Any plumber working today without a comprehensive commercial insurance package is courting disaster. Times may be tough but working without adequate insurance is a recipe for bankruptcy.
As most plumbers are aware, site plans detailing where the gas and water pipes are located aren't always accurate. In fact, very few of them are so digging trenches to lay new pipes needs to be done with extreme caution. The number of times whole suburbs have had their power or water supplies interrupted due to backhoes and other mechanical equipment ripping through them is almost a daily occurrence. Most town councils in Australia have ads running advising plumbers and other people to "Dial before you Dig".
Today there are so many underground cables that digging new trenches to lay new water pipes has become a nightmare. Plans aren't accurate and it is too easy to rip one of them which can sometimes be a major cable and take down telephone and Internet access to major businesses with high usage. These cables often service adjoining suburbs and businesses that aren't immediately in the area in which the new pipes are being laid.
When these big businesses have their business interrupted, they often commence legal action against the service provider and town council for reparation if the outage is prolonged. The service provider that is being sued for the outage of services and the town council will then take legal action against the business that is responsible for the damage. Prolonged legal expenses will bankrupt most small to medium sized plumbing businesses.
Once legal action is commenced, the flow on effect is the damage done to a plumbing businesses reputation and bad word-of-mouth advertising. People talk, and if the talk centres on ineptitude or carelessness about your work, then business will dry-up and you won't be invited to quote on any larger projects until your reputation is cleared.
This is why it is essential that your Plumbing business has adequate commercial insurance to cover all eventualities when accidental damage occurs.
Commercial Insurance needs to include Tools and other Equipment.
Loss of tools is an expense that needs to be included in your commercial insurance policy. Plumbers are notorious for leaving tools behind on job completion. Theft is a known expense on a big job site but leaving tools behind happens a lot on small domestic repair jobs. Plumbers get talking to the householder and forget to pick up a wrench or hammer and walk out the door without it.
Just last week we had reason to call in a plumber and he asked me if he had left his expensive hammer on our roof from the last time I called him six months ago. He had at least marked it down that the next time he was called here to look for it. It wasn't there but he did have commercial insurance to cover the replacement cost.
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