Tradies Package Insurance

About This Policy

This policy insures a trade business: a sole trader or a small trade contractor working on other people's homes, buildings, sites and gardens. It covers the business's liability to others, its tools, its mobile plant, the works it carries out under small contracts, a tax audit, payment fraud and the time a work vehicle is off the road.

It has seven sections. Public and Products Liability always applies. The other sections apply only if the schedule shows them.

Motor insurance for your vehicles, and personal accident and illness insurance for you, are not part of this policy. They may be arranged as separate policies, which the schedule may show as linked to this policy. This policy does not provide workers compensation insurance or statutory home warranty insurance.

This policy, together with your schedule, your proposal and any endorsements shown in the schedule, forms your contract of insurance with us. Please read them together and tell us if anything is incorrect. Where the schedule and this wording differ, the schedule applies. Words with special meanings are listed in the Definitions section.

Version of This Wording

This document is version-controlled. The version and date shown on the cover page and in the footer of each page govern this text. The version stated in your schedule as current at the start of the policy period applies for the whole policy period, unless your schedule or an endorsement states otherwise.

Important Information

Who issues this policy. The insurer, its Australian Financial Services Licence and its contact details are shown in the schedule. Where the insurer subscribes to the General Insurance Code of Practice, the schedule says so.

Who this policy is for. This wording is written for trade businesses that buy it for the business. Its sections are liability, business property, contract works, tax audit, payment fraud and business interruption covers, which are not among the kinds of insurance the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and its regulations treat as retail when bought for a small business. Most buyers will therefore be wholesale clients, and this wording is not a Product Disclosure Statement. A linked motor policy or a personal accident and illness policy may be a retail product, and has its own Product Disclosure Statement and Target Market Determination.

[WP REVIEW: confirm that Tools and Portable Equipment cover bought by a sole trader for tools used in the trade is not personal and domestic property insurance under reg 7.1.12 of the Corporations Regulations 2001 (Cth), so that the package stays a wholesale product.]

Who is insured. You are the person, partnership, company or trust named in the schedule. Each section says who else it insures.

Your duty when you apply. Before the policy is entered into, renewed, extended, varied or reinstated, you have the duty of disclosure in s.21 of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth). You must tell us every matter you know, or that a reasonable person in your circumstances could be expected to know, that is relevant to our decision whether to insure you and on what terms. You do not need to tell us anything that reduces the risk, that is common knowledge, that we know or should know as an insurer, or that we waive. If you do not comply, we may reduce or refuse a claim, or cancel the policy, as that Act allows.

If this policy is a consumer insurance contract under that Act, you instead have a duty to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation to us, and the Act sets out what we may do if you do not.

Your trade matters. We set the cover and the endorsements by the trade you carry on. Tell us every trade and activity in the business, and whether you work at height, excavate, do hot work, waterproofing, roof work, gas fitting or tree work, use subcontractors, or do residential building work for which the law requires statutory insurance. Tell us during the policy period when the business changes, as the Tell Us About Changes obligation requires.

What this policy does not replace. This policy does not provide workers compensation insurance, which each state and territory requires an employer to hold through its own scheme. It is not statutory home warranty insurance (also called home building compensation, domestic building insurance or home warranty), which the law requires for residential building work above a value set by each state and territory. It does not insure advice or design you give for a fee, or your vehicles on the road.

Cooling-off period. You may cancel this policy within 21 days of the date it starts, and within 21 days of each renewal, by telling us in writing. If you have not made a claim, we will refund the full premium paid for that period, less any non-refundable government charges we cannot recover. After that, you may still cancel under the Cancellation condition.

Commission and fees. The schedule or the quote shows any commission or fee paid to your broker in connection with this policy.

Financial Claims Scheme. If the schedule shows the insurer is an APRA-authorised general insurer, you may be entitled to a payment under the Financial Claims Scheme if the insurer becomes insolvent. Information is available at www.fcs.gov.au.

Your Schedule

(Completed separately for each policy. It contains your specific details.)

The schedule shows:

• Your name and ABN, and your main state or territory of operation
• The trade and the business, and any licence number
• The policy period, with its start and end dates
• The sections that apply, with the limit or sum insured and the excess for each
• The liability limit, and the principals named under the E12 Named Principals endorsement
• The tools sum insured, the per item limit and any specified items
• The owned mobile plant and the sum insured of each item, and the hired-in plant limit
• The maximum contract value for Annual Contract Works
• The limits of Tax Audit and Payment Fraud and Cyber
• The daily benefit, the waiting period and the maximum days for Vehicle Downtime, and the linked motor policy and its work vehicles
• The limits of the extensions, where they differ from the defaults stated in them
• Any interested party, such as a financier
• The premium, including stamp duty, any emergency services levy, and GST
• Any commission or fee paid to your broker
• The insurer and its licence, and the state or territory whose law governs this policy (see the Governing Law condition)
• The endorsements that apply, by code, with their variables

Definitions

These words have the meanings below wherever they appear in this policy, with or without capital letters.

