A neat van and a printed shirt are not insurance. Plenty of tradies look the part. A smaller number actually carry the public liability cover that protects both them and the customer when something goes wrong. When a tradie damages a neighbour’s car backing the trailer in, drops a tile through the floor, floods the apartment downstairs, or causes a personal injury, the cost can land squarely on the customer if the tradie’s policy doesn’t respond. Asking about insurance is one of the cheaper checks a customer can run, and it is the one that pays back the most when something goes wrong on site.
Here’s what public liability insurance actually does for a tradie’s customer in Australia, why the policy details matter more than the brand on the shirt, and what to ask for before any work starts.
What public liability covers
Public liability insurance covers third-party property damage and third-party personal injury caused by the tradie or their work. If the tradie drops a heavy tool through your kitchen island, the policy pays. If a neighbour’s car gets dinged by a swung ladder, the policy pays. If a delivery driver trips on tools left in a hallway and breaks a wrist, the policy pays. The cover is for the tradie’s legal liability for damage or injury caused to people and property other than the tradie’s own work and own staff.
What it doesn’t cover
Public liability does not cover defective workmanship of the tradie’s own work. If the tile they laid lifts, that is a workmanship issue, not a public liability claim. It also doesn’t cover injuries to the tradie’s own employees, that is workers compensation. It doesn’t cover damage to the tradie’s own tools or vehicle. And it generally doesn’t cover work that was performed by an unlicensed person on a job that legally required a licence. The policy has real limits. Customers should not assume “they have public liability” means the tradie’s full risk profile is insured.
Coverage limits matter
Public liability cover is sold in tiers, typically $5 million, $10 million, and $20 million for general tradie work. Some larger projects require higher limits. The dollar limit is the maximum the insurer will pay for any one claim. For most domestic residential work, $10 million is standard. For a tradie working in a strata building, in a commercial space, or near critical infrastructure, the body corporate, the principal contractor, or the building owner may require evidence of $20 million cover. The limit is on the certificate. The customer should know what it is.
A logo is not a policy
The “fully insured” badge on a tradie’s flyer is marketing, not proof. The actual proof is a Certificate of Currency: a document issued by the insurer naming the insured, the policy number, the period of cover, the limits and any conditions. A reputable tradie can produce one within an hour. Many will already have it on their website or attached to their booking confirmation. Asking for one is normal. Refusing to provide one is unusual, and a quiet warning sign that the cover may not exist or may have lapsed.
Check the period of cover
A Certificate of Currency is only useful for the period it covers. Policies run annually. A certificate dated 14 months ago doesn’t prove anything about today. When you receive the certificate, look at the policy period. If the cover expired last month, the cover that exists now is whatever the tradie renewed into, which could be the same policy, a different insurer, a different limit, or none. Ask for a current certificate before the work starts, particularly for any job that runs longer than a fortnight or starts close to a renewal date.
Strata buildings often require evidence of cover
If you live in a strata or community title property, the body corporate or owners corporation typically requires any contractor working on common property, or in a way that affects common property, to have current public liability insurance. Some require a minimum cover amount and ask to see a Certificate of Currency. Don’t try to work around this. The body corporate’s insurance is on the line for damage caused on common property, and they will rightly resist a tradie who can’t show cover. Ask the body corporate what they require before booking the work.
A subcontractor needs their own cover
Tradies often subcontract parts of a job: the head contractor’s cover may not extend to a subcontractor’s separate work. Each subcontractor should generally hold their own public liability insurance. If the head contractor sends a different tradie to do part of the work, the customer is entitled to ask for that tradie’s insurance evidence too. The chain of cover should be clear. If the head contractor can’t show that, you may have a gap that only matters when something goes wrong.
When something goes wrong, document early
If a tradie does cause damage, document it immediately. Photos, video, time-stamped messages, witness names. Tell the tradie in writing on the day. Politeness costs nothing, but documenting the incident at the time keeps a clean record. If the tradie’s insurer needs to pay, the assessor will want to see evidence of what happened, when it happened, and what the property looked like before. A clean photo timeline is the difference between an easy claim and a long argument.
When the tradie says it’ll cost too much to claim
Some tradies will offer to pay out of pocket for a small piece of damage rather than claim on their policy. That can be fine for genuinely small amounts. For anything substantial, the insurer should be involved. The tradie’s reluctance to claim is usually about excess and renewal premium impacts, not about whether the customer should be properly compensated. Don’t accept a verbal offer to pay later as substitute for an actual claim. Get any out-of-pocket settlement in writing, with the dollar amount and the timing.
Public liability insurance is the customer’s quiet safety net when a tradie causes damage on or around the property. The cover is real but limited. The certificate is real and easy to ask for. Don’t accept the printed shirt as evidence. Ask for the Certificate of Currency, check the period and the limits, and confirm any subcontractor has their own. Five minutes of due diligence at the start of the job often saves five thousand at the end of it.