ALDIUM Insurance
Cover built for electrical contracting businesses across the UK — liability, tools, contract works and professional indemnity for firms working on domestic, commercial and industrial installations.
Tell us about your business and one of our trade insurance specialists will come back to you. Whether you run domestic installations or hold contracts on commercial sites, we approach our panel of insurers and present your business properly — so the terms you receive reflect the work you actually do.
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Tell us a little about your business and a trade specialist will be in touch.
Your details are used only to prepare your quotation and are never sold on. Aldium Insurance Services Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA No. 306687).
Electrical contractors insurance is a package of commercial covers designed for electrical contracting businesses. A typical policy combines public and products liability, employers’ liability for firms with staff, tools and equipment cover, contract works and professional indemnity for design, testing and inspection work. Employers’ liability is a legal requirement in the UK for almost any electrical business that employs people, with a minimum limit of £5 million.
Electrical work carries an unusual combination of exposures. Faulty workmanship can cause fire; a mistake at a distribution board can injure someone months later; drilling and chasing in older buildings brings asbestos risk; and testing, inspection and design work creates liability that ordinary public liability insurance was never written to cover.
The two terms are often used interchangeably, and both describe trade insurance for electrical work. In practice, electrician insurance usually refers to cover for a sole trader or small domestic operation — public liability, tools and a van. Electrical contractors insurance tends to describe the broader programme a contracting business needs once it employs people and works to contract: higher liability limits, employers’ liability, contract works, and often professional indemnity. The cover itself comes from the same market; what changes is the scale and the sections you need.
Aldium is an independent broker arranging cover for UK trade and contracting businesses, from single-van electricians to established contractors working on commercial and industrial sites — building each policy around the work carried out and the contracts signed.
An electrical contractors policy is built from separate sections that work together to protect your liabilities, your people, your equipment and the work in progress. The covers typically available to UK electrical contracting businesses include:
Covers claims for injury or property damage caused by your work, and by products or components you supply and fit. Limits of £1m, £2m, £5m and £10m are available — contracts and accreditations often set the minimum.
A legal requirement if you employ staff, including apprentices and most labour-only subcontractors. The statutory minimum is £5 million; contracts frequently require £10 million.
Responds to claims arising from design, specification, testing and inspection — including a an installation designed to the wrong specification. Public liability does not cover advice.
Covers the work in progress — materials, cable and partly completed installations on site — against fire, flood, storm and theft before the job is handed over.
Protects hand tools, power tools and calibrated test instruments against theft, loss or damage. Cover for tools left in vans overnight is usually subject to security conditions.
Cover for the vans your business runs, from a single vehicle to a fleet — including goods in transit and liability arising from vehicle use in connection with your trade.
Provides a financial benefit if you or an employee is injured and unable to work — important in a trade where income stops the moment you cannot get on site.
Legal advice and representation for employment disputes, contract disagreements, debt recovery and HMRC enquiries — the everyday issues of a growing contracting business.
These are brief descriptions of covers typically available to UK electrical contracting businesses, provided for general information only. All policies are subject to their own terms, conditions, limits, excesses and exclusions — please refer to the policy documentation for full details. Aldium Insurance Services Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA No. 306687).
Comparison sites sell policies. We arrange cover — which means understanding the work you do and the contracts you sign before we go anywhere near the market.
Aldium is an independent brokerage. We present your business to the market on your behalf and recommend the cover that fits the work you do — not the policy an insurer wants to sell. And there are no call centres: you deal with named people who know your account.
We place cover across a broad panel of trade and contractor insurers, including schemes not available direct to consumers. That access means we can influence how your business is presented, negotiated and priced — rather than simply passing on the quotes everyone else can get.
Site access, accreditation criteria, collateral warranties and indemnity clauses all shape the cover an electrical contractor actually needs. We’re used to arranging programmes that line up with what your contracts require, not just what looks cheapest on paper.
A claim usually lands at the worst possible moment — a fire traced back to an installation, or a van emptied overnight. Our in-house claims manager supports you during the process, reporting, evidencing and chasing your claim, so you can get back to work.
Don’t just take our word for it — here’s what businesses across the UK say about Aldium on Google.
We arrange insurance for electrical businesses across the UK — whether you work alone on domestic installations, run a team on commercial contracts, or specialise in testing, renewables or systems installation.
Single-van operations needing public liability, tools and vehicle cover.
Firms employing electricians, apprentices or labour-only subcontractors.