Public and Products Liability

This section always applies.

Liability for Injury and Damage

We will pay the amount you become legally liable to pay as compensation for personal injury or property damage that happens during the policy period in Australia and is caused by an occurrence in connection with the business, including by your products.

Who is insured under this section. You, each of your employees while working in the business, and each principal to the extent the Principals extension provides, are insured as if each were named in the schedule.

Limit. The most we pay for all compensation arising from one occurrence is the liability limit shown in the schedule. For personal injury and property damage caused by your products, the liability limit is also the most we pay for all occurrences in the policy period.

Defence costs. In addition to the limit, we pay the reasonable legal costs we incur or approve in defending or settling a claim covered by this section, and interest on a judgment up to the date we pay or offer to pay it.

Settlement. We may take over and conduct the defence or settlement of any claim in your name. We may at any time pay you the limit, less any amount already paid, and then we have no further obligation for that occurrence except for defence costs already incurred.

More than one insured. This section applies to each insured as if a separate policy had been issued to each, but the limit is not increased.

Principals

Where a construction contract requires you to insure a principal, the principal is insured under this section for its liability for personal injury or property damage arising from your work under that contract, to the extent the contract requires and on no wider terms than this policy provides. This extension does not insure the principal for its own negligence beyond what the contract requires you to insure, and does not increase the limit.

Where a principal is named in the schedule under the E12 Named Principals endorsement, that endorsement also applies.

Property in Your Care

The Your Own Property exclusion does not apply to property damage to property of others in your care, custody or control, including the building or room in which you are working. The most we pay under this extension for all property damage arising from one occurrence is $250,000, or the amount shown in the schedule, within the liability limit.

This extension does not pay for damage to the part of any property on which you are working that results from that work, which the Your Own Work exclusion deals with, or for damage to hired-in plant, which Mobile Plant covers if the schedule shows it.

Underground Services

This section covers property damage to underground pipes, cables, mains and other services, and the loss of use of them, caused by your work. Where the schedule shows the E04 Underground Services Conditions endorsement, the conditions in that endorsement apply.

Injury to Your Workers

We do not pay for personal injury to an employee that arises out of their employment, where you are required by law to insure that liability under a workers compensation scheme, or would be but for an exemption.

Liability Under Contracts

We do not pay for liability you have taken on under a contract or agreement, unless you would have had it without the contract or agreement, or the Principals extension covers it, or it arises under a lease of premises, an agreement with a public authority or utility for access to a site, or a hire agreement for hired-in plant.

Your Own Work

We do not pay the cost of repairing, replacing, redoing or completing your own work, or of correcting a defect in it, or the cost of withdrawing or recalling your products. This exclusion applies only to that work or product itself. It does not apply to personal injury, or to property damage to other property, that your work or your products cause.

Example: a tiler's waterproofing fails and water damages the floor and ceiling below. We pay for the damage to the floor and ceiling below. We do not pay to redo the waterproofing or the tiling.

Your Own Property

We do not pay for property damage to property you own or lease, or to property in your care, custody or control, except as the Property in Your Care extension provides.

Vehicles, Aircraft and Watercraft

We do not pay for liability arising from the ownership or use of a vehicle that is registered or required to be registered, or of an aircraft, a drone or a watercraft longer than 8 metres. This exclusion does not apply to:

• personal injury for which no compulsory third party insurance or statutory scheme responds;
• property damage caused by a vehicle, or its loading or unloading, beyond the limits of a public road, to the extent no motor vehicle insurance responds; or
• the use of a vehicle, mobile plant or a trailer as a tool of trade at a work site.

Advice and Design for a Fee

We do not pay for liability arising from advice, design, a specification or a certificate you give for a separate fee. Advice you give without a separate fee, in the course of carrying out your work, is covered.

Gradual Pollution

We do not pay for liability arising from the discharge, dispersal, release or escape of a pollutant, or the cost of removing or cleaning up a pollutant, unless the discharge, dispersal, release or escape is sudden, identifiable, unintended and unexpected, and happens at a specific time and place during the policy period.

Asbestos

We do not pay for liability arising from asbestos, or from any material containing asbestos, including its removal, disturbance, encapsulation or disposal.

Fines and Penalties

We do not pay fines, penalties, or punitive, aggravated or exemplary damages, or any amount the law does not allow to be insured.

Tools and Portable Equipment

This section applies only if the schedule shows it.

Loss of or Damage to Tools

We will pay for damage to your tools that happens during the policy period anywhere in Australia, from any cause that is not excluded, including while the tools are:

• in or on a vehicle, including in a locked toolbox or compartment fixed to it;
• at a work site, at your premises or at your home; and
• being carried, used or stored.

Limits. The most we pay for all damage from one event is the tools sum insured shown in the schedule. The most we pay for any one item that is not specified in the schedule is $5,000, or the per item limit shown in the schedule. A set of tools, such as a socket set, or a tool with its batteries and charger, is one item. Specified items are insured for the value shown for them in the schedule.

