at.

Older ceilings can hide asbestos. HSE’s asbestos essentials guidance has task sheets for working with textured coatings that contain asbestos, including drilling through them (HSE).

Many liability policies limit or exclude asbestos claims. If you are unsure about an old textured finish, stop and get it tested before you skim or sand it.

Is insurance compulsory for a self-employed plasterer?

Public liability is optional in law for a sole trader, but employers’ liability is compulsory from the day you first take someone on (GOV.UK). The duty covers Great Britain. In Northern Ireland, a separate Order from 1972 makes the cover compulsory (legislation.gov.uk). Main contractors may write a liability limit into their terms, which business.gov.uk lists as a reason to buy cover (business.gov.uk).

An exemption applies if your only staff are relatives on the GOV.UK list, which includes a spouse, parent, child or sibling. Check the list on GOV.UK first (GOV.UK).

Subcontracting, labour-only work and CIS

Many plasterers work as subcontractors. GOV.UK says you should register for the Construction Industry Scheme if you work for a contractor as a sole trader, a partner or a company owner (GOV.UK).

Under CIS, a contractor must deduct 20% from your payments and pass it to HM Revenue and Customs (GOV.UK). CIS deals with tax, not insurance, so agree in writing who covers what on each job.

On labour-only jobs, the main contractor may supply materials and direct the work. Their policy might cover some site risks, but your own tools and any injury to you are usually your responsibility.

Will my policy pay if fresh plaster cracks or fails?

Public liability covers injury and damage to other people’s property, not the cost of putting your own work right. If a client wants that risk covered, ask insurers whether a workmanship extension is on offer and what it excludes.

Your van, tools and materials

Most plasterers carry mixers, boards and bags of plaster in a van. Driving on UK roads needs motor insurance by law (GOV.UK). Tell your insurer the van is used for work, so business use is on the policy.

Tool cover often has conditions for theft from an unattended van, such as signs of forced entry or no cover overnight. Read them before you rely on the policy.

You can compare commercial van insurance and tool insurance alongside your liability cover.

What decides the price of cover for plastering

Insurers price plasterer insurance by the jobs you take and the people doing them. Expect questions on:

• the mix of work, such as skimming, rendering, dry lining or decorative mouldings
• domestic jobs versus commercial sites and new builds
• the size of your crew, and whether you use labour-only subcontractors
• the value of your tools and the van they travel in
• the liability limit your contracts call for, your claims record and the excess

Picture a two-person firm that skims domestic ceilings and renders the odd extension. It would want public liability, employers’ liability for the labourer and tool cover in the van.

Contract works cover would protect each job until handover, and the firm would also need a van policy for business use.

You might also need

Plasterers who also take on building work can compare builders insurance. To cover several trades in one place, see our tradesman insurance page.

Start a plasterer insurance quote with details of your trade, crew and tools.