Can a Client Ask a Tradesman for Proof of Public Liability Insurance?
Yes, you can ask any tradesman for their public liability certificate before you hire them, and you can make sight of it a condition of the job. No law forces them to display it, and no law stops you asking for it.
You are letting someone into your home or premises to do work that can flood a floor, crack a wall or injure a visitor. Checking that their public liability insurance is real takes about five minutes.
This guide is written for the person doing the hiring. It covers what the certificate should show, how to verify it, what limits to expect and what a refusal actually tells you.
Ask to see a tradesman’s public liability certificate before work starts, and check the insurer name, policy number and expiry date match what you’ve been told. A genuine certificate takes minutes to verify directly with the insurer, and a refusal to produce one is a reason to look elsewhere. For most domestic jobs, cover of £1 million to £2 million is a reasonable minimum to expect.
Compare public liability quotes before your next hire goes ahead.
- Does a tradesman have to show you their certificate?
- What should a public liability certificate show?
- How do you check a certificate is genuine?
- How much cover should you expect a tradesman to hold?
- When is the right time to ask for proof?
- What should you do if a tradesman refuses to provide proof?
- What does the tradesman's public liability actually protect you from?
- Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Does a tradesman have to show you their certificate?
They have no legal duty to display or hand over a public liability certificate, because the cover itself is not compulsory. Employers’ liability is different, and any tradesman with staff must be able to produce that one.
What the law actually requires
The ABI notes that horse riding establishments are the only UK businesses legally obliged to hold public liability. For every trade, it is a commercial expectation rather than a statutory one.
Employers’ liability is the compulsory one. HSE guidance requires the certificate to be available to employees and inspectors, with a £1,000 penalty for failing to produce it.
Why almost every trade will say yes anyway
Insured tradesmen send certificates constantly, because commercial clients demand them every week. For most, forwarding a PDF takes seconds.
Plenty now attach it to the quote without being asked. Treat that as a good sign rather than a sales tactic.
Hesitation is the thing to watch for. A tradesman who promises to dig it out and never does has usually told you the answer already.
What should a public liability certificate show?
Seven things: the policyholder’s name, the insurer, the policy number, the type of cover, the limit of indemnity, the period of cover and a description of the business activities insured.
The fields that should always be there
A public liability certificate does carry a policy number, whatever you may read elsewhere. Without one you cannot verify anything, so an absent policy number is a reason to stop.
The document should name an insurer, not just a broker or a scheme. Brokers arrange cover, insurers carry the risk, and it is the insurer you would ultimately be claiming against.
Why the business description matters most
A policy only covers the activities it lists. A gardener insured for grounds maintenance is not covered for tree felling, and a carpenter insured for joinery may not be covered for structural work.
Read that line against the job you are actually hiring for. It is the field clients skip and the field insurers rely on.
| Field on the certificate | What it should say | Red flag |
| Policyholder name | The exact trading name or company name you are hiring | A different name, or a name you cannot match to the quote |
| Insurer | A named insurance company underwriting the risk | Only a broker or a scheme name, with no insurer shown |
| Policy number | A unique reference you can quote to the insurer | Missing, or a generic reference with no number |
| Type of cover | Public liability, stated in those words | Only tools, van or professional indemnity cover |
| Limit of indemnity | £1m, £2m, £5m or £10m any one occurrence | A limit below what your job or contract needs |
| Period of cover | Start and end dates spanning your whole job | Expired dates, or cover ending before the job does |
| Business description | The trade and activities being carried out for you | Activities that do not include the work you are buying |
How do you check a certificate is genuine?
Check the insurer is authorised on the FCA’s Financial Services Register, match the policyholder name to the business you are hiring, and confirm the dates cover your job. If anything is unclear, ring the insurer with the policy number.
Look the insurer up on the FCA register
Search the insurer’s name on the FCA Financial Services Register and check it is authorised to write general insurance in the UK. It is free and takes a minute.
A broker will appear on the same register as an intermediary rather than an insurer. Both should be listed somewhere, and neither being listed is a serious problem.
Match the name to the person you hired
Certificates in a different name are the most common thing clients spot. Sometimes it is an old trading name, sometimes it is a friend’s policy.
Ask which it is. A legitimate name change is easy to explain and easy for the insurer to confirm.
Ring the insurer or broker
Call the number on the certificate, or better, the number listed on the insurer’s own website. Quote the policy number and ask whether the cover is live.
Some insurers run online validation tools where a policy number confirms itself. On larger jobs this is a routine step, not an insult.
