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We insure contractors of all business types, from builders to accountants to IT contractors. Whatever your profession, most contractors face similar dangers in their work – including accidents and injuries, unexpected events leading to missed deadlines, or damage to the equipment you’ve hired or invested in. To get a quote, you’ll need to choose insurance that’s targeted to your trade, but this page gives you an overview of the top reasons contractors need cover.
You know what matters to you most in how you operate as a contractor, so you’re in charge of your policy. Whether you want to cover yourself or your team for accidents on site, legal disputes with clients, or the tools you rely on, you tell us what you need and we’ll tailor your insurance around you.
Public liability insurance
In case someone gets injured or their property gets damaged as a result of your business.
Employers’ liability insurance
In case your employee gets sick or injured while they’re working for you.
Tools insurance
In case your tools are lost, stolen or damaged.
Professional indemnity insurance
In case you've made a mistake in your work or provided a service that didn't meet the expected standards.
Business and office equipment insurance
In case your business and office equipment is lost, stolen, or damaged.
Hired-in plant insurance
In case your hired-in plant items are lost, stolen or damaged.
Own plant insurance
In case your own plant items are lost, stolen or damaged.
Contract works insurance
In case your work in progress is destroyed, disrupted or delayed.
Legal expenses insurance
In case you’re faced with legal costs while running your business.
Personal accident insurance
In case you or anyone you've covered has an accident.
In case someone gets injured or their property gets damaged as a result of your business.
Claims against your business for:
For example:
Read more about public liability insurance
In case your employee gets sick or injured while they’re working for you.
Claims against your business for:
**Employers’ liability insurance is required by law if you have people working for you. Without it, you could be fined up to £2,500 a day for each employee.**
For example:
In case your tools are lost, stolen or damaged.
For example:
Read more about tools insurance
In case you've made a mistake in your work or provided a service that didn't meet the expected standards.
Claims against your business for:
For example:
Read more about professional indemnity insurance
In case your business and office equipment is lost, stolen, or damaged.
For example:
What you’ll need additional cover for
Read more about business and office equipment insurance
In case your hired-in plant items are lost, stolen or damaged.
For example:
Read more about hired-in plant insurance
In case your own plant items are lost, stolen or damaged.
For example:
What you’ll need additional cover for
Read more about own plant insurance
In case your work in progress is destroyed, disrupted or delayed.
For example:
Read more about contract works insurance
In case you’re faced with legal costs while running your business.
For example:
Read more about legal expenses insurance
In case you or anyone you've covered has an accident.
For example:
Read more about personal accident insurance
Find out how much you’ll pay by comparing prices from a range of trusted insurers. You choose what goes into your policy, so you only pay for what you need.
Get your quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.
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*The price is for £1 million of public liability insurance - 10% of customers paid £41.87 or less annually between 1st Oct 2023 - 31st Mar 2024. Equivalent to £3.49/month (and excludes the extra costs for paying monthly). If you complete a quote more types of cover will be available, these all have additional costs.
£7.98 /month
£59.83 /year
A fencing contractor working on residential properties
Public liability
£1,000,000
Employers’ liability
Not included
Tools insurance
Not included
£87.44 /month
£777.21 /year
A small commercial flooring contracting company working in the local area
Public liability
£5,000,000
Employers’ liability
£10,000,000
Tools insurance
£8,000
How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 02/03/2023). They’re based on a range of factors, like employees and location. Your own quote will be based on what you tell us about your business. Prices may go up or down from day to day, so the prices you’re quoted may differ to the ones you see here.
An excess is an amount you pay towards any claim you make on your insurance. For example, if your excess is £250 and you make a claim worth £1000, your payout will be a maximum of £750.
Insurance cover | Lowest excess | Highest excess |
---|---|---|
Public liability | £100 | £2500 |
Employers' liability | No excess | No excess |
Tools | £60 | £500 |
Business and office equipment | £50 | £750 |
Professional indemnity | No excess | £2500 |
The figures above are for guidance only and any excess applying to your quote may differ. You’ll get a breakdown of the excesses for each quote when you compare with us.
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Making sure you have the right type and level of business insurance can be the difference between getting a claim paid and having to cover the cost of an expensive accident yourself. Read our tips for guidance on what to consider when buying a policy.
Is public liability enough for third party property damage?
Can I just cover my most expensive tools?
Which type of workers do I need insurance for?
Will tools insurance cover all my equipment?
Does contractors insurance cover my work correctly?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?
In some situations you may need more than public liability to cover certain kinds of property damage. Learn about hired-in plant cover and contract works cover.
Make sure you cover the total cost of replacing all your tools or you’ll only get a proportion of your claim paid out if something happens to them. Learn about tools cover.
Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ people.
If you have people working for you, including bona fide subcontractors (BFSC), labour-only subcontractors (LOSC), part-timers, or full-time staff, employers’ liability insurance is required by law.