How We Settle Tools Claims

We choose whether to repair the damaged item, replace it, or pay you the cost of doing so. We may arrange the replacement through a supplier we nominate, and you may choose to be paid instead.

• Items less than three years old, measured from the date the item was first bought new. We repair the item, or replace it with a new item of the same kind and specification, or the nearest equivalent available, without any deduction for wear and tear.
• Items three years old or more. We repair the item, or pay its market value immediately before the damage, being the cost of a similar item of the same age and condition.

For a theft of items worth $5,000 or less in total, where you give us a police report number and evidence of the theft, we will tell you our decision within 2 business days of receiving them, and pay or arrange replacement within 2 business days after that. [WP REVIEW: confirm that the timed settlement promise can be given by the insurer and its claims administrator, and how a missed time is remedied.]

Tools in Vehicles

Theft of tools from a vehicle is covered at any time of day or night, including overnight, where:

• the vehicle was locked and there was forcible entry to it or to a locked toolbox or compartment fixed to it; or
• the vehicle itself was stolen; or
• the tools were secured to the vehicle by a locked cable, chain or rack and the lock or its fixing was broken.

We do not apply a separate excess for tools in a vehicle. Where the same event also damages a work vehicle, the Excess provision applies.

Hire of Replacement Tools

After damage to your tools covered by this section, we pay the reasonable cost of hiring replacement tools so that you can keep working, from the day of the damage until the tools are repaired or replaced or we pay the claim, up to $1,000 for each event, or the amount shown in the schedule. This amount is paid in addition to the tools sum insured, and no excess applies to it.

Employees' Tools

Tools owned by an employee and used in the business are covered as if they were your tools, up to $2,500 for each employee for each event, within the tools sum insured. Where the employee has other insurance for the tools, this extension pays only the amount that insurance does not pay.

Tools Exclusions

Under Tools and Portable Equipment, we do not pay for:

• wear and tear, rust, corrosion, gradual deterioration, or mechanical or electrical breakdown, unless it results from damage covered by this section;
• damage to a tool caused by using it, unless the damage results from an external accident, such as a dropped or crushed tool;
• theft from a vehicle that was unlocked and left unattended, or from an open tray or open trailer, unless the tool was secured as the Tools in Vehicles extension describes;
• items that cannot be accounted for where there is no evidence of theft or damage, or a shortage found only on a stocktake;
• tools while lent or hired to someone else, or while in the care of a repairer for repair of an existing fault;
• batteries, blades, bits and other consumables, unless damaged together with the tool they belong to; or
• mobile plant, which Mobile Plant covers if the schedule shows it.

Mobile Plant

This section applies only if the schedule shows it.

Plant You Own

We will pay for damage during the policy period to the mobile plant shown in the schedule, which you own or are buying under a finance agreement, anywhere in Australia, from any cause that is not excluded, including while it is:

• at a work site, at your premises or in storage;
• being loaded, unloaded or towed, or carried on a vehicle or trailer; and
• being operated, maintained or left unattended.

The most we pay for an item is the sum insured shown for it in the schedule, and the most we pay for all owned mobile plant for one event is the owned plant sum insured shown in the schedule.

Plant You Hire In

If hired-in plant suffers damage during the policy period while in your care, custody or control, we will pay:

• the amount you are legally liable to pay its owner for the damage, including liability you have taken on under the hire agreement;
• the hire charges you must keep paying under the hire agreement while the plant is repaired or replaced, for up to 30 days; and
• the owner's reasonable recovery, salvage and towing costs that you are liable to pay.

The most we pay for any one item of hired-in plant for one event, including the hire charges and costs, is $50,000, or the hired-in plant limit shown in the schedule.

How We Settle Plant Claims

For mobile plant you own, we choose whether to repair it or pay its market value immediately before the damage, being the cost of a similar item of the same age and condition, up to its sum insured. If the cost of repair is more than its market value, we pay the market value. Where we pay the market value or the sum insured, the damaged item becomes ours if we ask.

For hired-in plant, we pay the amount you are liable to pay under the Plant You Hire In clause, up to the hired-in plant limit.

Mobile Plant Exclusions

Under Mobile Plant, we do not pay for:

• mechanical or electrical breakdown, wear and tear, rust, corrosion or gradual deterioration, unless it results from other damage covered by this section;
• damage to tyres, tracks, buckets and other wearing parts, unless the item is damaged in the same event in other ways;
• damage while the plant is being operated by a person who does not hold a licence or competency the law requires to operate it;
• damage while the plant is underground, or in or on water, other than while being driven across a creek or ford;
• damage while the plant is used for demolition, or for work outside the business;
• damage while the plant is being driven on a public road as a vehicle, which motor insurance covers;
• plant you hire to others, with or without an operator; or
• liability under a hire agreement that makes you responsible for damage whatever its cause, to a standard beyond that of a reasonable person caring for the plant, unless you told us about the agreement before the damage.

