There are many insurances to consider when working freelance or self-employed, from professional indemnity insurance, business insurance and liability insurance. If you supply your own tools for work, tool insurance can often get over-looked. You may wonder, is tool insurance worth it?
Although not everyone may need it, people who supply their own tools to do their work should consider tool insurance to cover them for theft, damage and loses.
What is tool insurance?
Tool insurance covers the cost of any lost, damaged or stolen tools that happen out of your control.
What typical tool insurance can cover:
- Tool insurance can cover costs up to £25,000
- Provide standalone policy for those working for an employer
- Includes an all-risk policy
- Can often include a low excess fee
There are different levels of tool insurance you can purchase; it all depends on the types of tools you use, what you want to be covered and the cost of the tools if they were to be replaced.
There are a few things to consider when purchasing tool insurance, such as making sure that you purchase the correct amount of insurance if your tools are lost, damaged or stolen and making sure that the cost covered is if you were to buy them from brand new, not from the condition they are currently in. You will also need to consider what circumstances you work in as this may increase the risk of damage to your tools. Insurers won’t cover purposely damaged tools.
Why tool insurance is worth it
Clients and contracts
If you work as a contractor for various clients on different projects, they may require you to have tool insurance. This ensures the site manager that the project you are working on doesn’t get delayed or go unfinished. It also means you won’t lose out on any available work.
Or, if you are supplying work directly for a client or project as a freelancer, having tool insurance will help cover the costs of any damages so you can carry on working with ease and cause little disruption to the work you need to do.
Hinder performance and delay projects
Having tool insurance cover will help you be prepared for any unexpected costs and quickly resolve any issues so you can return to work as quickly as possible, making you a reliable candidate.
Theft and costs
Unfortunately, tool theft is not uncommon, especially if you leave your tools in a van overnight. Losing your tools to theft can be expensive to replace and you can also lose money on any work you have lined-up.
Although it’s still a stressful situation, knowing that your insurance company will cover the costs of stolen tools will reduce the pressure on your finances.
What is not covered in tool insurance?
Some events and situations will not be covered under tool insurance, for example, intentional damage that was caused by you or someone you work with and for unlawful use of any of your tools.
Keep in mind that you will have an excess to pay, this will depend on what you agreed on in your policy. Not only this but if you purchased insurance to only cover you for £1000 of damaged or stolen tools but the cost to buy new ones is a lot higher than that, you will have to pay for anything over the £1000 cover.
Is tool insurance worth it?
Tool insurance is worth it if you’re business relies on your tools, whether they are expensive or cheap, the ease of having tool insurance to cover the costs will be a benefit if anything goes wrong.