Read on for our simplified guide to the difference between labour-only subcontractors and bona fide subcontractors.
Depending on what you use to do your work, you may need other covers.
You may need more than tools insurance – for example, business equipment insurance if you have a work laptop, plant insurance if you use machinery.
Make sure you're picking the right cover to protect you properly. It's important to know that if you have another trade or job, you'll need additional cover. For example, do you need to consider freelance insurance or it consultant insurance?
If you provide other services, make sure you’re covered:
Other types of insurance
Think about the maximum possible loss your business could face in the event of a claim, and make sure you take legal fees and damages into consideration. You can choose from three levels of coverage – £1 million, £2 million, or up to £5 million.
Our team of UK-based insurance experts are here to help, Mon 09.00am - 05.30pm, Tues 09.00am - 05.30pm, Weds 09.00am - 05.30pm, Thurs 09.30am - 05.30pm, Fri 09.00am - 05.30pm, Sat 09.00am - 02.00pm
Call our team
Unlike price comparison websites, we take the hassle out of claims for you. We know how important it is to get your business back on track quickly – and with a minimum of fuss. That’s why you get access to your dedicated claims any time, day or night. Call them on 0333 207 0560 or claim online.
83% of claims were settled in 2023
The figure above is rounded across our range of products. "Settled" covers paid, declined or withdrawn. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis. Our specialist partner Sedgwick will pay the claims on behalf of the insurer. Reviewed on 24/04/2024.
Having contractor insurance through Simply Business has saved contractors thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.
As he was fitting a fence for a customer, fencing contractor Bruce (not his real name) needed to dig some holes. He followed the main contractor’s advice about where to use a digger and where to dig by hand, but the power company alleged a hit to a 15000v cable, which had to be repaired. Fortunately Bruce’s insurance stepped in to cover the cost.
£9,156.90
Covering the cost of accidental damage
£100
The excess amount stated in Bruce’s policy terms
We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then with 900,000 customers across 1,500 trades now trusting us to provide their business insurance.
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Whether you’re new to buying business insurance or you’ve been trading for a while, here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about contractors insurance. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.
The answer to this question varies from trade to trade, so it’s a good idea to start with an assessment of the risks your business might face.
If you have people working for you, you’re legally required to have employers’ liability cover.
If you come into contact with members of the public in your work, public liability insurance is an important one too.
If you make recommendations as part of your contracting work and you want to protect yourself against claims to do with negligence or incorrect advice, you may see professional indemnity insurance as essential.
If you use any specialist equipment, you might want to think about getting tool cover. This is a key type of insurance for lots of contractors.
If you agree to deadlines and deliverables as part of a contract, you’ll want to look into contract works insurance so you’re covered in case your work in progress is destroyed, delayed or disrupted.
Other covers for contractors to consider include:
Although insurance is often similar for different contractors, there’s no such thing as general contractor insurance. It’s always specific to the type of work you do.
Prices for contractors public liability insurance start from £6.56 per month, and some of the factors that influence what you’ll pay include:
A useful rule of thumb is that the higher the risk of things going wrong – and the higher the cost of putting things right – the more your insurance will cost.
Simply Business lets you compare insurance from trusted brands. It takes just a few minutes to see your personalised prices.
Remember, if you have employees, you must have employers’ liability cover in case they get sick or injured through working for you – it’s a legal requirement.
Other than that, expectations vary from industry to industry. For example, in construction, some trade associations insist that you have public liability insurance before you can become a member. And your clients may expect you to have public liability insurance from the perspective of safety and trust.
Many contractors consider public liability insurance to be essential. Especially those who carry out physical work around other people and third-party property.
This will depend on whether you have employers’ liability insurance in place. Public liability insurance is designed to protect your business against the consequences of legal action brought by members of the public for injuries or damage to their belongings. But when it comes to your employees causing injury or damage, this protection only activates if you also have employers’ liability insurance.
If you employ people, you’re required by law to have employers’ liability insurance.
There’s one exception here. Family businesses that aren’t incorporated as a limited company are not legally required to have employers’ liability insurance. The government defines a "family business" as one where all your employees are closely related to you (as a spouse, civil partner, sibling, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, step-parent, stepchild or half-sibling). So if you run an unincorporated family business and you choose not to get employers’ liability insurance, it’s important to know that your public liability insurance wouldn’t cover you against damage or injury caused by your team.
We create this content for general information purposes and it should not be taken as advice. Always check policy documentation for details and seek professional advice. Read our full Terms and Conditions
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© Copyright 2024 Simply Business. All Rights Reserved. Simply Business is a trading name of Xbridge Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Financial Services Registration No: 313348). Xbridge Limited (No: 3967717) has its registered office at 6th Floor, 99 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7NG.