Annual Contract Works

This section applies only if the schedule shows it.

Damage to the Works

We will pay for damage to the contract works of each construction contract that starts during the policy period, from any cause that is not excluded, while you are carrying out the works and until practical completion, or for 12 months from the start of the works if that is earlier. Cover for a construction contract continues after the policy period ends until that time.

Maximum contract value. A construction contract whose contract value is more than the maximum contract value shown in the schedule, or $250,000 if none is shown, is covered only if you tell us about it before work starts and we agree in writing.

Principals. The principal's interest in the contract works is noted on this policy for each construction contract, and we pay a claim for damage to the contract works to you and the principal as their interests appear.

Limit. The most we pay for damage to the contract works of one construction contract from one event is the contract value of that contract, up to the maximum contract value.

Removal of Debris

After damage to contract works covered by this section, we also pay the reasonable costs of removing debris from the site, demolishing and shoring the damaged contract works, and cleaning up, up to 10% of the claim for the damage, in addition to the limit.

How We Settle Contract Works Claims

We pay the reasonable cost of repairing or reinstating the damaged contract works to the condition they were in immediately before the damage, including the cost of labour and materials at the rates in the construction contract. We do not pay for improvements, or for work that would have been needed in any case to complete the construction contract.

Contract Works Exclusions

Under Annual Contract Works, we do not pay for:

• the cost of repairing, replacing or redoing any part of the contract works that is defective in design, materials or workmanship. We do pay for damage to other parts of the contract works that the defect causes;
• wear and tear, rust, corrosion, gradual deterioration, or mechanical or electrical breakdown;
• damage after practical completion, other than damage you cause while returning to fix defects;
• loss found only on a stocktake, or that cannot be explained;
• penalties, liquidated damages, delay costs or loss of profit;
• damage to existing buildings and structures, which Public and Products Liability may cover as property damage; or
• damage to contract works caused by a cessation of work for more than 30 consecutive days, unless you protect and secure the site during the cessation.

Tax Audit

This section applies only if the schedule shows it.

Tax Audit Fees

If, during the policy period, the Australian Taxation Office or a state or territory revenue office first notifies you of an audit, review or investigation of the tax affairs of the business, including income tax, GST, PAYG withholding, payroll tax or superannuation guarantee, we will pay the reasonable fees of an accountant, tax agent or lawyer you appoint, with our consent, to deal with it. We will not unreasonably withhold consent.

The most we pay for all audits first notified during the policy period is $50,000, or the tax audit limit shown in the schedule.

Tax Audit Exclusions

Under Tax Audit, we do not pay for:

• tax, interest, penalties or fines;
• fees for preparing a return, an activity statement or other work you would have needed in any case;
• an audit that results from fraud, a false statement or a deliberate failure to lodge by you or someone acting for you; or
• an audit of which you were notified before the policy period, or which you knew was likely when this policy was entered into.

Payment Fraud and Cyber

This section applies only if the schedule shows it.

Fraudulent Payment Instructions

We will pay:

• money you pay to another person because you, or someone in the business acting for you, relied in good faith on a fraudulent instruction, such as a supplier's invoice with changed bank details; and
• money your client pays to another person, instead of to you, because the client relied in good faith on a fraudulent instruction that was sent from your computer system or that used your name, for which the client is not obliged to pay you again,

where the loss is first discovered during the policy period.

Restoring Your Systems

After a cyber event that you first discover during the policy period, we will pay the reasonable costs of an IT specialist you appoint, with our consent, to regain control of your email and other accounts, remove malicious software, and restore your data and software from your most recent backup or other source. We will not unreasonably withhold consent.

Payment Fraud Limits and Discovery

Limit. The most we pay under Payment Fraud and Cyber for all losses and costs first discovered during the policy period is $25,000, or the limit shown in the schedule.

One loss. All losses that arise from the same fraudulent instruction, or from fraudulent instructions sent by the same person or group of people, are one loss, and one excess applies. One loss is discovered when the first part of it is discovered, and is covered by the policy in force at that time only.

Discovery and notice. A loss is discovered when you, a partner or a director first becomes aware of facts that would cause a reasonable person to believe that a loss covered by this section has happened. Tell us as soon as reasonably practicable, and no later than 60 days after the policy period ends.

Checking changed payment details. We ask you to confirm any new or changed bank details by telephoning the person concerned on a number you held before the instruction arrived, before you pay. This is not a condition of cover. If the loss arises from a payment you made without that check, we pay 50% of the loss, unless you show that the check would not have prevented it.

Payment Fraud and Cyber Exclusions

Under Payment Fraud and Cyber, we do not pay for:

• a loss caused by you, a partner or a director, or by anyone acting with them, acting dishonestly;
• money lost on investments, loans, cryptocurrency or other digital assets, or through a payment card used without your authority where the card issuer is responsible for it;
• goods or materials you supplied, or the value of work you did, other than money a client paid to another person as the Fraudulent Payment Instructions clause describes;
• a ransom or extortion payment;
• the cost of improving your computer system beyond its condition before the cyber event;
• a failure or interruption of electricity, telecommunications, internet or other infrastructure not under your control; or
• a loss or cyber event that you knew about before the policy period.

