Tuesday 29 May 2012

Plumbing and Heating Engineers Liability Insurance

By Sirius Grant


Everyday plumbers face the risk of causing damage to property belonging to third parties or causing personal injuries to another in the course of their business.

These are well known and recognised risks that are common to heating engineers and whilst exercising suitable care and diligence may certainly diminish the possibility of causing such damage or injury, it is in the character of the business to be powerless to completely eliminate the risk of such incidents occurring.

When injury or damage occurs, you might find yourself threatened with a claim in respect of your legal responsibility for such loss and the cost of defending that claim or any costs that may be awarded if you are found responsible may have a severe economic impact upon you and your firm.

The majority of building contractors will be aware that they may cover themselves in respect such economic consequences by arranging an appropriate third party or public liability insurance policy.

The plumbers public liability insurance policy is designed to protect the insured against claims in respect of their legal liability for property damage or personal injuries to third parties.

In addition to providing an indemnity to the insured in regard of any legal award made against them, the policy also provides for the legal defence costs incurred in defending any action against the insured; regardless of whether or not they are eventually found to be legally responsible or not.

When arranging your policy you must ensure that the business description within the contract is a factual and correct reflection of your business activities and that the insurer would consider your business activities to be within the reasonable contemplation of that trade or occupation.

An appropriate case of this would be that a plumber maybe likely on occasion to undertake some building work relation with work they are undertaking, this would be acceptable to an insurer, but the insurance company may not presume a plumber to be engaged in a contract solely for the building works or property development.. This is the job of a builder. Presented with a loss of this type an insurer may well be entitled to avoid the claim.

Contracts in the UK have a limit of indemnity which represents the highest amount the insurance company will pay in the event of a legal action being found against the policyholder. The limits under plumbers liability insurance contracts tend to be 1M pounds, ?2M pounds, 5M pounds or 10M pounds although increased limits are on occasion required.

The limit you choose for the policy will be a matter of your own personal opinion of what the maximum exposure you envisage or as is frequently the situation a limit dictated to you by contractual obligation from an employer or main contractor. Obviously the greater the limit under the policy, the more premiums will be required by the insurer.

Insurance companies will in addition try to narrow the range of activities and minimise the chances of losses under a contract by the introduction of endorsements and warranties within the policy. These changes to the cover may restrict certain aspects of work, such as height levels or may specify the health and safety and risk management techniques that need to be used in connection with certain kinds of work.

As with all insurance contracts, it is essential that you study the cover with care and ensure that it meets with your requirements and that the endorsements and warranties on your policy are satisfactory to you. You insurance agent will be able to assist you with any questions concerning this.

The insurance market for plumbing and heating engineers liability cover is a highly aggressive one, with many insurers and brokers offering instant access to highly cost efficient cover over the world wide web.




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