General information only
This guide explains what published policy wordings say and what Australian law requires. It is general information, not advice, and it doesn’t consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. Policies differ, and wordings change: the PDS, policy wording and schedule for your own cover are the documents that count. The insurers quoted here are examples we could read in full; they are not necessarily on our panel.
The short version
- Public liability is the core cover for electricians: damage to clients’ property and injury to people, while you work and after.
- Queensland’s contractor licence needs $5 million public and products liability plus $50,000 consumer protection; Victoria’s registration needs $5 million public liability.
- Read four clauses closely: faulty workmanship, asbestos, professional advice and property you’re working in.
- On our panel, a domestic electrician’s public liability came back at $670 to $1,442 a year for $5 million, and $905 to $2,051 for $20 million.
What insurance do electricians commonly hold?
- Public liability, for injury to other people and damage to their property caused by your work, including after you have left: a fire from a loose connection, a ceiling damaged pulling cable, a client hurt by a live fitting. Commonly held at $10 million or $20 million, often because a builder or client asks for that.
- Tools and stock, for testers, power tools and fittings in your van and at jobs, through the portable equipment and property sections of a business insurance pack.
- Workers compensation, compulsory under state law if you employ anyone, apprentices included.
- Commercial motor, for the van or ute.
- Consumer protection insurance (Queensland), for the contractor licence. See the next section.
What insurance does an electrical licence need in Queensland and Victoria?
At least $5 million of public liability in both, and in Queensland $50,000 of consumer protection insurance as well. Two states write the insurance into the contractor licence:
| State | What the licence needs |
|---|---|
| Queenslandelectrical contractor licence | Evidence of at least $5 million of public and products liability insurance and at least $50,000 of consumer protection insurance, each under a contract approved by the regulator. |
| Victoriaregistered electrical contractor | Public liability of at least $5 million while carrying out or offering electrical contracting work. The work can’t be done unless the registration and the insurance are both current. |
The regulator or a client will usually want proof, which is a certificate of currency from the insurer. Queensland’s consumer protection insurance protects your customer, not you; some insurers include it on the liability policy, so ask whether a policy carries it and meets the regulator’s approval before relying on it for your licence.
Other states and territories set their own rules for licensing and insurance. Your regulator is the authority on what your licence needs. Plumbers have a similar rule in Victoria: see insurance for plumbers.
Which policy clauses matter most to electricians?
Faulty workmanship, asbestos, professional advice and the property you are working in. We read the public liability section of Blue Zebra’s published business pack wording (dated, in the sources below). Other insurers’ wordings have their own versions; the PDS for your policy is the one that counts.
1. Faulty workmanship: the damage, not the redo
“property damage to any part of any property that must be repaired, reconditioned or replaced by reason of incorrect work performed by you, or by reason of materials or equipment which are or are proved to be defective or inadequate in connection with such work, but this exclusion does not apply to property damage resulting from such work.”Blue Zebra Business Insurance PDS (BZBPK_PDS_260701), Business Liability exclusion 8
In practice: if a connection you made overheats and starts a fire, the policy is written to respond to the burnt kitchen, but not to the cost of redoing your connection. That last part is yours.
2. Asbestos: older homes and meter boards
“personal injury arising directly or indirectly out of, or in any way connected with the inhalation of, ingestion of or fears of the consequences of exposure to asbestos in whatever form or quantity;”Blue Zebra Business Insurance PDS (BZBPK_PDS_260701), Business Liability exclusion 3(a)
Electricians drill, cut and pull cable through the walls, ceilings and meter boards of older homes, where asbestos is common. This wording excludes injury connected with asbestos entirely, and the rest of the same exclusion removes lost value or use of property and the cost of cleaning it up too. Identifying asbestos before you cut, and following your state’s rules for working near it, is what this exclusion leaves to you.
3. Professional advice: when you are paid to design
“the provision of or failure to provide professional advice or service provided by an insured entity or any error or omission connected therewith except for as provided by Extension of Cover 6. ‘Professional liability’.”Blue Zebra Business Insurance PDS (BZBPK_PDS_260701), Business Liability exclusion 14
Extension of Cover 6 gives it back for injury or damage from advice given not for a fee, among other things. So advice you throw in while doing the job sits with your public liability, but a design you are paid for (a solar system, a commercial switchboard layout) is professional work, which is where professional indemnity comes in.