Vehicle Downtime

This section applies only if the schedule shows it and a linked motor policy is in force.

Daily Downtime Benefit

If a work vehicle cannot be used in the business because of damage or theft that happens during the policy period, and the insurer under the linked motor policy accepts a claim for it, we will pay the daily benefit shown in the schedule ($150 if none is shown) for each full day the work vehicle cannot be used after the waiting period shown in the schedule (48 hours if none is shown).

We pay until the first of these:

• the work vehicle is repaired and available to you;
• 14 days after the insurer under the linked motor policy offers to settle the claim as a total loss or a theft;
• 30 days of benefit for that event, or the number shown in the schedule; or
• 60 days of benefit in total in the policy period, or the number shown in the schedule.

This benefit is paid in addition to any hire vehicle or other benefit under the linked motor policy. It is paid for one work vehicle at a time for each event, unless the schedule shows otherwise.

Vehicle Downtime Exclusions

Under Vehicle Downtime, we do not pay for:

• a vehicle that is not a work vehicle when the damage or theft happens;
• mechanical or electrical breakdown, wear and tear, or servicing;
• any day of delay caused by you, such as not authorising repairs, not collecting the repaired vehicle, or not giving the motor insurer what it reasonably asks for; or
• any day after the linked motor policy ends, unless the damage or theft happened while it was in force.

How Claims Are Paid

These provisions apply to every section.

Excess

You pay the excess shown in the schedule for each claim, for the section that applies. An endorsement may set a special excess for the matter it describes; that excess replaces the section's excess for that matter.

One event, one excess. If one event gives rise to claims under more than one section of this policy, we deduct only the highest excess that applies.

Linked policies. If one event also gives rise to a claim under a linked motor policy or another policy issued by us and shown in the schedule as linked to this policy, and the excess under that policy is deducted, we do not deduct an excess under this policy for that event, unless ours is higher, in which case we deduct only the difference.

No excess applies to Vehicle Downtime; the waiting period applies instead.

One Loss, One Section

A loss is paid under one section only, even if more than one section could apply. Where it could be paid under more than one, we pay it under the section that gives you the higher amount, except that:

• tools are paid under Tools and Portable Equipment whether they are damaged at a site or in a vehicle;
• damage to contract works is paid under Annual Contract Works where the schedule shows it, and not as property damage; and
• damage to hired-in plant is paid under Mobile Plant where the schedule shows it, and not as property damage.

GST and Sums Insured

Where you are entitled to an input tax credit for the GST on the cost of a repair or replacement, we pay the claim net of that credit. Each sum insured and limit in this policy includes GST to the extent you are not entitled to an input tax credit for it.

Other Insurance

If a loss covered by this policy is also covered by another insurance policy, we will not refuse or reduce our payment because of that other insurance. We may seek contribution from the other insurer as the law allows. This does not apply where the schedule or an endorsement states that this policy is excess of a specified underlying policy, in which case this policy pays only after the limit of that specified policy is exhausted.

Where a principal's project insurance or a contract works policy arranged by a principal covers the same contract works, this policy pays only the amount that policy does not pay, including its excess where the construction contract makes you bear it.

Who We Pay

We pay you, or as you direct. Where an interested party is shown in the schedule, we pay as the schedule and the E13 Interested Party endorsement require. For contract works, we pay as the Damage to the Works clause provides.

General Exclusions

These exclusions apply to every section.

War

We do not pay for any loss, damage, liability or cost arising from war, invasion, act of foreign enemy, hostilities or warlike operations (whether war is declared or not), civil war, rebellion, revolution, insurrection, military or usurped power, or confiscation by a government or public authority.

Nuclear

We do not pay for any loss, damage, liability or cost arising from ionising radiation, contamination by radioactivity from nuclear fuel or waste, or nuclear weapons material.

Terrorism

We do not pay for any loss, damage, liability or cost arising from an act of terrorism, meaning an act, including the use of force or violence or the threat of it, by any person or group, committed for political, religious, ideological or similar purposes, including the intention to influence a government or to put the public in fear. This exclusion does not apply to the extent the Terrorism Insurance Act 2003 (Cth) requires cover to be provided.

Cyber Events

We do not pay for loss of, damage to or corruption of electronic data, or for loss arising from a cyber event, other than personal injury or physical property damage that results from it. This exclusion does not apply to Payment Fraud and Cyber.

Deliberate Acts

We do not pay for loss, damage or liability caused deliberately by you, or by someone acting with your knowledge or consent. This exclusion does not apply to an employee's act that you did not know about or consent to, other than as Payment Fraud and Cyber Exclusions provide.

Your Obligations

These obligations apply to every section. The Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) condition applies to each of them.

