Do I need public liability insurance?

Ask a lawyer and the answer is "it depends". Ask the site supervisor and the answer is "no certificate, no entry". In practice, most tradies can't work without it.

What it actually covers

Public liability covers you when your work damages someone's property or injures someone who isn't you. Nicked pipe floods the kitchen. Grinder spark cracks a window. Customer trips over your cords. If they come after you for the repair bill or the medical costs, the policy picks up the claim and the legal costs of dealing with it.

That's the whole job of this cover: making sure one bad day doesn't come out of your house deposit. A flooded apartment or an injury claim can run to numbers no sole trader can absorb.

Why you can't really skip it

• Builders' sites want a certificate of currency before you walk on. No paper, no work.
• Commercial clients, real estate agents and property managers put it in the contract.
• Some trade licences require minimum cover before you can hold the licence at all.
• Even homeowners are starting to ask, because their insurer told them to.

So the honest answer to "do I need it" is: the people who pay you have already decided you do. Treat it like rego for the business.

What it's not

Public liability is one slice, and people over-assume what it does. It doesn't cover injuries to you - there's no sick leave when you're solo, which is a different cover most tradies skip. It doesn't cover your tools if the ute gets done over. And it's not workers comp, which is a separate, usually compulsory scheme if you ever put someone on the books.

Getting covered

Talk to an insurer or a broker, compare a couple of quotes, and check the cover amount your sites or licence require before you pick. Once it's paid you'll get a certificate of currency, usually the same day. Keep that PDF on your phone - it's the document everyone asks for. Then finish the rest of the day-one setup: a free ABN, and knowing why it goes on every invoice.

Basics only, not insurance advice - talk to an insurer or broker about your own situation.