How much cover should you expect a tradesman to hold?
£1 million to £2 million is normal for domestic work. Councils, schools, NHS trusts, social housing providers and main contractors usually specify £5 million, which is the most commonly demanded contract level.
Limits for ordinary domestic jobs
For a bathroom, a rewire or a garden project, £2 million of cover is the practical standard. £1 million is now treated as the bare minimum rather than a comfortable level.
Short jobs are not an exception. Even a one-day visit can be covered by a short-term public liability policy, so there is no job small enough to justify no cover at all.
When you should insist on more
Work on a commercial site, near a public highway or alongside other trades pushes the expectation to £5 million, which is where construction work normally sits.
If you are a landlord, a managing agent or a business, check your own policy too. Your insurer may set a minimum limit for contractors you engage.
| The job | Limit to expect | Who usually sets it |
| Small domestic work in an occupied home | £1m to £2m | The tradesman’s own judgement |
| Full renovation or extension | £2m to £5m | You, or your building insurer |
| Work for a council, school or NHS site | £5m | The contract or framework |
| Social housing and managing agent work | £5m | The client organisation |
| Large commercial sites and infrastructure | £10m | The main contractor |
When is the right time to ask for proof?
At quote stage, and again before work starts on anything long or expensive. Cover cannot be backdated, so a certificate produced after an accident is worth nothing.
Ask before you accept the quote
Asking early keeps it neutral. Once you have chosen someone, the same question can feel like an accusation.
Put it in writing alongside the quote acceptance. A short line saying the job is subject to current public liability cover is enough.
Check the dates against the programme
A policy expiring three weeks into a six-week job leaves the back half uninsured. Ask for the renewal certificate when it is issued.
This matters most on jobs that run for months. A cleaning contractor or maintenance firm working on your premises all year should send a fresh certificate every renewal.
What should you do if a tradesman refuses to provide proof?
Treat the refusal as the answer. An insured tradesman has the certificate on their phone, and a reluctance to share it usually means the cover has lapsed or never existed.
Refusal is information, not rudeness
You are not entitled to the document, and they are not obliged to send it. You are entitled to choose somebody else, which is the only pressure you need to apply.
Give them a chance to arrange cover if you want to use them. Policies can usually be bought online the same day, with the certificate issued straight away.
If the cover lapses part way through
Stop the work rather than hoping the gap closes itself. A claim arising during an uninsured period stays uninsured even after a new policy starts.
That is the practical meaning of backdating being impossible. Insurance answers uncertain future events, never events that have already happened.
What does the tradesman’s public liability actually protect you from?
It pays for injury to you, your family or your visitors, and for damage their work does to your property. It does not pay to put right poor workmanship, which is the gap clients are most often surprised by.
What it covers on your job
Third-party injury and third-party property damage are the two heads of cover, along with the legal costs of defending the claim. A flooded kitchen or a cracked worktop sits squarely inside that.
Neighbours are covered too. If a scaffold pole goes through next door’s roof light, the same policy answers that claim.
Where it stops
Redoing bad work is not an insured loss, and a claim about advice or specification belongs to professional indemnity instead.
Injury to the tradesman’s own staff falls under employers’ liability, which is compulsory once the business employs somebody.
Two genuinely self-employed tradesmen on the same job do not trigger it. The duty to produce that certificate runs to employees and HSE inspectors, so a client can ask but has no legal right to demand it.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
No. It is not compulsory for tradesmen in the UK, though most trade schemes and commercial contracts require it. Employers’ liability is the cover the law does demand once they employ anyone.
Yes. Every genuine certificate carries a policy number, and without one you cannot verify the cover with the insurer.
Search the insurer’s name on the FCA’s Financial Services Register and check it is authorised for general insurance. Brokers appear separately as intermediaries.
No. Cover starts when the policy incepts and cannot be backdated, so anything that has already happened stays uninsured.
£1 million to £2 million covers most domestic work. Ask for £5 million if the job involves a commercial site, a public highway or a council contract.
Only if they employ anybody. Employers’ liability is triggered by employing someone rather than by two people being on site, and two genuinely self-employed tradesmen do not trigger it.
The duty to display or produce the certificate runs to employees and HSE inspectors, not to clients, so you can ask but cannot demand it. Reputable firms will show it anyway.
Yes. You are free to choose whoever you like, and making proof of cover a condition of the job is entirely reasonable.
No. Public liability pays for injury and damage caused by the work, not for redoing work that was done badly. That is a contractual dispute rather than an insurance claim.