What Are Common Claims Against Painters?

While painting may seem like a simple service, it carries some potential risks that can lead to legal and financial problems for painters and business owners. Property owners can file claims against painters for various reasons, ranging from property damage to poor workmanship. In this blog, we'll look into common claims painters face and explore how painters insurance can protect them, and how insurance for a painting company can help it get through difficult times.

Common claims faced by painters and painting business owners

1. Accidental damage to client property

Claims painters face include accidental damage to clients' property. This can include paint spills or stains on floors, carpets, or furniture that can be costly to repair. Similarly, dropped tools, paint cans, or other debris can cause property damage. Rough handling of equipment or tools can also scratch or gouge surfaces.

Painters can also be liable for damage to delicate surfaces; for example, improper preparation or application of paint can damage natural wood surfaces.

Overspray can also lead to claims. Overspray can land on neighbouring buildings, causing damage or requiring costly cleaning. Similarly, parked cars or other vehicles can be damaged by overspray. Overspray can also affect outdoor surfaces like patios, decks, or landscaping.

2. Injury claims

Property owners and members of the public may file injury claims against painters. For example, a paint tin falls from a ladder and hits someone below, or a client slips on a wet spill and breaks an ankle.

3. Poor workmanship claims

Property owners may file claims against painters for poor workmanship, such as inconsistent or uneven paint application, which can lead to an unsatisfactory finish and claims for rework. Moreover, incorrect colour matching or application can result in a mismatch with the desired colour scheme. Inadequate surface preparation, such as failing to remove old paint or fill cracks, can lead to premature peeling or blistering of the new paint. For instance, a painter uses the wrong primer on a client's antique door, causing the finish to peel and discolour.

Painters may also face claims for failing to meet deadlines or specific client requests. This can include delays in completing the painting project and can cause inconvenience and financial losses for property owners. Failure to follow specific client instructions or specifications can also lead to dissatisfaction and claims for breach of contract.

Want to talk through insurance for your painting business? Contact Tradies365.

How painters can lower the risk

Most of these claims start with something small on the job. A few habits help:

• Protect the room: Lay drop sheets and mask floors, furniture and fittings before you start.
• Check the wind: Check the wind before you spray outside, and cover nearby cars, windows and plants.
• Secure your gear at height: Secure ladders, and use tool lanyards and toe boards on scaffold so nothing falls on people below.
• Clean up as you go: Clean up spills straight away, and keep paint tins closed and out of walkways.

How tradie insurance can help painters

Public liability insurance

Public liability insurance can cover legal costs and compensation if your work injures someone or damages their property, depending on the policy and up to its limit. Head contractors and clients often ask for it. See painters insurance.

Worksite accidents are not uncommon in the painting industry. Whether it's a client's property damaged by accidental paint spills or a neighbour's window getting oversprayed, public liability insurance can protect painters from the personal financial burden of lawsuits.

Painters often use company vehicles to transport materials and tools between job sites. Damage caused by these vehicles on the road, such as a van hitting a parked car, is usually a question for your commercial vehicle insurance rather than public liability. Check how your policies fit together.

Professional indemnity insurance

Professional indemnity insurance can cover legal costs in the event of claims that your professional advice or specification was negligent, for example if a client relies on your advice about a coating system and it causes them a financial loss. Complaints about the finish itself are different. If a painter uses the wrong colour or applies the paint unevenly, the client may ask for rework or compensation, but many policies do not cover the cost of redoing your own work, so ask your broker how a policy treats workmanship claims.

Read about common scaffolding accidents and how to prevent them.

Other relevant insurance for painters

Tools and equipment insurance

Paint jobs rely heavily on specialised tools and equipment. If these are lost, stolen, or damaged, tools and equipment insurance can cover the cost of repair or replacement, up to the limits in the policy.

Personal accident and illness insurance

Personal accident and illness cover can pay a weekly benefit if an injury or illness stops you working. How much, and for how long, depends on the policy.

Commercial vehicle insurance

Painters often rely on vehicles for transporting materials and tools between job sites. Commercial vehicle insurance can cover repair costs and legal liabilities arising from accidents involving company vehicles, depending on the policy.

What a policy covers depends on its wording, limits, excesses and exclusions, and the insurer decides whether a claim is paid, so read the PDS (product disclosure statement) or policy wording before you decide.

What sets the price

The insurer looks at your work, turnover, limit, workers and claims history; see painters insurance or get a quote.

Talk to Tradies365 about cover for your painting business. Our brokers ask about the work you do and get you quotes for the cover you ask for.

Contact Tradies365 to talk it through, or get a quote.