The lack of good understanding of the Public Liability Insurance Cost in Victoria results in many Tradies paying too much for their insurance.
CoverTradie research can help you get a better understanding of insurance pricing and make an informed choice.
Let’s face it, who doesn’t want a good deal? Actually, getting a good deal is not a want, its a need. As a tradie business owner, this is how you make your business efficient and profitable.
This profitability then allows you to spend money elsewhere in the economy which drives wider economic benefits. It’s a must and we get it. We want you to save money hence why we put together this short guide so that you can understand the Public Liability Insurance Cost in Vic better and avoid getting ripped off.
The table below shows the cost of Tradies Public Liability Insurance in Victoria based on the quotes we have observed from the major insurers without naming names.
Category | Price |
Cheapest | $521 |
Average | $1,811 |
Highest | $6,911 |
It’s easy to see that there is a huge variation between the cheapest, average and the highest premiums we have observed.
There are a range of factors that result in such variation which we will cover below.
So what drives such a huge variation in the pricing?
There are a few factors some more specific to particular insurers but most commonly:
- Is there any consumer protection legislation for your trade that results in higher claim volumes, which increases insurance costs
- Your occupation risk – not all trades carry equal risk
- Business activities within your occupation – not all business activities carry equal risk
- Size of your business – higher turnover and staff count usually means higher risk of claims
- The market factors in a particular state, competition etc.
Public Liability Insurance cost comparison by trade
Your occupation is the most important risk factor that has an influence on price of insurance. The chart shows a comparison of average premiums we observed for 5 common tradie occupations.
The prices are for $20million public liability quotes we observed for businesses ranging from $100k to $500K in turnover.
The table below goes into a bit more detail of prices. Check the cheapest, average and highest prices for public liability insurance in Vic for 5 common trades.
Occupation | Cheapest | Average | Highest |
Carpenter | $521 | $1,179 | $2,548 |
Landscaper | $606 | $1,276 | $2,319 |
Electrician | $645 | $1,387 | $3,199 |
Concreter | $792 | $1,847 | $4,167 |
Plumber | $1,980 | $3,993 | $6,911 |
So why is there such a price variation even with in occupation group?
The biggest reason is the turnover of your business, those with turnover of $100,000 are cheaper to insure compared to the one with a $500,000 turnover.
Insurers consider that risk increases as a business grows.
During the growth phase of a business, the attention of many tradies gets a little stretched. Not everyones’ but some. That can result in claims and insurers know that. They price the insurance accordingly.
For many business owners, it’s the apprentice supervision that is a problem. Its not uncommon to see the claims increase with increased number of staff and junior apprentices
The controls & risk management in a business that prevent claims and stuff-ups become strong over time. There is a period when they are weak which result in claims.
You can see the impact of turnover on pricing from the table below.
Turnover | Cheapest | Average | Highest |
$100K | $521 | $1,070 | $2,750 |
$200K | $615 | $1,456 | $4,974 |
$300K | $834 | $1,851 | $5,444 |
$400K | $1,074 | $2,146 | $5,880 |
$500K | $1,231 | $2,535 | $6,911 |
Key points to note from this table are:
- Lower turnover means lower risk in general
- Notice all categories of prices i.e. cheapest, average and highest, they all increase with increase in turnover.
There are opportunities to save money regardless of what your turnover may be, an example of that is give below. In this chart we show how the various premium categories for Plumbers in VIC.
You can’t control what insurers think and how they price insurance. You can make a choice of insurer and your broker. That will save you money.
So, select a broker who knows what they are doing so they can help you get where you want to – FASTER.
CoverTradie is a specialist insurance broker for tradesmen. If we can be of help to you, please give us a call. If you found this article useful, please consider sharing it on Facebook to help us get the word out.
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