Public liability insurance for milling

[Mike Dempsey]

I have the opportunity to plank up some trees in a local park and have been asked to get public liability insurance for this. All the trees are windblown and on the deck. I have my basic saw certs and have 15 years experience of milling with the Alaskan Mill. Has anyone else gone down the route of getting PLI and which company did you use.

I am asking here because I thought more people would see the thread instead of putting it in the insurance sub forum.

 

Mike

[Woodworks]

Not for milling but got third party cover for firewood processing from Arborisk. Nice to deal with but no idea what would happen if there was a claim.

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

I can't help but think it's an overkill by some desk monkey that has a tick-list to follow rather than a brain.

 

OK, so what are the realistic risks and what needs to be considered?

 

(1) you will have to / want to drive onto the milling site = low speed >5mph for example, lights, hazard lights, beacons on.

 

(2) control of access to work site / effective cordon = cones, barrier tape, warning signs, keep a good all round look out.

 

(3) noise levels = set cordon at sufficient distance

 

(4) fuel spillage = auto fill cans, spill kit

 

Unless I'm missing something, I can't see anything that realistically needs to be insured against?

 

Maybe I'm missing something really obvious and I'm a danger to society?

[justin131]

if your using an alaskan don't you just need to be insured to use a chainsaw?

[Woodworks]

Should add the my insurance with Arborisk was for chainsaw use with the processing added on for no extra cost.

[Mike Dempsey]

As this work is on council property the manager is covering his back. The area does get coned off, I use hazard lights and drive at 5mph. I dont even drive on their lovely grass and stick to the roads. There are a load of interfering busibodies who would phone the council and the manager has to be careful. I dont want to spoil an ongoing arrangement as there are some really good trees down with easy access, and usually I have to park away from the tree and struggle to get the boards back to the van.

I have always worked in a professional manner when milling on someone else's property as I dont want to be told not to bother coming back as we think you are a cowboy!

I know that milling is the safest way of using a chainsaw with 90 percent of the chain being buried in the log at any one time and as yet have never had a chain snap.

The simplest and cheapest of insurance should do me I hope. Only trouble is I think that a lot of insurance companies will have a minimum price of a few hundred quid and I would be covered for felling etc when I wont be doing anything like that

[Mark Bolam]

if your using an alaskan don't you just need to be insured to use a chainsaw?

 

 

You don't need to be insured to use a chainsaw.

[wisewood]

I would have thought that if you have insurance/ public liability for your work then you are covered anyway. If you're using saws as part of your business you should already have your tickets and public liability

[justin131]

You don't need to be insured to use a chainsaw.

 

oh i thought insurance companies had specific policies for tree work?

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

oh i thought insurance companies had specific policies for tree work?

 

 

You can insure almost anything....

 

http://metro.co.uk/2011/09/14/coffee-taster-gets-2million-nose-insurance-150004/

 

But that's not to say you have to!