Insurance for a casual worker

[Frivolous]

After the recent storm I had a lot of tree damage including several fallen trees on my property. I tidied-up as much as I could with my own small chain-saw but for the bigger trees I need someone with a large chainsaw. Through a contact at work a guy has offered to do the work at the weekend with the aid of his 14 year old son. The guy's job is a builder but he's doing this work on his own personal time. My question is does he need to have some insurance cover before he starts working at my property? I'd be wary of potential injury to himself or his son and subsequent claims against me. Do I need to insist that he has insurance to cover them both while working on my property?

 

[T McGibney]

Shouldn't you insure him?

 

[Frivolous]

Maybe it's my responsibility - I don't know. I guess I'd need to ask my house insurer. Normally a tradesman who works at your premises is covered by their own insurance I'd imagine. In reality I have never checked before with the plumber, electrician, chimney sweep etc.

 

[T McGibney]

You said he is doing the work on his own personal time.
The risk here, that he might claim against you in the event of injury, is yours.
You can decide to either insure against that risk or go without.

 

[Leo]

Check your home insurance policy, many will include cover for casual domestic employees like this. Of course, it would be preferable for everyone you employ to do any job to have their own liability insurance in place, but someone just doing a few jobs like this is unlikely to get insurance themselves.

 

[Frivolous]

Checked with my Insurance Company who confirmed that the guy will not be covered by my house insurance. I asked them that if I could get him to sign a waiver stating that he is responsible in the event of an accident - would this suffice -they replied they didn't know. Anybody know if a liability waiver would be effective?

 

[DirectDevil]

A few observations on this dangerous territory.

Some insurance policies exclude liability claims arising out of or in connection with the use of chain saws.

Attempting to contract out of your liability for injuries to the chainsaw merchant and or his son would most likely be problematical.

People may turn up to your property with signs on the sides of their vans declaring that they are "fully insured".
That usually means precisely nothing.

Whose liability is covered, to whom and for what contingencies ?
The "contractors" may have public liability cover that indemnifies them for their liability for an accident but not the householder.
I make precisely the same observation in regard to employers' liability.

Generally, a principal [in this case the home owner] is not vicariously liable for the negligence of an independent contractor.
However if, on the evidence, the chainsaw merchant turns out not to be an independent contractor the home owner may find themselves saddled with the liability for an accident. This could include injuries to members of the public caused by the contractor.

There are a number of other permutations and complications that could arise in this type of situation but I will not go on................

In summary, my firm advice would be to steer clear of this type of casual arrangement as if things go wrong you will find it a very costly experience.
Engage a bona-fide contractor to do what is reasonably regarded as potentially dangerous work.

 

[mathepac]

Engage a bona-fide contractor to do what is reasonably regarded as potentially dangerous work.

Is it reasonable/prudent then to ask the contractor to supply a copy of their insurance policy at the proposal stage? Existence/validity of insurance is an assessment criterion.

 

[DirectDevil]

Is it reasonable/prudent then to ask the contractor to supply a copy of their insurance policy at the proposal stage? Existence/validity of insurance is an assessment criterion.

Yes.

However, the contractor is probably not obliged to open the document to a potential customer.
The contract between the contractor and his insurance underwriters enjoys privity.
Against that, contractors may well be required to exhibit evidence of insurance cover as a precondition to tendering for many types of contracts.

The plain fact is that you do not know if a liability type insurance contract will apply to any given incident and in what way until an accident occurs.

All parties to a contractual scenario like that described by the OP need to take great care that they have insured their potential legal interests.
This is particularly important if there are contractual indemnities required between parties as some underwriters will not cover liabilities assumed under contract unless the liability would be likely to have existed independently any contractual undertaking to indemnify.