CASE STUDY - SAFETY INSTALLATION PUBLIC LIABILITY
Limited Market. Right Placement. Renewed.
A sole trader installing edge protection and perimeter rail on residential builds needed $20M Public Liability. The business name read like a consulting firm. The actual work was physical, at height, on residential sites. Mainstream appetite for this occupation is limited, and every insurer draws its lines slightly differently - the placement came from knowing which specialist market fitted.
THE SITUATION
A sole trader based in Sydney came to us needing Public Liability insurance for their edge protection and perimeter rail installation business. The work was physical: installing perimeter rail and edge protection systems on residential homes during construction.
The business was early stage, with one staff member and a modest forecast turnover. The requested limit was $20M Public Liability, a level head contractors on residential builds often require.
What complicated the picture was the business name. On paper, it read like a WHS consulting or safety advisory firm. In reality, the work was hands-on trade work at height on residential sites - a materially different risk class from professional advice, and one that sits in a specific part of the insurer market.
OUR APPROACH
We took the risk to the Public Liability markets with genuine appetite for trades at height, providing full details of the operation: physical installation only, residential buildings, edge protection and perimeter rail systems, a small early-stage operation based in Sydney.
The occupation description was a key part of our submission. A business name with "safety" in it will cause many underwriters to categorise the risk as professional advice rather than physical trades work. We made sure each submission led clearly with the actual activity and the relevant work at height exposure.
Appetite for early-stage height-work businesses is limited, and each market draws its lines differently. High Street Underwriting was the market that fitted - they reviewed the submission and provided terms.
THE CHALLENGE
Two challenges defined this placement.
Occupation description vs actual activity. A business name with "safety" in it reads as consulting or advisory work to an underwriter scanning a submission. Physical edge protection installation is a trades risk - working at height, managing perimeter systems on residential sites under construction, with the exposures typical of the building trades. Getting that distinction clear in the submission was essential. Even so, appetite for the occupation remained limited.
Minimum turnover thresholds. Some insurers operate minimum viable turnover requirements. An early-stage sole trader with a modest turnover can sit below those floors regardless of how clean and legitimate the operation is. The decline isn't about risk quality - it's about where the business sits against the insurer's book criteria. The broker market exists in part to identify insurers whose appetite doesn't exclude operators at this stage of their business.
THE OUTCOME
High Street Underwriting provided terms after most other markets declined or were unable to quote. The policy was placed at a premium of around $3,700 per year, and renewed into a second year with the same insurer.
- Limit: $20M Public Liability
- Premium: around $3,700 per year
- Renewed: continued into a second year with the placing insurer
We placed Public Liability cover for a sole trader edge protection installer in a limited market. The placement demonstrates why insurer-panel access matters for physical safety installation work - particularly for early-stage businesses where turnover and occupation categorisation combine to narrow the available market significantly.
For safety installation businesses - edge protection, perimeter rail, scaffolding, and related trades - the path to cover is narrower than the occupation might suggest. In our experience, placements for this work run through specialist underwriters with appetite for construction trades at height.
This is a Public Liability placement, not PI. If your safety work is advisory - risk assessments, WHS consulting, HAZOP studies - Professional Indemnity insurance is the relevant cover, and the market dynamics are different again.
This case records one historical outcome; current insurer appetite, premium, timing and terms depend on the complete risk at the time of application. This page is general information only and does not take account of your objectives, financial situation or needs.
For edge-protection and scaffolding businesses, our scaffolding insurance hub covers the full buying picture, including what real placements have cost and the scaffolding case-studies library this placement appears in.
Put this placement in context
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