Tell Us About Claims

Tell us as soon as reasonably practicable after damage, an occurrence or a loss that may lead to a claim, and tell the police promptly about any theft, malicious damage or fraud.

Give us the information and documents we reasonably ask for to assess the claim, at your own cost, and allow us to inspect the damaged property before it is repaired, unless repairs are needed urgently to prevent further damage.

Prevent Further Loss

Take reasonable steps to prevent further damage or loss, and keep damaged property and evidence until we have had a reasonable opportunity to inspect it. We pay the reasonable cost of doing so as part of the claim.

Admissions and Settlements

Do not admit liability for, or agree to settle, a claim under Public and Products Liability without our written agreement, which we will not unreasonably withhold. Co-operate with us in the defence of the claim.

Tell Us About Changes

Tell us during the policy period, as soon as reasonably practicable, if:

• the business takes on a new trade or activity, or starts work at greater heights or depths, or hot work, waterproofing, roof work, gas fitting or tree work it did not do before;
• the annual turnover is expected to be more than 25% above the figure in the schedule, or the number of people working in the business reaches 20;
• you start residential building work for which the law requires statutory insurance; or
• your licence to carry on the trade is suspended, cancelled or made subject to conditions.

We will tell you whether the change affects your cover or premium.

Recovery from Others

After we pay a claim, we may take over your rights to recover the amount from anyone else, and act in your name. Help us do so, at our cost.

Where a construction contract or hire agreement you made before the loss releases a principal or a plant owner from liability, or requires us to waive our rights against them, that does not affect your cover, and we will not exercise any right of recovery the contract or agreement has released or waived.

General Conditions

These conditions apply to every section.

Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth)

Nothing in this policy excludes, restricts or modifies the operation of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth). Where this policy is inconsistent with the Act, the Act prevails.

If this policy would otherwise let us refuse to pay a claim, in whole or in part, because of something you did or did not do after this policy was entered into, section 54 of the Act applies. We may not refuse to pay the claim only because of that act or omission. Our liability is reduced by the amount that fairly represents the extent to which our interests were prejudiced. Where the act or omission could reasonably be regarded as capable of causing or contributing to the loss, we may refuse to pay only the part of the claim that the act or omission caused or contributed to. We may not refuse any part that you prove the act or omission did not cause. This applies to every condition, exclusion, limit and obligation in this policy, and to every condition in an endorsement, not only to the claims conditions.

Cancellation

You may cancel this policy at any time by telling us. We refund the premium for the unexpired policy period on a pro-rata basis, less any non-refundable government charges. If you cancel within the cooling-off period, the Important Information section says what we refund. A principal or a financier may require you to keep this insurance, so arrange replacement cover before you cancel.

We may cancel this policy only as the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) allows, by giving you written notice as that Act requires. We refund the premium for the unexpired period on a pro-rata basis.

Cancellation does not affect a claim for damage, an occurrence or a loss that happened before cancellation, or a contract works claim for a construction contract that started before cancellation.

Renewal

Each renewal is a new contract. Before this policy ends, we will tell you whether we offer to renew it and on what terms, as s.58 of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) requires. We are not obliged to offer renewal. At each renewal, give us the business's current trade, turnover, number of workers and the tools, plant and vehicles to be insured.

Fraudulent Claims

If a claim is made fraudulently, we may refuse to pay it, as s.56 of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) allows.

Sanctions

We do not provide cover, pay any claim or provide any benefit under this policy to the extent that doing so would expose us to any sanction, prohibition or restriction under:

• the Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011 (Cth), the Charter of the United Nations Act 1945 (Cth), or regulations made under either Act; or
• the trade or economic sanctions laws of the United Kingdom, the United States of America or the European Union, to the extent they apply to us.

[WP REVIEW: confirm that naming the UK, US and EU regimes is appropriate for Australian capacity; this is a deliberate library-wide scope choice.]

GST

The premium includes GST where it applies, under A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (Cth). Claims are paid as the GST and Sums Insured provision sets out. Tell us your entitlement to input tax credits when you make a claim.

Privacy

We collect, use and disclose personal information about you, your employees, your principals and the people named in a claim to assess the proposal, administer this policy and manage claims, in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and our privacy policy. Our privacy policy explains how a person can access and correct their information and how to complain about a privacy matter.

Disputes and Complaints

If you are unhappy with our service or a decision, contact us at the details in the schedule. We will acknowledge the complaint within one business day and give our decision within 30 calendar days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, or we have not responded within 30 calendar days, the complaint may be taken to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), a free and independent dispute resolution service, where AFCA's rules allow: www.afca.org.au, 1800 931 678, info@afca.org.au. AFCA's rules do not allow it to consider some disputes about liability and contract works cover for a small business; for those, the courts remain available.

Governing Law

This policy is governed by the law of the Australian state or territory shown in the schedule as your main state or territory of operation at the start of the policy period.

Jurisdiction

You and we submit to the jurisdiction of the courts of the state or territory whose law governs this policy, and of any court that may hear appeals from them.

