Painters Insurance

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Business Insurance for a Painting Business*

Painters need business insurance, including public liability insurance as painting involves working with a range of painting materials and accessories that increase the probability of an accident on site.

People and property on site may be hurt or damaged due to accidents involving painting work.

Working from heights is particularly risky, and results in many claims against painters for property damage or personal injury.

When working from heights, falling paint and painting accessories can damage vehicles, houses or cause injury to a homeowner.

Fortunately, suitable business insurance for painters may provide protection against financial hardships that could arise from accidents, property damage, or legal claims caused by your painting business activities.

Painter business and public liability insurance may cover property damage, injuries to third parties that are caused by your painting equipment and work activities.

Many Business Owners are UNSURE if they are COVERED PROPERLY.
We help them find affordable and SUITABLE INSURANCE so they can run their business with CONFIDENCE.*

What Insurance Do I Need as a Painter?*

Some of the major types of business insurance covers available to painters in Australia are explained below and include:

  • Public Liability Insurance
  • Business Insurance Pack
  • Personal Accident Insurance
  • General Property and Tools
  • Commercial Motor insurance
  • Plant and Equipment Insurance

Why do painters need public liability insurance?*

Public Liability Insurance coverage is essential for all self-employed painters.

Painters need public liability insurance as painting involves working with a range of painting materials and accessories that increase the probability of an accident on site.

People and property on site may be hurt or damaged due to accidents involving painting work.

The constant presence of volatile materials such as paint, paint removers , solvents, adhesives, primers and other chemicals, together with the use of ladders , means painting work has risks.

Protections offered to self-employed painters by public liability insurance in Australia generally include:

  • Injury to other persons due to your painting activities –Where a painting business activity causes harm to a third-party person. For example, a client ignores your warnings to stay away from the site and injure themselves when they trip and fall over your ladder ; paint cans or furniture you moved.
  • Damage to others property due to your painting activities – Where a painting business activity causes damages to a third- party’s property. For example, a painter may accidently cause damage in a client’s or neighbours’ home while performing work. If your scaffolding falls and damages your clients, or their neighbour’s property.
  • Harm to other persons or other persons property due to your painting business’s products – Where a painting business’s products and goods supplied causes harm to a third party -person or a third- party’s property. For example, products a painter has supplied, repaired, or manufactured cause harm, injure someone or cause property damage.

Public liability insurance coverage may protect painters from claims that arise when others allege they are negligent.

A painter’s public liability policy may provide a defence against the ensuing lawsuit when needed and may pay the damages sought by the injured party.

Public Liability Insurance may provide painters with protection for slip-and-trip accidents, accidents that damage client property.

Business insurance pack for painters*

Painters may be able to combine multiple covers in a single business insurance pack policy.

By ‘packaging’ your business insurance into a ‘business pack’ painters can potentially cover many of the risks their business faces in the one policy.

For example, if a painter has a commercial premises, a business insurance pack may provide cover for buildings and contents if they are accidentally damaged by a defined event, such as fire, storm, impact damage, accidental damage, vandalism, or malicious damage.

Other typical inclusions for painters with a business insurance pack are Public Liability Insurance and Product Liability Insurance.

Optional inclusions for painters with a business insurance pack are General Property, Contents, Machinery, Plant and Stock, Glass, Money, Business Interruption and Marine Cover.

Personal Accident Insurance for self-employed painters*

As a self-employed painter your personal safety is your livelihood.

Personal accident insurance for painters may provide cover for 52 or 104 weeks and up to 85%* of weekly income at the time of the injury; depending on the amount of coverage agreed when the policy is taken out.

Time away from work from an accident will have a direct impact on a self-employed painter’s income, and a long period away can negatively affect their savings, family, and lifestyle.

Personal Accident Insurance may help self-employed painters pay for essential bills and other financial commitments if they have an accident.

General Property and Tools Insurance for painters*

As a painter, you are likely to have many tools and equipment that allow you to do your job, such as brushes, rollers, ladders, scrapers, caulking guns and sanders

If your property is damaged or stolen, your business cannot operate effectively.

