Its a nightmare all round I am afraid.
In the end I have a combined policy with workshop and public liability. The only policy I could get that was even remotely appropriate was from Allianz which I found through a broker.
I am a sole trader and rent a building which is " Non standard construction " basically a building inside an old tin barn.
I have had to add many caveats to the policy. I will give one example.
All waste bin/skip/whatever was supposed to be at least 15 metres away from the building, I had to explain that I don`t rent that bit and only have a limited parking area so my skip is about 4 metres away from the building. Every small thing like this needs to be addressed as an exemption to the regular policy and agreed upon. Its daft as my direct neighbour has his skip about 1.5 metres from my door anyway !!
Check the distinction between "fixed machinery" and "portable power tools" these will be valued separately, do not undervalue them.
Also don`t forget stock and materials.
good luck
Ollie