Site-based work for main contractors, landlords, schools and NHS trusts.
EICR, periodic inspection and PAT testing work, where PI matters most.
EV charging, solar PV and battery storage work, including MCS-certified installers.
Fire alarm, CCTV, access control, structured cabling and networking work.
Growing, tendering for bigger contracts, or taking on your first employee? We regularly arrange cover for electrical businesses moving from domestic work into contracting, and from sole trader to employer — talk to us about your circumstances.
Trade policies look similar until you read the conditions. Most declined claims in electrical contracting come down to the same handful of details — not the headline cover, but the wording around it. Under the Insurance Act 2015 every business has a duty of fair presentation to its insurers, so accurate information and sums insured sit with you as the policyholder. These are six areas worth looking at closely.
A negligent EICR is a professional indemnity exposure, not a public liability one — you gave an opinion that was relied on. Since the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 required landlords to obtain a report at least every five years, far more electrical businesses are issuing reports that others depend on.
Main contractor terms, JCT forms and framework agreements can widen your liability beyond what the law would impose — indemnity clauses, hold-harmless wording and defined completion obligations. Liability policies commonly exclude liability assumed under contract that would not otherwise exist, so contract terms and insurance need to be read together.
Drilling, chasing and lifting floors in buildings constructed before 2000 carries a real risk of disturbing asbestos. Most liability policies carry an asbestos exclusion, with only limited write-back in some wordings. Knowing where your policy stands — and having a management survey before you start — matters more than most contractors expect.
If an installation works but doesn’t perform as intended — a system that fails to deliver the specified output, or a delay that costs a client trade — the loss is usually pure financial loss, which public liability typically excludes. An efficacy or financial loss extension is the usual route, and it is rarely included as standard.
Electrical defects can surface years later, and a collateral warranty executed as a deed can leave you exposed for up to 12 years. Professional indemnity is written on a claims-made basis, so it only responds if a policy is in force when the claim arrives — which is why run-off cover matters if you stop trading or change insurer.
Tools cover is usually conditional. Many wordings exclude theft from an unattended vehicle overnight, or require the van to be locked, alarmed and parked in a garage or secure compound between set hours. Calibrated test instruments are expensive to replace and are often under-declared on the schedule.
This section is general information for UK electrical contracting businesses, not advice on your individual circumstances — appropriate limits, covers and conditions depend on the work you carry out and the contracts you sign, and responsibility for the accuracy of information disclosed to insurers rests with the policyholder. If you would like to talk any of these areas through, our team is on 0151 336 5881.
No comparison-site forms, no call centres — just a straightforward process handled by people who understand contracting businesses.
Complete the short form above or call us. We’ll ask about the work you do, your turnover, staff and subcontractors, accreditations, vans, tools and claims history — the details insurers price on.
A short phone callWe present your business to our panel of trade and contractor insurers — including competitive schemes— so underwriters see a real business, not just a set of tick boxes.
We do the legwork for youWe talk you through the options — covers, limits, excesses, conditions and premium — and check the limits line up with what your contracts and accreditations ask for.
At your paceOnce you’re happy we place cover and confirm your documents. From then on you have a named contact for mid-term changes — a new employee, another van, a bigger contract — and our in-house claims manager if you need to claim.
All year, not just renewalWhat you’ll need to hand: your estimated annual turnover, the split between domestic, commercial and industrial work, how many people you employ (including labour-only subcontractors), your accreditations, the liability limits your contracts require, the value of tools and test equipment you carry, and details of any claims in the last five years. If you don’t have all of it, we’ll work through it with you.
There is no standard price for electrical contractors insurance in the UK. Premiums are calculated individually by insurers based on factors including your annual turnover, the type of electrical work you carry out, whether you employ staff or subcontractors, the liability limits your contracts require, whether design or inspection work is involved, and your claims history — which is why two similar contractors can pay very different premiums.
The single biggest rating factor for liability cover — it reflects how much work you do and therefore your exposure.
Domestic rewires, commercial fit-out, industrial plant and high-voltage work each carry a different risk profile.
Wageroll, the number of staff and how subcontractors are engaged all feed into employers’ liability pricing.
Whether you specify systems, produce designs or issue EICRs determines if professional indemnity is needed and at what limit.
Moving from £2m to £5m or £10m — usually to satisfy a contract or accreditation — affects the premium.
The sums insured for tools and calibrated test equipment, how many vans you run, and your overnight security arrangements.
