What does public liability insurance cover for tradesmen?

It covers claims from members of the public for injury or property damage linked to your work — for example a dropped ladder damaging a client's car, or a passer-by tripping over your tools. Legal costs and compensation are covered up to your limit (£5m or £10m).

Do I need £5 million or £10 million public liability cover?

Many main contractors, councils and housebuilders require £10m in their contracts; smaller domestic clients and most trade bodies accept £5m. £10m usually costs only slightly more, so many trades take it for contract eligibility.

How much does public liability insurance cost in the UK?

For a self-employed trader with no employees, £5m cover starts from around £5–£12 a month for low-risk trades, while high-risk trades such as roofing or scaffolding can cost several times more. Your trade, employees, turnover and height work drive the final premium.

Are the prices shown on Trade Cover Finder real quotes?

No — they are indicative estimates built from providers' published 'from' prices and typical market ranges, adjusted for your trade and cover level. They are a shortlisting tool: click through to the provider for a real, bindable quote.

Is Trade Cover Finder an insurer or a broker?

Neither. We are an independent, free information and comparison service and are not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We never take a commission or handle your details — you buy directly from the provider you choose.

Find the cheapest UK public liability insurance for your trade

We scan 22 UK insurers, specialist brokers and comparison sites and rank them cheapest first for £5m and £10m cover. Free, independent, no sign-up, no cold calls.

Indicative prices only — you always buy direct from the insurer or broker. How our estimates work

How Trade Cover Finder works

Pick trade & cover

Choose your trade and £5m or £10m public liability — the two limits most UK main contractors and councils ask for.

We rank every source

Our engine prices your risk profile against every provider's published rates and market data, then ranks them cheapest first.

Go direct & buy

Click through to the two or three cheapest for real quotes. Prices vary with your exact details, so 10 minutes of comparing genuinely saves money.

All sources we check

Every insurer, broker and comparison site in our engine, with the cover levels they offer for trades.

Source	Type	£5m	£10m	Indicative from*	Rating

*Indicative monthly estimate for a self-employed trader in the selected trade — see methodology. Comparison sites don't publish prices because they quote multiple insurers at once.

Our methodology

We track UK providers' published entry prices ("from £x a month" — most are £1m headlines, verified October 2026) plus market price ranges reported by independent guides. Because most providers price £5m at roughly 1.4–1.6× a £1m headline, we convert each provider's entry price to a £5m reference for the benchmark trade (a handyman), and move to £10m with a further ×1.3 — the typical market spread.

For your trade we then apply a risk factor (a roofer pays around 4.5× what a handyman pays; a scaffolder around 6×), and an employee loading. The result is an indicative monthly price — accurate enough to shortlist, never a bindable quote. Real premiums depend on turnover, claims history, height work and sub-contracting, so always confirm with the provider's own quote, which takes 2–5 minutes. Specialist brokers (shown "quote required") are the fallback when instant panels decline high-risk trades.

What moves your price

Trade risk — roofing, scaffolding, tree surgery and hot work cost the most; cleaning, gardening and decorating the least.
Employees & turnover — more hands and bigger contracts mean more exposure.
Height & heat — work above ~10m or with torches/welding narrows the panel that will quote you.
Cover limit — £10m typically costs only 20–45% more than £5m.

FAQ

What does public liability insurance actually cover?

Claims by third parties for injury or property damage caused by your work: a ladder scratches a client's car, cement spillover damages a driveway, a passer-by trips on your cable. It pays compensation plus legal defence costs, up to your limit. It does not cover your own tools (that's tools cover), your workers (that's employers' liability, a legal requirement if you employ anyone), or faulty workmanship (that's contract works / professional indemnity).

£5m or £10m — which do I need?

£5m satisfies most domestic clients and many trade associations. £10m is commonly required by main contractors, local authorities, housebuilders and rail/network rail approvals. Because £10m usually costs just a little more, many trades take it to stay contract-eligible. Check your contracts or your trade body's minimum.

Is this a real quote? Can I buy here?

No. Prices here are indicative estimates to help you shortlist — we don't sell insurance, take commissions, or collect your details. When you pick a provider, you get a bindable quote on their own site in a few minutes.

Do comparison sites really check all insurers?

No — each comparison site only quotes the insurers on its panel, and the big general sites often hand trade risks to a specialist broker partner. That's why we list aggregators and direct specialists: the cheapest real quote for a roofer is often a niche broker that never appears on TV.

Do I need employers' liability too?

By law, yes, if you employ anyone — even casual labour or family members on site (with narrow exceptions). Most providers on our list let you add £10m employers' liability to a public liability policy for a few pounds a month.

How often are prices updated?

Provider entry prices and market ranges are reviewed monthly; each provider row shows when it was last checked. Provider prices can change at any time — treat ours as a shortlist, then confirm live.