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Tradie insurance is the package a trade business carries: public liability for damage and injury on the job, cover for tools and the ute, and the certificate of currency builders want before you start. It suits sole traders and small crews in carpentry, tiling, painting, landscaping, concreting, plumbing and electrical work. Fortis Risk Solutions arranges it from offices in Box Hill and Hawthorn and matches your limits to the subcontracts you sign.
What Tradie Insurance Covers
Tradie insurance covers public liability, tools, vehicles and business property for carpenters, tilers, painters, landscapers, concreters, plumbers and electricians who run their own business. Most tradies buy it as one package rather than separate policies. Public liability sits at the centre, because the claim that can close a small trade business is the one where a client's house is damaged or someone is hurt on site.
Builders and head contractors usually want a certificate of currency before you start. It shows the insurer, the policy period and your public liability limit. The limit they ask for depends on the contract, so read the subcontract before you pick one. Public liability insurance should also name every activity you do, such as a tiler who waterproofs or a carpenter who takes on small structural jobs.
Tools are the other big exposure. A ute parked outside overnight with a full kit in the tray is an easy target, and many wordings only pay for theft from a vehicle when there are signs of forced entry. The ute itself goes on a commercial motor policy with business use declared. A business insurance package can add a workshop, stock and materials.
Fortis Risk Solutions is a tradie insurance broker with offices in Box Hill and Hawthorn, and tradie cover sits inside our business insurance range. Plumbers and gasfitters have their own plumbers insurance page. Sparkies can read our electrician insurance page. Builders and larger contractors who hold the head contract should start with our construction trades insurance page.
Who this covers
Trades in this group include:
- Carpenters and joiners
- Tilers and waterproofers
- Painters and plasterers
- Landscapers and concreters
- Plumbers, gasfitters and electricians
- Handymen and small renovation businesses
If your trade is not listed, ask us. The sections below are the starting point for any tradie running their own business.
Tradie Insurance: Cover Sections and Benefits
Tradie Insurance FAQs
Most tradie insurance packages start with public liability and products liability, then add portable tools, theft from a vehicle and any workshop or storage unit. Business interruption and money cover are optional extras. The ute is insured separately on a motor policy. Contract works only belongs in the package when you sign the contract directly with the owner rather than working under a builder.
There is no single figure. The subcontract or the site induction sets it, and commercial head contractors often ask for a higher limit than a domestic builder. Read the insurance clause before you sign, then set the limit to match the biggest contract you expect in the year. Our guide on how much public liability you need covers the trade-offs.
Not for yourself, if you are a sole trader with no workers. WorkSafe Victoria says you must register for WorkCover once you pay, or expect to pay, more than $7,500 a year in wages, or as soon as you take on an apprentice or trainee. Public liability does not pay for your own injuries, so a sole trader carries that risk personally.
Only if your policy has a portable tools section that extends to theft from a vehicle. Read the conditions. Many require the vehicle to be locked with signs of forced entry, and some exclude tools left in the ute overnight unless it is garaged. Insurance for tradies should list the expensive items, such as a laser level or a concrete saw, at replacement cost.
Yes. Business interruption insurance can pay for loss of gross profit while your workshop or yard cannot be used after insured damage, for the indemnity period you choose. It matters most to trades that fabricate, hold stock or run machinery at a fixed address. A tradie who works only from the ute may get more value from higher tools cover.
Trade wordings turn on activity declarations, height and depth limits, care and custody exclusions and theft conditions. FRS helps you declare every trade activity accurately, set liability limits that meet your subcontracts, compare insurers who write trade risks and act as your advocate at claim time. We also send certificates of currency to builders when they ask.
Talk to a broker about Tradie Insurance
Call 03 7046 3766 on weekdays between 9:30am and 6pm, email admin@fortisrisksolutions.com.au, or send an enquiry and a broker from our Box Hill or Hawthorn office will come back to you about tradie insurance. Tell us what the business does and what the lease or contract asks for, and we take it from there.