[need a cleaner]

We have a fuly comp insurance with 10mill EL and 5mill PL it also covers keys/glass you are working on/professional liability and a few other things it cost us £1200 a year

[windowwashers]

Actually Dave I was going to ask you about this. And you can tell me straight. I phoned my broker up today and he told me it was illegal not to have PL insurance. Is this true or not?

Is true if you employ people

[Moderator David@stives]

Mr S

It is not true.

There is no legal requirement to have public liability insurance.

If you are an employer you need employers liability insurance which ALWAYS comes with public liability as standard.

The APWC always reccommends you do have Public Liability insurance and you cannot become a member without it.

Dave

[Ian Rochester]

As far as I am aware Public Liability insurance is a statutory requirement for anyone to trade as either self employed or as a business.

I think anyone who doesn't have it is basically stupid and a cowboy, when I first started out my PL insurance cost £79 from MMA. 

Why risk your house, savings, etc for the sake of £79 PL insurance?

[Pole2pole]

Mines due for renewal soon, so I went shopping around for some one else, because if you sit down and spend the time reading the small print most PL isn't worth the paper its written on.

I looked at the insurance that is on the APWC site,  (and you don't have to be a member) I sent off for a quote, getting a reply the next day, I thought it a liitle expensive at first, but as I say, I sat down and read what was covered and was plesantly supprised to see it covered the job your working on (this is rare) it even covered your tools and other benefits as well.

A well looked into insurance and created for the w/c in mind. when mines up, I would sooner pay the extra to have the extra cover.

Mornin Jeff.........Mines up for renewal on the tenth bud. Could i ask you which poilicy you went for from the awpc website so i don't have the hassle of reading the small print, cos you've already done that for me 
Merci bien monseur 

[xxmattyxx]

Mines due for renewal soon, so I went shopping around for some one else, because if you sit down and spend the time reading the small print most PL isn't worth the paper its written on.

I looked at the insurance that is on the APWC site,  (and you don't have to be a member) I sent off for a quote, getting a reply the next day, I thought it a liitle expensive at first, but as I say, I sat down and read what was covered and was plesantly supprised to see it covered the job your working on (this is rare) it even covered your tools and other benefits as well.

A well looked into insurance and created for the w/c in mind. when mines up, I would sooner pay the extra to have the extra cover.

Mornin Jeff.........Mines up for renewal on the tenth bud. Could i ask you which poilicy you went for from the awpc website so i don't have the hassle of reading the small print, cos you've already done that for me 
Merci bien monseur 

et moi aussi 

[Pole2pole]

You'd have thought Jeff would have had the common decency to take his wireless laptop to work with him so he could check whether anyone had any questions for him. Some people  Oh well,looks like we'll have to wait until he logs on later Matty
Mon Dieu  :

[jeff1]

You'd have thought Jeff would have had the common decency to take his wireless laptop to work with him so he could check whether anyone had any questions for him. Some people  Oh well,looks like we'll have to wait until he logs on later Matty
Mon Dieu  :

just popped home for a refill?
Wireless laptop indeed
I couldn't get planning permission to lay steam pipes from my home to my place of work, thats how my computers run there still steam generated not this fandangled wireless technology :

Well buddie, I'm in the same boat as you now, I don't have any details anymore after having to reformatt my hard drive, I'm sure I had the details from the apwc newsletter but I don't even have that now so I'm going  to have to do another search, I looked on the apwc website to see if the names rang any bells, but as I'm getting old, non of them rang any bells with me.
The only one I could see on there web was by axa who acually do  an insurance for us humble w/c, I shall ask them for a quote, unless Dave can help or jog my memory?

[ronnie paton]

dave im sure has an experienced man your correct on the not needing insurance, but i recently did my cosh traing and was told overwise

All in all i think you should and it should be law, wot happens if your a little dodgey and have no house or money(not on paper) how would some be able to get there money for there bently you dropped your ladders on

[Pole2pole]

Ah good afternoon young Jeff. So pleased to could finally take time out to help your fellow comrades out instead of p*ssing about trying to earn your next billion 
In all seriousness bud, if you could give us all you know bout insurance cos i'm probably in the majority when i say i'm giving away 200 a year to some broker,whilst in the back of my mind thinkin"I bet i aint covered for this and that" If you do have any joy fella,perlease let us know and i promise i'll give you the absolute pleasure of keeping you company in the not too distant future when our wives totally blank us on one of those "TV's much too good tonight to even comprehend giving the hubby any of my time" nights     

[jeff1]

Ah good afternoon young Jeff. So pleased to could finally take time out to help your fellow comrades out instead of p*ssing about trying to earn your next billion 
In all seriousness bud, if you could give us all you know bout insurance cos i'm probably in the majority when i say i'm giving away 200 a year to some broker,whilst in the back of my mind thinkin"I bet i aint covered for this and that" If you do have any joy fella,perlease let us know and i promise i'll give you the absolute pleasure of keeping you company in the not too distant future when our wives totally blank us on one of those "TV's much too good tonight to even comprehend giving the hubby any of my time" nights     

As soon as I track it down young Dino I'll give you the nod I do know it was around the £200 mark, that included property being worked on and tools left in a locked van, that aloan in my mind is worth the £200 mark, let aloan the cover for ding bat  that decides to accidently throw them selfs onto the floor, when they step over my hose or better still trip over the hazzards signs. :

[Pole2pole]

sounds like the kind of policy i'm lookin for jeff. 200 sounds pretty reasonable too to be honest. Much better than 150 for a policy that covers me for jack..........cheers jeff 

[jeff1]

sounds like the kind of policy i'm lookin for jeff. 200 sounds pretty reasonable too to be honest. Much better than 150 for a policy that covers me for jack..........cheers jeff 

I just found this one on the apwc site, I'm getting a quote from them.

http://www.aplan.co.uk/commercial/window-cleaning-insurance.php?int=

[Tosh]

commercial work demands it

I've only been asked twice for my public liability insurance; once from a Hilton Hotel and once recently from a housing association that looks after elderly people.

Most commercial companies in my albiet limited experience don't ask and don't seem to care either.

[Pole2pole]

Jeff, is that public liability or van insurance "with" public liability all rolled into one? 

[jeff1]

Jeff, is that public liability or van insurance "with" public liability all rolled into one? 

I started to fill out the quote and it asked about my van, I DON'T want van insurance : it does say something in there about PL insurance, but I didn't bother in the end, So back to the search.

Can some one check the last APWC news letter to see if there is an Insurance link on there?

[Pole2pole]

Thats what i came across jeff. Nowts simple is it?   

[Rob.Hall]

Yes there is.

I have asked the question to the one broker about damage to property whilst being worked on.

will let you know the outcome.

[Pole2pole]

Did you have any joy with a policy Jeff?

[Paul Coleman]

As many of you know in scotland you need a licence and you cannot get one without insurance so all licenced window cleaners in scotland are insured unless of course they just get the licence then cancel the insurance

Dean

That's an interesting anomaly.
Public liability insurance is not a legal requirement (though it should be IMO).  This means that you can run your business perfectly legally without it.  This means that potentially, a licence would not be granted to a perfectly legal window cleaning business.
Personally, I wish the legislaters would just stop messing about and make being insured a legal requirement from the off.