4. The property you are working in
“premises (and their contents) where the premises are temporarily occupied by an insured entity to carry out work;”Blue Zebra Business Insurance PDS (BZBPK_PDS_260701), Business Liability Extension of Cover 7(c)
The liability section generally excludes property in your care or control, and this extension gives back the client’s home or site (and what’s in it) while you are there to do the work. It is a good clause to find in any wording you compare, because the client’s property is the property an electrician is most likely to damage.
How much does electrician insurance cost?
$670 to $1,442 a year for $5 million of public liability, for the electrician we priced. Real prices our insurers returned in November 2026 for one domestic electrician in NSW turning over $300,000, for public liability on its own. We priced the same answers three times, changing only the limit; five insurers priced all three.
| Public liability limit | A year |
|---|---|
| $5 million | $670 to $1,4425 insurers |
| $10 million | $788 to $1,6725 insurers |
| $20 million | $905 to $2,0515 insurers |
Including GST, stamp duty and the insurer’s fee, before our broker fee. Tools, stock and other sections add to it. Your work, turnover, wages, limit, claims and location will change them.
With the same insurer, $20 million cost far less than four times $5 million, and the gap between the lowest and highest price for the same electrician was more than double at every limit. More on what drives a price in how much is public liability insurance.
Price your electrical business
One online form, more than one insurer pricing it, the PDS beside every price, and the insurer’s certificate of currency once it’s placed.
Questions electricians ask about insurance
What insurance do electricians need in Australia?
Public liability is the cover electricians are most often asked for, and in Queensland and Victoria it is a condition of the contractor licence or registration at $5 million or more. Many electricians also insure their tools and van stock, and workers compensation is compulsory if you employ anyone, apprentices included. What a particular business needs depends on its work, contracts and state.
Do electricians need public liability insurance?
In Queensland, an electrical contractor licence needs evidence of at least $5 million of public and products liability and $50,000 of consumer protection insurance. In Victoria, a registered electrical contractor needs at least $5 million of public liability. Other states set their own rules, and builders, head contractors and commercial clients commonly ask for $10 million or $20 million before work starts.
How much is public liability insurance for electricians?
A NSW domestic electrician turning over $300,000 was priced by five insurers at $670 to $1,442 a year for $5 million of public liability, $788 to $1,672 for $10 million and $905 to $2,051 for $20 million. Your work (domestic, commercial, solar, data), turnover, wages and claims history change the price.
What is Queensland electrical consumer protection insurance?
It is the second insurance a Queensland electrical contractor licence needs, at least $50,000, and it protects the customer rather than you. It is a separate requirement from public liability, though some insurers include it on the liability policy. Either way the regulator must approve the contract, so check a policy meets that before relying on it for your licence.
Does public liability cover a fire caused by my wiring?
Public liability is written to respond to damage your work causes to other people’s property, such as a fire from a faulty connection. It generally doesn’t pay to redo the faulty work itself: Blue Zebra’s faulty workmanship exclusion removes the cost of repairing the part you worked on, but not the damage that results from it.
Do electricians need professional indemnity?
Electricians doing hands-on installation and repair usually don’t, because their risk is injury and property damage. Electricians who are paid to design systems (solar, switchboards, commercial installations) or to advise or certify sometimes hold professional indemnity too, because a business pack generally excludes paid professional advice. Our guide to public liability vs professional indemnity sets out the line.
Is this advice for me?
No. This guide is general information about what electricians commonly hold and what one published wording says. It doesn’t consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. Read the PDS for any cover you are considering, and check your own state’s licensing requirements with your regulator.
Sources
- Blue Zebra Insurance, Business Insurance PDS (BZBPK_PDS_260701, effective 1 July 2026), from bzi.com.au.
- Electrical Safety Regulation 2013 (Qld), section 51, from legislation.qld.gov.au.
- Energy Safe Victoria, registered electrical contractors.
More plain-English reading in Gary’s guides.
Important
This guide is general information only and is not personal advice. It doesn’t take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It summarises published documents as they stood when we read them; insurers change their wordings, and a policy’s schedule and endorsements can change how its wording applies. Quotations are reproduced for commentary and are accurate to the versions listed. Before deciding on any cover, read the PDS, policy wording and Target Market Determination for that product. Gary is not suggesting any of the insurers named is, or isn’t, right for your business.
Want to see what public liability cover costs you?
One form, the PDS beside every price, and a broker to ask when a condition doesn’t make sense.