What Insurance Does a Brisbane Painter Need?
- Tim Jones
- May 21
- 7 min read
Updated: May 25
If you're a painter working in Brisbane, whether you're a doing residential repaint work, running a crew on new builds, or specialising in commercial projects across Southeast Queensland. Having the right insurance in place is one of the most important things you can do for your business.
Painting looks straightforward from the outside. But the reality is that painters work at heights, use chemicals and solvents, operate in occupied homes and businesses, and are responsible for the appearance and quality of some of their clients' most valuable assets. When something goes wrong (and in this industry, it does) the right insurance is what keeps your business standing.
Here's exactly what insurance a Brisbane painter needs, in plain language.
1. Public Liability Insurance
Public liability is the foundation of any painting business. If your work causes injury to a third party or damage to someone else's property, public liability insurance is what responds.
For a painter, the real-world scenarios are more common than most people think:
A client or their family member trips over your drop sheets, ladders, or equipment on site
Paint overspray damages a neighbour's vehicle, garden, or property
A ladder falls and damages a fence, window, or structure
Paint fumes cause a health reaction in an occupant who wasn't aware you were using solvent-based products
A drop cloth slips and paint spills onto a client's flooring, furniture, or belongings
Your scaffolding or elevated work platform causes damage to the building structure
Any one of these scenarios can generate a claim that far exceeds the cost of a year's insurance premium.
How much do you need? For residential painting work, $5 million is the minimum starting point. However, most commercial projects, strata buildings, and head contractor arrangements in Brisbane will require $10 million or $20 million as a contractual condition. If you want to be able to say yes to any job that comes your way, $20 million is the right number and the premium difference from $10 million is often only a few hundred dollars per year.
2. Tools and Equipment Insurance
A professional painter's kit adds up quickly. Spray guns, airless sprayers, compressors, elevated work platforms, scaffolding, ladders, pressure washers, sanders, and a van full of brushes, rollers, and equipment can easily represent $15,000 to $30,000 worth of gear.
Tools insurance covers your equipment against theft, loss, and accidental damage, whether it's on site, in your van, or stored at your workshop.
The most important things to check:
Overnight vehicle theft — break-ins to sign-written tradie vans are extremely common in Brisbane. Many budget policies exclude tools stolen from an unattended vehicle after hours. This is one of the most important exclusions to check before you buy.
Spray equipment and airless sprayers — these are high-value items. Make sure there's no per-item limit that leaves you underinsured on your most expensive gear.
Hired equipment — if you hire scaffolding, elevated work platforms, or other equipment, check whether your policy covers hired-in gear or whether you need a separate extension.
New for old replacement — always preferable to depreciated value. If your two-year-old airless sprayer is stolen, you want a new one — not a settlement based on its depreciated worth.
3. Personal Accident and Illness Insurance
Painting is more physically demanding than people outside the trade realise. Working at heights, on scaffolding and ladders, in awkward positions, and with repetitive overhead movements puts real strain on the body. Falls from height, back injuries, shoulder injuries, and knee problems are among the most common claims for painters in Queensland.
If you're a sole trader and you can't work due to injury or illness, there is no sick pay, no workers compensation covering you personally, and no one else to keep the income coming in.
Personal accident insurance pays a weekly benefit to replace lost income while you recover from an injury. For a sole trader painter with ongoing business costs, vehicle repayments, and a mortgage or rent to cover. This is the policy that keeps everything else afloat when you physically can't work. It's consistently the most underinsured area we see for tradies across Brisbane.
4. Workers Compensation
If you have employees whether that be apprentices, labourers, or other painters on your payroll then workers compensation is compulsory in Queensland, full stop.
Workers compensation covers your employees if they're injured at work, paying for medical expenses, rehabilitation, and lost wages. In Queensland you must hold a WorkCover Queensland policy before your first employee starts work.
Key points for painters specifically:
Apprentices are employees from day one — they must be covered under your WorkCover policy before setting foot on a job site, even if their formal paperwork is still being processed
Labour hire workers — if you bring in additional painters through a labour hire arrangement, clarify in writing who is responsible for their workers compensation cover before they start
Subcontractors — if you engage other painters or labourers as subcontractors rather than employees, they fall outside your workers compensation policy. Always request a current certificate of currency for their own personal accident or workers compensation cover before they start work for you
5. Contract Works Insurance
If you're engaged on new construction projects, significant renovation jobs, or any painting work as part of a broader building contract, contract works insurance is worth discussing with your broker.