Headings and References

Headings are for convenience only. A reference to legislation includes any legislation that amends or replaces it. A reference to a clause by its heading is a reference to that clause as it appears in this wording.

How to Make a Claim

1. Make the site and the property safe, and prevent further damage.
2. Contact your broker, or contact us directly at the details shown in the schedule.
3. Tell the police about any theft, malicious damage or fraud, and get a report number. For payment fraud, also tell your bank and the bank that received the money straight away.
4. Tell us what happened and when, and give us photographs, receipts, quotes and invoices.
5. For a claim against you, send us the demand or court documents as soon as you receive them, and do not admit liability.
6. For vehicle downtime, give us the claim number under the linked motor policy and the repairer's dates.
7. We will acknowledge your claim, keep you informed, and tell you our decision as the General Insurance Code of Practice requires where the insurer subscribes to it.

Endorsement Library

An endorsement applies only if its code is shown in the schedule. Each endorsement changes this policy only as it states, and is read together with the variables shown for it in the schedule. Where an endorsement and the rest of this policy conflict, the endorsement applies to the extent of the conflict. If a variable an endorsement needs is not shown in the schedule, the default stated in the endorsement applies; if it has no default, the endorsement does not apply until we show the variable in the schedule.

We attach the endorsements that apply to the trade and the work you tell us about. Each endorsement says what it changes. An endorsement that sets a condition does not let us refuse a claim because the condition was not met, except as the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) condition allows.

E01 Hot Work Conditions

This endorsement applies to welding, cutting, grinding, brazing, soldering, the use of an open flame or a heat gun, and any other process producing sparks or heat (hot work) that you carry out away from your own premises.

When you carry out hot work, you must:

• follow a hot work permit system, or the principal's own permit system where the site has one, that identifies and removes or protects combustible materials within 11 metres of the work;
• keep a suitable fire extinguisher at the place of the work; and
• keep a person on fire watch during the work and for at least 30 minutes after it ends.

If you do not, and the failure caused or contributed to the occurrence, the special excess shown for this endorsement applies to that occurrence, in addition to the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) condition. We do not refuse a claim only because the conditions were not met.

Schedule variables: special excess (default: $5,000).

E02 Work at Height

Public and Products Liability does not cover liability arising from work you carry out at a height above the height limit shown for this endorsement, measured from the ground or floor below to the place where the work is done.

This endorsement does not apply to personal injury or property damage caused by a tool or material that falls from a height at or below the height limit.

Schedule variables: height limit (default: 15 metres).

E03 Excavation Depth

Public and Products Liability does not cover liability arising from excavation, trenching, boring, piling or tunnelling deeper than the depth limit shown for this endorsement below the natural ground level.

Schedule variables: depth limit (default: 3 metres).

E04 Underground Services Conditions

Before you excavate, trench, bore, drive pegs or stakes, or use powered equipment to break ground, you must:

• obtain the location of underground services from Before You Dig Australia, and from the owner or occupier of the site;
• where that information shows a service within 1 metre of the work, find its exact position by hand digging, vacuum excavation or a qualified service locator before using machinery there; and
• keep a record of the information you obtained, for each site.

If you do not, the special excess shown for this endorsement applies to property damage to underground services, and to the loss of use of them, arising from that work. We do not refuse the claim only because the steps were not taken.

Schedule variables: special excess (default: $5,000).

E05 Waterproofing

This endorsement applies to waterproofing membranes you install, apply or repair, in wet areas, on balconies, on roofs or below ground.

Public and Products Liability covers property damage caused by water escaping through such a membrane only where:

• the membrane was installed to the Australian Standard that applies to it, such as AS 3740 for wet areas inside residential buildings or AS 4654 for external membranes above ground; and
• the work was done by a person who holds any licence or registration for waterproofing that the law of the state or territory requires.

The special excess shown for this endorsement applies to each occurrence of property damage caused by water escaping through a membrane you installed, applied or repaired. The cost of redoing the membrane is not covered, as the Your Own Work exclusion states.

Schedule variables: special excess (default: $2,500).

E06 Roof Work Conditions

When you open a roof, or remove or replace roof sheeting, tiles or flashing, you must cover the opening with a secured weatherproof temporary covering:

• at the end of each working day; and
• before you leave the site at any time when rain or strong wind is forecast for the area by the Bureau of Meteorology.

The special excess shown for this endorsement applies to each occurrence of property damage caused by water or wind entering through a roof opening you made or left. If you did not cover the opening as this endorsement requires, the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) condition applies.

Schedule variables: special excess (default: $2,500).

E07 Plumbing and Gas Work Conditions

When you carry out plumbing, drainage or gas fitting work:

• gas fitting must be done by a person licensed for it in the state or territory, and the compliance certificate the law requires must be issued for it;
• new or altered water and gas pipework must be pressure tested before it is concealed in a wall, floor or ceiling; and
• you must turn off and make safe the supply before you leave a site where work on it is not finished.

