Contractors insurance

Contractors can risk legal action in respect of their liability to others for accidental personal injury or property damage arising from their activities. Potentially, the awards that can be made as a result of a successful claim can be substantial. Unfortunately, even the legal costs of defending the most spurious claim may cause financial hardship. This underlines the importance of being insured. Public liability covers legal defence costs and compensation awards arising from accidental bodily injuries and property damage caused to others during your work.

If you engage additional labour, staff and others on contract work, you will need employer’s liability insurance.

Even spurious claims can result in awards that cause financial hardship, so if you are a contractor, it is in your best financial interests to obtain contractors' insurance. The likelihood of an injury or damage-related incident increases with larger or more hazardous projects, and could result in higher costs to contractors.

The cost of replacing equipment or tools alone can be hugely expensive - especially if they are specialised tools. Contractors' insurance can help to protect you in this instance and will also give you greater peace of mind when using your own or hired equipment.

If you employ others on contract work, you will need employers' liability insurance.

Yes, legal defence costs for liability claims are included as standard in our contractors cover. However, if you want Commercial Legal Expenses insurance then we can arrange this as an optional extra. The limit starts at £100,000 with the option to increase.

Yes, we can offer cover for contractors working in hazardous or high-risk areas, also work at height, depth or involving application of heat.

Yes, we can offer PII for contractors, as this is a common requirement for contract roles providing design and advice. This is a separate cover to our contractors insurance.

Yes, we can cover labour only sub-contractors, as well as PAYE staff for the same risks under your EL(Employers' Liability) cover. It is very important to declare how your workforce are employed as this will affect how your risks are calculated.

Standard Contractors' Liability cover will generally include public liability for a specified limit of indemnity selected by you – normally £1m, £2m, £5m or higher limits are available. When considering a level of indemnity suitable for you, you should consider:

• The types and values of the properties you are working on.

• The types of business that could be interrupted due to an incident caused by you

• Are you only doing purely new build work where there are lower risks due to unoccupancy, in comparison to the increased risks associated with refurbishment and general maintenance while working on occupied premises?

• Do you undertake any high-risk activities such as the use of heat or work at height or depth?

• Are there any contract specified or customer requirements, where you are required to arrange minimum levels liability cover?

• For Contractors' All Risks Insurance - what is the value of the contract? How much would it cost to rebuild the ‘Contract Works’ in the event of a total loss such as fire?

• What are the values of building materials you hold on site awaiting construction?

• What about the replacement values of your tools and equipment?

• What is your responsibility to the Hire company for loss or damage to hired-in plant and continuing hiring charges?

Where employers' liability insurance is included this will be suitable to meet your minimum legal requirements and will normally be at least £10m any one claim. If you have a large work force, higher limits are available.

Contractors' all-risk insurance covers contract works, hired-in plant, own plant and tools under one policy.

If you are unsure which level of cover would suit you best it is worth speaking to a specialist adviser.

There are a number of factors you will need to consider when it comes to choosing the right level of contractors' insurance cover for you.

It is important to consider the nature of your work when choosing your contractors' insurance policy. High-risk trades such as scaffolding, hot roofing and underpinning can incur higher costs if things go wrong, so may require more forms of cover than low-risk jobs. If the contract work is in hazardous or high-risk locations, then this should also be considered when choosing your policy.

If your job requires you to use your own or hired tools that could be at risk of damage during the work, then standard contractors' cover can be extended to cover them.

To help you spread the cost of your premiums, we offer a quick and easy direct debit scheme for spreading payment over ten months. Please visit our dedicated Direct Debit page to find out more.

If you would like to know more about our monthly payment option, please visit our dedicated Direct Debit page.