Carpentry looks simple from theoutside. Timber goes in, house comes out. But insurers see carpentry verydifferently — as a perfect storm of fire risk, falling objects, sharp tools,defects that show up years later, and job sitesfull of people just waiting to trip over something you touched.
This whitepaper breaks down thereal insurance risks carpenters face in Australia, using real-world claim scenarios — witha bit of humour, because if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry.
Carpenters sit right in the dangerzone of construction insurance. You work with timber (flammable), power tools (sharp),heights (gravity never takes a day off), and you install structural elements that othertrades rely on. When something goes wrong, fingers don’t get pointed — lawyersdo.
Unlike some trades, carpentryclaims often don’t show up straight away. They appear years later when a decksags, a beam fails, or someone falls through something that ‘looked fine at handover’. That’s when completedworks and product liability get very real, very fast.
Claim #1: The Workshop Fire(aka: The Sawdust Bomb)
A small carpentry workshop storedtimber, MDF, adhesives, stains and solvents. Add sawdust floating through theair and you’ve basically built a DIY firework. One spark from a power toolovernight and the place went up.
The insurer didn’t deny the claim— they just applied the average clause. The workshop was insured for $300,000.Replacement cost was closer to $500,000. Result? The payout was slashed and thecarpenter funded the rest personally.
Lesson: Underinsurance doesn’tmean no claim. It means a partial payout and a full-sized headache.
Claim #2: The Falling TimberIncident
On a busy site, stacked framingtimber wasn’t secured properly. A gust of wind, one wrong step, and gravity didwhat gravity does. A third party copped serious injuries.
Everyone was sued: builder, sitesupervisor, carpenter. Even though fault was shared, defence costs stacked upquickly. Public liability insurance paid the lawyers — because without it, thecarpenter would’ve been selling tools on Gumtree.
Lesson: If someone can trip overit, fall on it, or have it land on them — you’re exposed.
Claim #3: The Deck That FailedFive Years Later
A timber deck was built to spec —or so everyone thought. Five years later, it failed during a party. Someonefell. Ambulance arrived. Lawyers followed.
The carpenter had moved on,changed vehicles, maybe even grown a beard. Didn’t matter. The claim relied oncompleted works and product liability. Any exclusions around non-compliantmaterials or workmanship would’ve been catastrophic.
Lesson: Your liability doesn’t endwhen the job does.
Claim #4: The Apprentice vs TheDrop Saw
An apprentice, a drop saw, arushed afternoon. Workers compensation covered the injury — but regulators gotinvolved, work stopped, and the business bled cash while everyone investigatedeveryone.
Lesson: Injuries don’t just costmedical bills — they cost time, contracts and sanity.
Claim #5: The Great Tool Heist
Tools left on site over a longweekend. Security was ‘yeah, she’ll be right’. It wasn’t. Thousands of dollarsof tools vanished.
The claim paid for the tools — butnot the lost jobs, delays, or pissed-off builders. Tool cover helps, butdowntime still hurts.
Lesson: Tools are replaceable.Reputation isn’t.
What This All Actually Means for Carpenters
Carpenters face a unique mix ofrisks: fire-heavy materials, high injury exposure, long-tail defect claims andconstantly changing job sites. Most claims don’t come from doing dodgy work —they come from normal work going wrong.
Insurance failures usually comedown to limits that are too low, missing completed works cover, poorunderstanding of exclusions, or assuming the builder’s policy ‘has youcovered’.
How EasiCover Helps Carpenters Sleep Better
EasiCover helps carpentersstructure insurance that actually matches how you work — on site, at height,with sharp things, flammable stuff and other people’s expectations. No fluff.No generic policies. Just cover that works when gravity, fire or lawyers get involved.
Before one claim undoes years ofhard work, it’s worth checking whether your insurance is built for carpentry —or just priced for it.
