This guide is written for electricians across the East Midlands — sole traders, small contracting firms, and electrical companies running a few vans and employing apprentices. It walks through the covers electricians actually need, what drives the cost, and the mistakes we see most often when reviewing existing policies. Whether you’re NICEIC or NAPIT registered, working domestic rewires or commercial fit-outs, the principles are the same: the cheapest quote is rarely the one that pays out when something goes wrong.

What insurance do electricians need in the UK?

There is no single “electrician’s insurance” policy. What you need is a package built around how you actually work — the type of jobs you take, whether you employ anyone, the value of your tools, and what your contracts demand. Only one element is required by law; the rest is a mix of contractual necessity and plain common sense. Cornerstone arranges trade and business insurance for electricians and electrical contractors across Leicester and the wider East Midlands, and the covers below are the ones that come up on almost every policy.

Public liability insurance

Public liability covers injury to third parties or damage to their property caused by your work — a customer tripping over a cable, a fault that damages a client’s property, or a fire traced back to an installation. For electricians this is the cornerstone cover. Limits of £1 million are still sold widely but are increasingly inadequate; £5 million should be the floor, and most commercial sites, main contractors and local authorities now insist on £10 million. Check the contract before you assume £2m is enough — turning up underinsured can cost you the job.

Employers’ liability insurance

If you employ anyone — an apprentice, a labourer, a mate on the books, even casual or part-time help — employers’ liability is a legal requirement from day one. The statutory minimum limit is £5 million, though £10 million is provided as standard on most policies. The penalty for not holding it can reach £2,500 for every day you’re uninsured. A common and costly mistake is assuming that a self-employed subcontractor doesn’t count — depending on how the working relationship is structured, HMRC and the courts may still treat them as your employee for insurance purposes.

Tools and equipment cover

Your tools are your livelihood, and van break-ins are one of the most common claims in the trade. Tools cover insures testers, drills, cable rods, power tools and hand tools against theft, loss and damage. Two things catch electricians out here: the “overnight” exclusion, where insurers won’t pay for tools stolen from a van left on the street overnight unless specific conditions are met; and single-article limits that cap what you can claim on any one expensive item, such as a multifunction tester. Read those conditions carefully — a cheap tools policy that excludes overnight theft from a vehicle is close to worthless for a working electrician.

Professional indemnity insurance

Electricians increasingly do more than install — you design circuits, specify equipment, issue certificates and give advice. Professional indemnity (PI) covers claims arising from that professional element: a design that doesn’t perform, an EICR that misses a fault, or advice that later proves wrong. It’s different from public liability, which responds to physical injury and damage, and many electricians don’t realise they need both. If you carry out inspection and testing, condition reports, or any design work, PI is well worth having — and some contracts now require it explicitly.

Contract works and other covers

On larger or longer jobs, contract works (also called contractors’ all risks) insures the work in progress and the materials on site against fire, theft, flood and vandalism before the job is handed over and paid for. If you carry stock or run a workshop or unit, you’ll want that insured too, and if you run one or more vans, commercial motor and goods in transit sit alongside the rest. Electricians who take on installation work as part of building projects often overlap with the construction sector, where these covers become central — our construction insurance guidance explains how contract works and JCT requirements fit together on bigger schemes.

How much does insurance for electricians cost?

The honest answer is that it depends, because no two electrical businesses carry the same risk. A sole-trader domestic electrician with modest tools and no employees will pay very differently from a firm running four vans, employing apprentices and working commercial sites. The main factors that drive the premium are:

• Your turnover and the type of work — domestic, commercial or industrial, and how much is subcontracted out.
• The liability limits you need — stepping from £2m to £5m or £10m public liability increases the premium, though rarely as much as trades expect.
• Whether you employ staff, and how many — employers’ liability is priced on wage roll.
• The value of tools and equipment you want covered, and whether overnight vehicle theft is included.
• Any higher-risk work — hot works, work at height, industrial installations or anything involving fire alarm and emergency systems.
• Your claims history and how long you’ve been trading.

Because these variables move the price so much, any headline “from £X a year” figure you see advertised is close to meaningless — it’s the cheapest possible risk with the thinnest possible cover. The only reliable number is a quote based on your actual business. What matters more than the premium is that the cover is right: an underinsured policy that saves you £50 a year is a false economy the first time a claim is reduced or refused.

