Thousands of bricks, one back
Laying bricks means bending, twisting and lifting thousands of times a day, often working off a scaffold lift with the wind behind you. Lower back problems are the classic bricklayer complaint, with shoulders, wrists and knees close behind. Cutting blocks and bricks throws up silica dust, and wet mortar can be hard on the skin.
Gangs move from site to site, so long drives and early starts are normal. A tired body on a cold morning is when many small injuries happen.
Price work and the gang
A lot of bricklaying is paid by the thousand or by the job, either as part of a gang or as a sole trader working for builders and developers. Pay can be good when the weather holds and sites are busy, but it stops dead when you are off. A gang may also be short a pair of hands, which affects everyone.
If you are employed by a larger contractor, your contract may include some sick pay, often for a limited time. Check it before choosing a waiting period.
- Price work: income depends entirely on output
- Gang leaders: your absence may affect others' pay
- Employed: line the waiting period up with your sick pay
- Winter gaps: insurers look at your yearly profit, not one week
Ratings, definitions and payment terms
Insurers group jobs into classes based on claim history. Bricklaying usually lands in a heavy manual class. That means a higher premium than lighter trades, and some insurers will only pay if you cannot do any work that suits you, or cannot carry out a set of basic tasks. A few will offer own occupation cover.
Short-term policies, which pay for one or two years per claim, are popular with bricklayers because they cover the injuries that cause most time off at a lower cost. Full-term cover protects against long illnesses too.
Life cover and the mortgage
Your family would receive a lump sum from a life policy if you died within its term. For a bricklayer with a mortgage and a young family, matching cover to the loan and adding a monthly income for the family is a common approach. Your trade is asked about but rarely affects life terms.
Critical illness cover can be added to pay out on a listed serious illness, helping if a heart attack or cancer diagnosis stops you working.
How Hi Tomorrow helps bricklayers
We ask how you are paid, whether you run a gang, and how much you lift and climb. Then we search our panel for the most suitable terms, comparing definitions and payment periods side by side in plain English.
If you lead a gang, we can also talk about how your absence would affect the people who work with you, and whether any business cover makes sense. We help with the application, and if you need to claim, we help you deal with the insurer.