Your record over the last five years, and what has changed since, influences how insurers rate the risk.
NICEIC, NAPIT, ECA, SELECT, MCS and JIB grading all help demonstrate how you work and how your risk is managed.
Larger contract values, working at height, EV and battery storage installation, and high-voltage work change the exposure insured.
A note on price: the cheapest premium is not always the most suitable cover — differences in tools conditions, asbestos and efficacy exclusions and liability limits can matter far more when you come to claim than a saving at renewal, and a limit that falls short of a contract requirement can cost you the work. As independent brokers we search our panel of trade insurers to find cover that balances protection and price for your business. Request a tailored quotation or call 0151 336 5881.
The questions electrical businesses ask us most often. If yours isn’t here, call us on 0151 336 5881 — a real person will pick up.
Most electrical contractors need public and products liability, tools and equipment cover and commercial vehicle insurance as a minimum. Employers’ liability is a legal requirement if you employ anyone, with a statutory minimum of £5 million. Contractors who design, specify, test or inspect — including issuing EICRs — typically also need professional indemnity, and those working to contract usually need contract works cover for the installation until handover.
It depends on who you work for. NICEIC registration typically requires at least £2 million. Main contractors, local authorities, housing associations and NHS trusts commonly require £5 million or £10 million before allowing you on site. Because the requirement is set by the contract rather than by your insurer, it is worth checking the insurance clause in each agreement before you sign.
Possibly. Public liability responds to injury and property damage, not to advice or design that proves wrong. If you only install to someone else’s specification, your exposure is lower — but the moment you specify equipment, produce a design, carry out testing and inspection or issue an EICR, you are giving an opinion that others rely on, and that sits with professional indemnity. Many contracts also require it regardless.
Generally professional indemnity. An Electrical Installation Condition Report is a professional opinion that a landlord, buyer or managing agent relies on. If the report misses a defect and loss follows, the claim is for negligent advice rather than accidental damage, so public liability would not usually respond. Since landlords in England have been required to obtain a report at least every five years, this exposure has grown considerably for testing and inspection businesses.
Usually yes. Insurers distinguish between labour-only subcontractors, who work under your supervision and are generally treated as employees for employers’ liability purposes, and bona fide subcontractors, who work independently and carry their own insurance. Apprentices and casual workers normally count as employees too. The Health and Safety Executive can fine businesses up to £2,500 for each day they trade without required cover.
It depends entirely on the policy conditions. Many tools policies exclude theft from an unattended vehicle overnight, or pay out only if the van was locked, alarmed and parked in a garage or secure compound between set hours. Calibrated test instruments are expensive and often under-declared on the schedule, so it is worth checking both the sum insured and the security conditions before you need to claim.
Only if it has been declared. EV charge points, solar PV and battery storage are newer activities and insurers treat them differently — some rate them separately, some restrict or exclude battery storage altogether. If you have added this work since your last renewal, tell your broker or insurer: undeclared activities can affect a claim under your duty of fair presentation.
There is no standard price. Premiums are calculated individually based on your turnover, the type of electrical work you do, whether you employ staff or subcontractors, the liability limits your contracts require, whether design or inspection work is involved, and your claims history. As independent brokers we approach our panel of trade insurers to find cover that balances protection and price for your business. Request a tailored quotation to find out what that means for you.
Complete the short form on this page or call us on 0151 336 5881. It helps to have your annual turnover, the split between domestic, commercial and industrial work, how many people you employ, your accreditations, the limits your contracts require and details of any claims in the last five years. We then approach our panel of trade insurers and talk you through the options in plain English. There’s no obligation at any stage.
Whether your renewal is coming up, a contract has asked for higher limits, or you simply suspect your current policy could be working harder for you, challenge us to take a look. We’ll talk through what you have now and show you what our panel of trade insurers can offer. No obligation, no call centres, just straight answers.
Also for the trades: Plumbers insurance · Tradesman insurance
Aldium Insurance Services Ltd · Viscount House, High Street, Neston, CH64 9AD · Independent commercial insurance brokers for UK trade and contracting businesses.
Aldium Insurance Services Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA No. 306687) and registered in England and Wales (No. 3278618). The information on this page describes covers typically available to UK electrical contracting businesses and is provided for general information only — it is not advice on your individual circumstances. All policies are subject to their own terms, conditions, limits, excesses and exclusions; please refer to the policy documentation for full details.
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