Plumber insurance, and what each UK insurer publishes

What insurers print for this trade

What a plumbing business should check

1. Read the heat work condition first. Almost every trade policy carries a hot works condition covering soldering and torch use: a fire watch for a stated period after the last flame, extinguishers to hand, and combustibles cleared. It is written as a condition precedent on many policies, which means a fire claim can be declined outright where it was not followed.
2. Set the liability limit by the building, not the job. A small bathroom job in a block of flats carries a potential water damage claim across several dwellings. Plumbers working in flats, commercial premises or for main contractors are commonly required to hold £5m, and that is also the sensible figure for the exposure rather than only for the paperwork.
3. Separate gas work from plumbing on the declaration. Gas work is legally restricted to Gas Safe registered engineers, and an insurer will rate and word the policy differently where gas is on the schedule. A plumber who has let a registration lapse but still touches gas appliances has an uninsurable exposure, not merely an expensive one.
4. Cover the work in progress and the materials. A bathroom half fitted, a boiler on the floor waiting to be hung and the copper in the van are your property until handover. Contract works and tools sections answer for those, and liability does not, so the two sections need to be looked at separately.
5. Look at the underground services position. Striking a buried cable, water main or drain is a distinct and expensive claim, and some trade policies limit or exclude damage to underground services. If you dig at all, even for a soil pipe or an external tap, check how the wording treats it.

Common questions

How much does plumber insurance cost in the UK?

The record on this page shows what each insurer prints as a starting price, and the lowest printed figures on this shelf are entry prices for a sole trader with no staff, no gas work and a modest limit. A plumbing business with employees, gas registration and a £5m limit will pay a multiple of that, which is why every insurer here rates individually.

Do plumbers need public liability insurance by law?

Not by statute. Employers' liability is a legal requirement once anybody is employed. In practice public liability is required by letting agents, housing associations, main contractors and most commercial clients before a plumber is allowed to start.

Does plumbers' insurance cover water damage to a customer's home?

Public liability answers for damage your work causes to other people's property, which is what a leak in a client's home is. It does not pay to redo your own defective work, and it is subject to the policy conditions, including any heat work and workmanship terms.

Is gas work covered on a standard plumbing policy?

Only where gas is declared and the engineer is Gas Safe registered. Insurers treat gas as a separate rating and wording question, and undeclared gas work is the fastest way for a plumbing policy to fail at claim.

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