Electrical Contractors Insurance

Sole traders, partnerships and limited companies doing domestic, commercial, industrial or M&E electrical work in the UK. New businesses can be quoted, and the trade description, turnover, staff and claims record shape the terms.

The core is employers liability and public liability. Most contracting companies add contract works for the installation itself, tools and plant, and business interruption. Professional indemnity covers inspection, testing, certification and design. Vans and vehicles sit on a separate fleet or commercial motor policy.

Only partly. Employers liability is compulsory once you employ anyone, and motor cover is required for vehicles on the road. Public liability is not required by UK law at all. It is required by competent person schemes and by virtually every contract you will work under, which is a different kind of obligation.

Enough to satisfy the contracts you work under and any scheme you are registered with, which usually means more than you would choose yourself. Main contractors commonly ask for a set minimum before you start on site, so check the subcontract before you buy rather than after.

If you carry out inspection and testing, issue condition reports, certify installations or take any design responsibility, yes. Those are professional services and public liability does not reach them. Competent person schemes generally require it where inspection and testing is within your scope.

No. Rewiring a circuit you wired badly is your cost to carry. What the policy normally does cover is the damage that faulty work causes, such as a fire in the building. That is usually the far bigger number, which is why the distinction matters more than it first appears.

Normally yes, under public liability, for the damage to the building and to other people property. Electrical distribution is the largest identified source of ignition in UK non-dwelling building fires, so this is the realistic large claim for the trade rather than a remote one.

Often, but with a lower limit, and some policies exclude it entirely unless the van is in a locked garage or compound. Tool theft from vehicles is one of the most common claims in the trade, so this is worth checking line by line rather than assuming.

Usually under the tools and plant section, but test instruments are expensive and can quietly exceed a standard per-item limit. If you carry multifunction testers, thermal imaging cameras, insulation testers or similar, list them individually so they are properly insured rather than capped at a figure set for hand tools.

For employers liability, usually yes. The duty follows the reality of the working relationship rather than the label on the invoice, so someone working under your direction, on your job, to your instruction is very likely your employee for this purpose. Declare them in the wageroll.

If you are installing something that could be damaged before it is handed over, yes. Contract works covers the installation itself and materials on site while the job is under way. Who is required to arrange it depends on the contract, so check before assuming it is you.

Yes, that is what public liability is for. It covers injury to people at the property and damage to their property while you are working there. The installation you are creating is covered by contract works rather than by public liability.

Declare it. Insurers treat low-carbon work as a rating and appetite question rather than something to assume, and an undeclared move into it is the kind of change that gets argued about at a claim. Tell your broker what share of turnover it represents.

Yes, and usually at higher limits than you would otherwise need. Competent person schemes set their own minimums for public liability, and require professional indemnity where inspection and testing is in scope. The requirements and the competence rules behind them were tightened in October 2026.

You lose the ability to self-certify notifiable work, which means jobs go to building control instead, at cost and delay. It can also leave your policy describing a business you no longer are, so it is worth telling your broker rather than letting the two drift apart.

It is a declaration question rather than an automatic exclusion in the wordings we read. If any of your work is high voltage, say so, because it affects both whether an insurer will write the risk and what they charge for it. Do not assume it is included.

For most electrical contracting companies, yes. A combined policy puts liability, works, tools and interruption with one insurer on one renewal, which leaves fewer gaps than buying each separately. Vehicles are the usual exception and sit on their own motor policy.

There is no standard price and we publish no examples, because no UK body collects and publishes pricing for this trade. What moves your premium is turnover and the work split, wageroll and subcontractor payments, how much testing and design you take on, your limits and your claims record.

No. Vans are insured on a separate motor policy, though the tools section can cover kit kept in them overnight. With two or more vans, a fleet policy is often simpler. See our van fleet insurance page.

Often, yes. A few vans and a car or two can sit on one schedule with one renewal date. See our mini fleet insurance and small business fleet insurance pages.

Company cars, vans and heavier plant lorries can all go on a business fleet policy, each rated on its own use. See our business fleet insurance, car fleet insurance and HGV fleet insurance pages.

Usually. Liability and contract works sections are often rated on turnover or wage roll, along with the type of work, the height and voltage involved and the claims record. Declare realistic figures, because they are often checked after the year ends.