Contract works insurance protects the physical works being carried out against loss or damage before the job is complete. If a storm, fire, or other event damages paintwork already completed on a project, contract works insurance covers the cost of reinstating that work.
For a painting subcontractor, whether you need your own contract works policy depends on how you're engaged. If you're working under a head contractor or builder, their principal policy may cover the works but you should always confirm this in writing before assuming you're covered. Don't rely on a verbal assurance at claim time.
6. Commercial Motor Vehicle Insurance
Your ute or van isn't just transport, it's your mobile workshop. It carries your tools, your materials, and your brand. If it's off the road, your business is off the road.
Make sure your work vehicle is insured with a commercial motor vehicle policy that accurately reflects how it's actually used, whether that be carrying equipment and materials, travelling between job sites, and operating as a business vehicle every day of the working week.
A standard personal motor vehicle policy often excludes or limits cover for commercial use. This is a gap that catches tradies out at claim time more often than it should.
Sign-written vehicles: If your van carries your business name and branding, discuss agreed value cover with your broker. The cost of replacing a fully sign-written work van including the wrap or signage is higher than the vehicle's standard book value, and locking that figure in upfront avoids a dispute if you need to make a claim.
7. Public Liability for Hired Elevated Work Platforms and Scaffolding
This one is specific to painters and often overlooked.
If you hire an elevated work platform (EWP), boom lift, or scaffolding and something goes wrong while it's in your possession, whether the machine damages a structure, injures someone, or causes third-party property damage then your standard public liability policy needs to cover that exposure.
Some policies have specific exclusions or sublimits for incidents involving hired plant and equipment. Before you hire in any EWP or scaffolding, confirm with your broker that your public liability cover responds to incidents involving that equipment while it's on hire to you.
What Does Painter Insurance Cost in Brisbane?
Costs vary depending on your turnover, number of employees, type of work, and claims history. As a rough guide for a Brisbane sole trader painter:
Public Liability ($10M): $900 – $1,800 per year
Tools Insurance: $400 – $1,000 per year depending on the value of your gear
Personal Accident: $1,000 – $2,500 per year depending on your income level
Commercial Motor Vehicle: $1,500 – $3,000 per year
A painting business with two or three employees will pay more across each category, but packaging these covers together through a broker almost always reduces the overall cost compared to purchasing each policy separately and directly.
The One Thing Brisbane Painters Often Get Wrong
The most common mistake we see is painters taking out the cheapest public liability policy without checking what it actually covers, specifically around:
Height restrictions — some budget policies have height exclusions that limit cover for work above a certain level. For a painter working on two-storey homes or commercial buildings, this is a critical exclusion to check.
Paint overspray — some policies treat overspray damage to neighbouring properties as a separate or excluded event. If you do any spray painting near other properties, confirm this is covered.
Chemical and solvent liability — policies vary on how they treat property damage or injury caused by paint fumes, solvents, or chemical products. Worth confirming coverage explicitly if you use solvent-based or industrial products.
Understanding how these exclusions work in practice can be the difference between a paid claim and a denied one.
Paint Overspray and Surface Preparation are some of the most common faulty workmanship disputes we see. Painters assume their public liability responds to these defective works when it often doesn't.
If your policy excludes the scenarios most likely to cause a claim in your specific type of work, it's not really protecting you. It's just an expense.
The Bottom Line
A well-covered Brisbane painter should have at minimum:
Public Liability — $10M minimum, $20M for commercial work or strata
Tools and Equipment — new for old, checking overnight vehicle theft exclusion
Personal Accident Insurance — essential for sole traders
Workers Compensation — mandatory if you have employees
Commercial Motor Vehicle — business use confirmed on the policy
These five form the foundation. Contract works and hired plant extensions layer on top depending on the type of projects you take on.
Monarch Insurance Brokers works with painters and painting contractors across Brisbane, the Gold Coast, and Southeast Queensland. If you want to make sure your cover actually reflects the work you do — get in touch with Tim for a free policy review.
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This article is general information only and does not constitute financial product advice. Your circumstances may differ — speak to a licensed broker for advice tailored to your situation.
