What insurance do gas engineers need?

As a gas engineer, you need insurance if you work as a self-employed sole trader, a small business, or as part of a partnership. If you are an employee, your employer should have insurance.

Is insurance a legal requirement?

If you employ anyone, you are legally required to have employers’ liability insurance. You can be fined daily if you don’t have it.

You will need a minimum of £5 million employers’ liability cover. This applies even if the people who work for you are part-time employees, trainees, or volunteers. It may also apply to some contractors, so you should discuss this with your insurance provider.

What other insurance do I need?

You will always need to consider public liability insurance but may also need product liability insurance.

Public liability protects you in the event your business causes damage to property or results in someone suffering an injury. Product liability protects you in the event a product you supply or install causes damage or injury, such as a gas boiler.

If you offer any kind of professional advice, you should consider cover for yourself by taking out professional indemnity insurance. This is designed to provide protection if your advice is found to be negligent or incorrect and ends up causing financial loss or damage.

Finally, you should also nearly always consider insuring your tools against loss or theft.

Am I legally required to have public liability and professional indemnity cover?

It is not a legal requirement, but many contractors may refuse to work with you if you do not have cover. If you fail to renew your insurance while working on a project, you may be in breach of contract.

You may also be denied membership of various trade associations without appropriate cover.

How much cover will I need?

This may depend on your business. Levels of cover normally start at £1 million and go up to £5 million, or even £10 million for some small businesses.

Why do I need this amount of cover?

Even the smallest incident can result in quite a large claim. For example, injury to a person can result in them claiming for loss of earnings, expenses, medical costs, damages for pain and discomfort, and legal fees.

If you don’t have insurance, you will have to pay for your own legal representation. You may also have to represent yourself, which can be time consuming and stressful. 
If you cannot pay the damages and compensation ordered, your business and assets may be at risk.