About to start renovating the kitchen, bathroom and do some landscaping. We’re managing the project but because we have different tradies and suppliers coming through the house do we need to do anything with our insurance. What do we need to do to make sure we’re protected if the tradies get injured?

Hi David,

The tradies will be covered by Workers Compensation legislation if they have an injury while at work. You should request all tradies provide a copy of their Certificate of Currency to ensure they have a policy in place. The exception to this rule is Sole Traders who are not required by law to purchase cover.

On top of that, generally your Home and Contents insurance will include $20m in Public Liability cover. This will protect you against any findings of negligence on your behalf resulting in injury to people or property. You should check the PDS of your H&C's policy to make sure this cover is in place.

I hope this helps.

Charles

Hi David,

I can't advise on the insurance side of things, but on the finance side, it's important to make sure you have enough funds to complete the renovations while buffering for variations as well.

I'm obviously not sure how you're funding the renovations, although, if you run out of money part way through the project and needed to borrow from a bank, having no kitchen or bathroom (for example) can impact the security value as most lenders would deem it 'uninhabitable'. This would make borrowing the funds much more difficult.

Regards,
Scott

Hi David, in my view, most home and contents policies won't respond to an incident where there is payment for commercial work on your property. Ensure they have a contracts works policy in place which will cover their liability along with material damage or at very least a stand-alone liability policy of no less than $10 Million.

If they don't qualify for Worker Compensation as sole traders, they should carry a personal accident & sickness policy in lieu of workers compensation.

It is a must that they carry both policies.

Best regards
Nicholas Bedggood