The mistakes we see most often on electricians’ policies

Most gaps in a tradesman’s insurance aren’t deliberate — they build up as the business grows and the policy is simply renewed each year without a proper look. These are the ones that catch electricians out most often:

• Public liability limits set too low for the contracts being worked — turning up to a commercial site with £2m when the contract demands £10m.
• No employers’ liability because a subcontractor or apprentice was assumed not to count, leaving the business both uninsured and breaking the law.
• Tools cover with an overnight-from-vehicle exclusion, so the most common claim in the trade isn’t actually covered.
• No professional indemnity despite issuing EICRs, certificates and design advice — leaving the professional element of the work exposed.
• Trade description too narrow or too vague on the schedule, so work you actually do (fire alarms, EV chargers, solar PV) falls outside the cover.
• New activities never declared — taking on EV charge-point installation or solar work without telling the insurer can void the relevant part of the policy.
• Cover bought purely on price through an online form, with no one checking that the trade, limits and conditions actually match the work.

A note on EV chargers, solar and emerging work

The work electricians do is changing fast. EV charge-point installation, solar PV, battery storage and smart-home systems are now a growing share of many firms’ income — and they’re exactly the kind of newer activity that standard trade policies don’t always pick up automatically. If you’ve moved into any of these areas, tell your broker. Adding them to the schedule is usually straightforward, but doing the work without declaring it is the sort of gap that only shows up at claim stage, when it’s too late to fix. This is one of the clearest reasons to review your cover with someone who understands the trade rather than renewing on autopilot.

Why use a broker rather than an online quote?

Online quotes and comparison sites work well for the very simplest risks. Beyond that, three things tend to go wrong when electricians buy direct. First, the trade description gets flattened — an online form can’t capture the difference between a domestic rewire specialist and a firm doing industrial control panels, so the cover it produces is generic. Second, limits and conditions go unchecked — no one flags that your £2m public liability won’t satisfy the main contractor you’re about to work for. Third, and most important, the claims experience is worse: direct insurers hand you to a call centre, whereas a broker can pick up the phone to the underwriter and argue your corner.

A good broker also tells you when not to change anything. If your current cover is competitive and correctly set up, the right advice is to leave it alone — and we say that to clients regularly. Every Cornerstone client gets a named account handler and the total customer care that comes with dealing with a real person who knows your business, not a different agent every time you call.

How Cornerstone helps

Cornerstone is an independent insurance broker based on New Walk in Leicester, arranging trade and business insurance for electricians and electrical contractors across Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and the wider East Midlands. We place cover through recognised insurers and specialist trade markets, which means we can build a policy around how you actually work — the right liability limits, tools cover that includes overnight vehicle theft, professional indemnity for your inspection and design work, and contract works where the jobs justify it.

Every client gets a dedicated account handler who reviews the cover against the work you’re winning, not a call centre that has never met you. When a claim does happen, we support you through it and escalate directly to underwriters when it matters — part of the total customer care every client receives. To get a tradesman insurance quote or a review of your existing cover, call us on 0116 3440 040 or request a call-back. During working hours we aim to come back to you within 30 minutes.

Frequently asked questions

Is public liability insurance a legal requirement for electricians?

No — public liability isn’t required by law, but it is effectively essential. Most commercial clients, main contractors and local authorities won’t let you on site without it, and many competent-person schemes and contracts insist on a minimum limit of £5m or £10m. The only cover legally required is employers’ liability, and only if you employ anyone.

Do I need employers’ liability if I only use subcontractors?

Quite possibly, yes. Whether a worker counts as an employee for insurance purposes depends on the working relationship, not just what you call them — labour-only subcontractors are often treated as employees. If in doubt, it’s safer to arrange the cover, because operating without it when it’s required carries fines of up to £2,500 a day.

What’s the difference between public liability and professional indemnity?

Public liability covers physical injury or property damage caused by your work. Professional indemnity covers claims arising from your professional judgement — design, specification, inspection and certification. An electrician who both installs and issues EICRs or design advice usually needs both, because each responds to a different kind of claim.

Are my tools covered if they’re stolen from my van overnight?

Only if your policy specifically includes overnight vehicle theft — and many don’t as standard. Insurers often require tools to be removed from the van overnight, or impose extra security conditions. Because van break-ins are one of the most common trade claims, it’s worth checking this clause carefully and arranging cover that reflects how you actually store your tools.

Does my insurance cover EV charger or solar installation?

Not automatically. Newer activities such as EV charge-point installation, solar PV and battery storage need to be declared and added to your trade description. If you’ve moved into this work, tell your broker so the schedule reflects it — otherwise a claim arising from that work could be refused.

How much does electrician’s insurance cost?

It depends on your turnover, the type of work, your liability limits, whether you employ staff, your tools value and your claims history. Because these vary so widely, the only reliable figure is a quote based on your actual business rather than an advertised headline price.

Get a tradesman insurance quote

To make sure your cover goes beyond a basic liability policy and actually fits the work you do, get a tradesman insurance quote or a no-obligation review of your existing cover — call 0116 3440 040 or request a call-back. We’ll build the policy around your trade, your tools and the contracts you’re working, so nothing important is left exposed.