Painter insurance starts with public liability, but a painting business carries more exposures than the ladder and the drop sheet suggest. Overspray drifts onto cars, heat guns scorch old timber, a dropped tin marks a stone benchtop, and a subcontractor falls from a plank on a job you run. This guide sets out what painters and decorators typically carry and where the exclusions sit. For the wider picture across trades, see our tradies insurance page.
Public Liability Is the Core of Painter Insurance
Public liability insurance can respond when your work causes injury to other people or damage to their property, depending on the policy wording. For painters, the typical exposures are:
- Overspray. Airless spraying on a windy day can carry paint onto parked cars, neighbouring roofs, windows and outdoor furniture.
- Spills and drips. Carpet, timber floors, stone benchtops, pavers and pool surrounds.
- Trip hazards. Drop sheets on stairs, ladders across paths, hoses and leads across driveways.
- Falling objects. Tools or tins dropped from scaffold or a roof onto someone below.
- Pressure washing. Water forced under flashings or through window seals during preparation.
Choose a limit that meets the contracts you actually sign. Builders, strata managers and commercial clients commonly ask for a particular limit and a certificate of currency before you start.
Describe the Work Accurately
The occupation on the policy sets out the work the insurer has agreed to insure. “Painter” on its own may not match what you do if the business also takes on:
- Roof painting and roof restoration.
- Industrial or protective coatings.
- Abrasive or soda blasting.
- Line marking.
- Waterproofing, rendering or texture coating.
- High-rise work from swing stages or rope access.
Each of these can change how underwriters see the risk, and a claim arising from work that is not described can be declined. Our article on why the occupation matters on liability insurance explains how this plays out.
Damage to the Surface You Are Painting
This is the exclusion that surprises painters. Liability policies commonly exclude or limit damage to property in your care, custody or control, and damage to the part of the property you are working on. A wall painted badly, a door stripped too hard or a floor sanded through is not usually a liability claim. It is a workmanship problem, and the cost of putting it right generally sits with the business.
Some policies offer a limited extension for property in your care, custody or control. It is worth asking about if you work in finished homes with expensive joinery, stone and flooring. Keep the distinction in mind: liability cover is designed for accidental damage to other property, not for redoing your own work.
Ladders, Scaffold and Work at Height
Falls sit on both sides of the ledger. A member of the public injured by your scaffold is a liability question. You or your worker falling is a question for workers compensation or personal accident cover.
- Hired scaffold. Hire agreements commonly make you responsible for scaffold while it is on hire, including theft and damage. Check whether your policy responds to hired-in equipment.
- Your own scaffold and planks. These can be listed with your tools and equipment.
- Height questions. Some insurers ask about the maximum height you work at, and some restrict high-rise work. Answer accurately.
- Elevating work platforms. If you hire a boom or scissor lift, read the hire terms and check whether your policy responds to the machine while you have it.
Heat Stripping and Hot Work
Heat guns and torches used to strip old paint are a fire risk, particularly around weatherboards, eaves, roof cavities and dry vegetation. Liability policies commonly include hot work conditions or exclusions. Typical conditions include keeping a suitable extinguisher at hand, clearing combustible material from the area, and checking the area after the work stops.
If you use heat to strip paint, tell your broker, read the hot work clause and follow it on every job. A fire that starts in a wall cavity can smoulder unseen after you have packed up.
Lead Paint and Asbestos
Older homes can carry lead-based paint, and some older buildings contain asbestos in eaves, wall sheeting and textured coatings. Liability policies commonly exclude asbestos and may exclude or restrict pollution and contamination, which can extend to lead dust.
- Test before you sand or strip older surfaces.
- Follow the current safe work requirements for lead paint where you work, which vary by state.
- Read the pollution and asbestos exclusions rather than assuming a contamination claim will be met.
- Tell your broker if lead paint removal is a regular part of your work.
Tools, Van and Equipment
Spray rigs, sanders, extraction units and ladders add up, and they are exposed to theft from vans and sites. Tools of trade insurance can respond to theft and accidental damage, subject to conditions. Theft from a vehicle commonly requires visible signs of forced entry, and some policies restrict cover for tools left in a vehicle overnight.
Your van should be insured under a policy that describes business use. Declare the shelving and racking fitted to it, and remember that paint and solvents carried inside can make a vehicle fire worse.
Subcontractors
If you engage other painters, check what they carry before they start. A subbie without their own liability cover can leave a claim sitting on your policy, and your insurer may ask whether you checked. Collect certificates of currency and keep them current. Our guide to subcontractor insurance requirements sets out what to ask for, and declare subcontractor payments to your insurer where the policy asks for them.
Protecting Your Own Income
A self-employed painter who falls from a ladder can lose weeks of work. Personal accident insurance can pay a weekly benefit when injury, or illness if sickness cover is included, stops you working, subject to waiting periods and benefit periods. Workers compensation arrangements for employees are set by each state, so check the current requirement for your business.
Common Questions
Will public liability pay if my overspray lands on a neighbour’s car?
Liability policies can respond to accidental damage to third party property like this, subject to the wording, the excess and any spray painting conditions. Photograph the damage, report it promptly, and do not admit liability or promise repairs before talking to your broker.
Will my policy pay to repaint a job the client is unhappy with?
Generally not. Redoing your own work is a workmanship issue, not accidental damage to other property.
I only do residential repaints. What liability limit do I need?
That depends on the contracts you sign and the property you work around. Builders and strata managers commonly ask for a set limit, so check their requirements before you choose.
Talk It Through
Request a quote or call 1300 983 940 and we will set up cover around the work you actually do, from interior repaints to roof coatings. See our tradies page for the other trades we work with.
General advice only. This article does not take your objectives, financial situation or needs into account. Consider the relevant PDS and Target Market Determination before deciding on a policy.