Income Protection for Carpenters and Joiners

A carpenter is their hands. That sounds like a slogan until you look at what the trade actually asks of them.

Marking out, cutting to a line, scribing, hanging a door so it closes properly: all of it is fine work with tight tolerances, done with tools that remove fingers in a fraction of a second. Someone who loses the use of a thumb is a perfectly healthy person who cannot do joinery again.

Income protection pays a monthly amount while you cannot work, which for this trade is the cover that matters most and the one carpenters most often do not have.

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The short answer

Carpentry depends on hands more completely than almost any trade, and the saw injury that takes a finger takes the career with it. A self-employed carpenter has no sick pay, so income protection is what pays the mortgage while you recover or retrain. Because the trade can be ended by an injury that leaves you otherwise perfectly healthy, the definition of being unable to work is the clause that decides the claim.

What actually stops you working

Table saw, circular saw and router injuries, which take fingers rather than damaging them
Tendon and nerve damage in the hand or wrist, which ends fine work without looking serious
Hand-arm vibration from sanders and routers, building up over years
Back and knee damage from carrying sheet material and kneeling to fix floors
Wood dust and the respiratory problems that come with hardwood and MDF
Eye injuries, which matter more in a trade working to a line

Sick pay, if you get any

None for the self-employed. Carpenters are often worse placed than other trades here, because work tends to be priced per job rather than per day, so an unfinished job may mean no payment at all rather than payment for the part you completed.

Why the definition of incapacity decides it

A carpenter who loses a thumb is fit, mobile and unable to work. That is the clearest illustration there is of why the definition matters: an any occupation policy looks at a healthy man and sees somebody who could do plenty of jobs, which is true and pays nothing. An own occupation policy asks whether you can do carpentry. In a trade that can be ended by an injury to one hand, that is the only question worth insuring against.

One Hand Ends The Trade

There is no other trade where a single, survivable injury is this likely to be career ending.

A saw takes a finger in less time than it takes to notice. The person walks away, heals, and is physically fine. They also cannot grip a chisel properly, cannot feel what their hand is doing on fine work, and cannot work to the tolerances joinery requires. Nothing else about their health has changed at all.

Insurance has to be bought with that specific scenario in mind, because it is the one this trade actually faces. A policy that measures general fitness will look at that person and see somebody capable of work. A policy that measures whether they can do carpentry will see the truth.

Priced Jobs Do Not Pay For Half The Work

How carpenters get paid makes time off worse than it is in trades that charge by the day.

A fitted kitchen, a staircase, a run of wardrobes: these are priced as a whole and paid on completion. Stop two thirds of the way through and there is often no invoice to raise, the customer has an unusable room, and the joiner who takes over will charge properly for finishing somebody else's setting out. A fortnight off can therefore cost more than a fortnight's money.

It is worth taking that into account when deciding how much benefit to arrange. The sum you need is not simply what you take home in an average month, it is what the interruption actually costs, and for priced work those are different numbers.

If you stop

Priced work that is half finished is the problem. A kitchen that is fitted but not finished cannot be invoiced in full, the customer needs it done, and another joiner will charge to pick up somebody else's work. Carpenters off sick frequently lose money on jobs they had already largely completed.

Common questions

What happens to a carpenter who loses a finger?+

Medically it may be a straightforward recovery; professionally it can end the trade, because joinery needs grip, feel and fine control. That gap is exactly why the incapacity definition matters. A policy that asks whether you can do any work will see a healthy person and decline; a policy that asks whether you can do carpentry will see somebody who cannot. Check which one you are buying before you compare premiums.

Do self-employed joiners get sick pay?+

No. There is no employer, so no statutory sick pay, and nothing arrives while you are not working. Carpenters are often hit harder than other trades because work is commonly priced per job rather than per day, so an unfinished kitchen or staircase may produce no invoice at all rather than partial payment. Income protection replaces a monthly amount regardless of what you have been able to invoice.

Will using a table saw affect my cover?+

Insurers ask what machinery you use, and workshop machines such as table saws and spindle moulders are among the things they ask about. It is part of the job and not a reason to avoid applying, but answer it accurately: a policy taken out on the basis that you do site fixing when you actually run a workshop is the kind of mismatch that gets examined at claim. Tell us what your week really involves.

Is wood dust covered?+

Income protection pays when you cannot work, whatever the medical cause, so a respiratory problem that stops you working would generally be treated like any other illness. Hardwood and MDF dust is a recognised issue in the trade and insurers may ask about extraction and the materials you use. As with any health matter, what counts is declaring accurately at application rather than hoping the subject does not come up.

How much cover does a carpenter need?+

Base it on what an interruption actually costs rather than on an average month's take-home, because priced work changes the maths. Stopping two thirds of the way through a fitted kitchen can mean no invoice at all, plus the cost of another joiner finishing your setting out. Work out the household's monthly needs, then talk to us about a benefit that reflects how your work is actually paid for.

Cover that often goes with this

The gaps we most often find sitting next to this one.