General property insurance can help you keep operating effectively.

It can provide needed funds to replace your tools such as brushes, rollers, ladders, scrapers, caulking guns and sanders….and help keep you in business.

Commercial motor insurance for self-employed painters*

Commercial motor insurance should be considered for painters that drive their vehicle from site to site. Light trucks, vans and Utes may be covered.

Plant & Equipment Insurance for painting businesses*

Plant & Equipment Insurance may provide cover for owners of small painting businesses that operate equipment such as spray guns, power drills, suction kits, spray systems, paint mixers and trailers.

Cover may provide painters with protection for theft, damage, consequential loss, liability, road risk and machinery breakdown.

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What are the costs of Painter Public Liability Insurance?*

How much does public liability insurance cost for self-employed painters?*

Key factors in determining how much Public Liability insurance will cost a painter include:

  • The nature and scope of the painting business. For example, the type of work performed by the painter.
  • The painting business turnover and size. For example, is the painter a sole trader that does 100% of the work themselves, or do they employee a team of 3 subbies?
  • Amount of insurance cover the painting business needs. Liability starts with $5 million cover, $10 million is popular with many self-employed contractors, $20 million cover is needed for painters that work for large companies, on commercial sites or have a team of employees.

Public liability insurance cost for a self-employed painter with no previous claims, starts from around $560* or $55 per month for $5 million Public Liability Insurance.

*** Please note ***: While cheap Public Liability Insurance can seem attractive on the surface it is important to ensure the policy covers you for the full business activities you undertake, and that the insurance policy and company will respond as intended when there is a claim. Costs may differ greatly from the above based on the painter’s business size, clients, experience, and business activities. For many painters, that work from heights , handle scaffolding, or perform broader building work or that have employees, costs will be a lot higher.

Do I need business insurance to work as a self-employed painter in Australia?*

Self-employed painters, or owners of painting businesses , subcontracting for builders will typically be required by the builder to obtain their own public liability insurance to get on site. This is typical for contractors working for builders throughout Australia.

Many small business owners, and even retail clients, will also ask to see proof of a painter’s insurance cover, called a certificate of currency, prior to awarding them work and ask for an update each year.

As a self-employed painter, suitable business insurance may provide credibility and valuable protection against the cost of a claim too.

Key painting activities that may be able to be covered include:*

  • Preparation , including cleaning , and taping jobsite.
  • Removing old paint coatings
  • Sanding
  • Mixing paint  
  • Apply paint, stain, and coatings to walls and ceilings, buildings, large machinery and equipment, and bridges and other structures.

Why do painters need tools insurance?*

Painters need tool insurance as tools are the lifeblood of painting.

They help painters just like you to complete work on time, and to deliver quality workmanship.

If they break or are stolen, it can impact your ability to get the job done or cost you thousands to replace.

Without tool insurance, you may have to dig into your own savings or borrow money to get the tools replaced or repaired.

Different types of painters that may be able to be covered:*

  • Painting contractors
  • Painter and decorator
  • Restoration painters
  • Residential painters
  • Commercial painters
  • Industrial painters
  • Artists
  • Truck painter

Why should painters use an insurance broker in Australia?*

If you are a painter deciding on whether to use an insurance broker for your business insurance, it is important to consider that brokers act in the interests of the self-employed painter.

Direct insurers and agents act for the insurer. This can be important; especially if you need to claim.

Brokers can help painters by sourcing competitive quotes on policy inception, negotiate with the insurance companies to prevent or limit increases on renewal, remarket your policy to other suitable insurance companies where appropriate, talk to underwriters about policy wordings, industry classifications and terms, talk to insurance assessors during the claims process and repairers where necessary.

How do I get a painters insurance quote?*

Simply TALK to a SMART Business Insurance broker on 1300 542 573 or contact us online for suitable and affordable public liability and business insurance quotes for your painting business.