The special excess shown for this endorsement applies to each occurrence of property damage caused by water escaping from pipework or fittings you installed, altered or repaired. If you did not meet a condition in this endorsement, the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) condition applies.

Schedule variables: special excess (default: $2,500).

E08 Tree Work Limit

Public and Products Liability does not cover liability arising from felling, lopping or removing a tree taller than the height limit shown for this endorsement, or from tree work within 3 metres of an overhead power line, unless the work is done by a person who holds a Certificate III in Arboriculture or a higher qualification.

Schedule variables: tree height limit (default: 6 metres).

E09 Alarm and Monitoring Systems

Public and Products Liability does not cover liability arising from a security, fire, gas or other alarm or detection system that you installed, serviced or monitored failing to operate, or failing to operate as intended, or from a monitoring or response service.

This endorsement does not apply to personal injury, or to property damage, caused directly by your installation or servicing work, such as drilling into a pipe or cable.

E10 Pest and Weed Control

Public and Products Liability does not cover the failure of a pest, termite or weed treatment to prevent or remove pests, termites or weeds, or the cost of treating them again.

You must apply chemicals as their label and the law of the state or territory require, through a person who holds the licence the law requires. Property damage caused by chemical spray drifting beyond the area being treated is covered only where the Gradual Pollution exclusion does not apply to it.

E11 Subcontractors

Before a subcontractor starts work for you, you must obtain a certificate of currency showing that the subcontractor holds public liability insurance with a limit of at least the amount shown for this endorsement, and keep it for 7 years.

Public and Products Liability covers your liability arising from work your subcontractors do. It does not insure a subcontractor for its own liability.

If an occurrence arises from a subcontractor's work and you did not obtain the certificate, the special excess shown for this endorsement applies to that occurrence. We do not refuse the claim only because you did not obtain the certificate.

Schedule variables: minimum subcontractor limit (default: $5,000,000); special excess (default: $10,000).

E12 Named Principals

Each principal named for this endorsement is insured under Public and Products Liability, for the construction contract shown with its name, as the Principals extension provides. In addition, where that construction contract requires it:

• the liability limit applies to each insured separately for claims made by one insured against another, but is not increased;
• we waive our rights of recovery against the principal for a loss covered by this policy; and
• the principal is named on the certificate of currency we issue.

Where the principal's contact details are shown for this endorsement, we will tell the principal if this policy is cancelled before the end of the policy period.

Schedule variables: each principal and its construction contract; the principal's contact details.

E13 Interested Party

The interested party shown for this endorsement, such as a financier of mobile plant, has an interest in the property shown with its name. We pay a claim for that property to you and the interested party as their interests appear, or as you and they direct in writing. An act or omission of yours does not reduce what we pay the interested party for its interest, unless the interested party knew of it and did not tell us.

Schedule variables: interested party; the property in which it has an interest.

E14 Lloyd's Underwriters

Where the insurer is one or more syndicates at Lloyd's, each syndicate is liable only for its own proportion of any claim, and not for another syndicate's proportion. You may serve proceedings on the Lloyd's General Representative in Australia shown in the schedule, who will accept service for the syndicates. Complaints may also be referred to Lloyd's Australia, and then to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority where its rules allow.

Schedule variables: the syndicates and their proportions; the Lloyd's General Representative in Australia.

E15 Residential Building Work

You carry out residential building work for which the law of a state or territory requires statutory insurance, such as home warranty insurance, home building compensation, domestic building insurance or cover under a statutory scheme.

This policy is not that statutory insurance, and nothing we issue is a certificate of it. This policy does not pay amounts that statutory insurance pays, such as the cost of completing or rectifying work for a homeowner after you die, disappear or become insolvent. You must hold the statutory insurance the law requires for each contract.

This endorsement does not change the cover in Public and Products Liability for your liability for personal injury or property damage arising from that work.

Licence and Trademark Notice

This wording's text is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). The licence applies to the wording text only. It does not extend to, and no licence is granted in, the "Meridian" name, the Cuttleflow Systems name, logo, bearing mark, or any other trademark, trade dress, or brand asset, all of which remain the property of their respective owners and may not be used without separate permission.

An adopting insurer's own schedule, proposal, endorsements and other materials prepared for use with this wording are not required to be released under CC BY 4.0 merely because they are used together with this wording; CC BY 4.0 requires only that you attribute the wording text you use.

This wording is provided for general use and adaptation. Adopting insurers and their advisers are responsible for obtaining their own legal, regulatory, and reinsurance advice before use, including on whether a Product Disclosure Statement and Target Market Determination are required. Use of this wording requires the approval of the relevant capacity provider. Any Wording Partner review and sign-off letter issued in respect of this wording runs to Cuttleflow Pty Ltd t/a Cuttleflow Systems only and does not constitute legal advice to any adopting insurer or insured.

Designed for the Australian market. Assumes application of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth). Users are responsible for their own legal review, regulatory compliance, and reinsurance alignment.