Construction insurance

Public liability insurance for construction

In case your business and products cause an injury or property damage.

What’s typically covered by construction public liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• damage to someone’s property, caused by your business activities
• illness or injuries as a result of your business
• employees causing accidental damage or injuries

For example:

• while hosting a meeting, you leave a cable running across the open office floor and your client trips, spraining their ankle
• you serve a client sandwiches with a trace of sesame seeds, causing an allergic reaction
• your employee drops heavy equipment on your client’s floor, causing extensive damage

**If you do employ anyone, you’re usually required by law to have employers’ liability insurance too.**

Read more about public liability insurance

Employers’ liability insurance

In case anyone gets ill or injured while working for your business.

What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• injuries to staff (including casual labourers and contractors) that are caused as a result of your business
• illness suffered by an employee (including temps and casual workers) caused by working for you

**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:

• your office manager breaks their finger while trying to close a faulty window at your business premises
• your receptionist trips over a cable running across the floor of your office, breaking their ankle
• a temp worker scratches their arm on one of your tools, and the injury becomes infected

Contents insurance

In case something happens to your fixtures, fittings, or operational equipment.

What’s typically covered by business contents insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• damage and destruction caused by flood, fire, vandalism, or theft
• cover for your contents and the equipment needed to run your business

For example:

• a flood spreads to your office floor and means you need to replace several desk chairs
• your photocopier and fax machine are badly damaged during a break-in
• four business smartphones are stolen from your premises

Read more about busines contents insurance

Business legal insurance

In case you’re hit with legal expenses connected to your business.

What’s typically covered by business legal insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• unpaid invoices
• contracts for the purchase, hire, sale, or provision of goods or services provided to you
• an alleged breach of statutory rights with an employee

For example:

• you need to recover debt after a client refused to pay their invoice, caused by a contractual dispute
• you’re facing legal costs as a client is disputing whether you met your contractual obligations with your hire agreement

Read more about business legal insurance

Personal accident insurance

In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at work or off-duty.

What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• accidental death or injury, whether it happens at work or elsewhere, for anyone you’ve chosen to cover on your policy
• lost income, plus medical costs and hospitalisation benefit

For example:

• an employee you’ve covered on the policy slips on ice while commuting to the office, injuring their lower back
• you’re tidying the office and an old printer falls onto your shoulder, causing a serious injury
• your business partner bumps their head after a fall, causing ongoing health complications which stop them from working

Read more about personal accident insurance

Stock insurance

In case something happens to your products and consumables.

What’s typically covered by stock insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• the cost of replacing the stock you use to run your business
• stock that’s been destroyed, lost, stolen, or damaged
• stock includes food and drink products as well as branded materials and sellable items

For example :

• your stockroom gets vandalised – products you need to operate are stolen and damaged
• a fire caused by faulty electrics spreads to your stockroom and destroys sellable items
• a leaking pipe floods your business premises, destroying stock that you intend to sell

Read more about stock insurance

Tool insurance

In case your tools are lost, stolen or damaged.

What’s typically covered by tool insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• accidental damage to your construction tools and equipment
• theft of the tools you use for your business
• loss of your business tools

For example:

• your tools are stolen from your car or van
• you lose some expensive equipment on the way to a job
• a flood causes irreparable damage to your construction tools

Read more about tool insurance

Buildings insurance

In case something happens to your business premises.

What’s typically covered by business building insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• repair and rebuild costs after damage caused by a storm, fire, or vandalism
• fittings and fixtures that get damaged
• underground pipes and cables, if you’re responsible for them

For example:

• someone tries to force entry into your shop, damaging the door, which needs replacing
• a burst pipe causes water damage to floorboards and walls – they need to be replaced
• equipment catches fire and damages your building, which will need to be completely rebuilt

Read more about business buildings insurance

Own plant insurance

In case plant machinery, like excavators, you own is lost, stolen, or damaged.

What’s typically covered by own plant insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• replacement of own plant machinery should yours be damaged or stolen
• water damage to your own plant machinery
• accidentally injuring someone else while you’re working, or afterwards as a result of the work you’ve done

For example :

• an excavator is stolen during an overnight break-in at your works site
• you drill through a water pipe while working on a construction site, causing extensive damage
• your storage unit is flooded, damaging your cement mixer and generator beyond repair

Read more about plant machinery insurance

Hired-in plant insurance

In case plant machinery, like excavators, you’ve hired in is lost, stolen, or damaged.

What’s typically covered by hired-in plant insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• replacing hired-in plant machinery should it be damaged or stolen
• water damage to hired-in plant machinery
• accidentally injuring someone else while you’re working, or afterwards as a result of the work you’ve done

For example :

• there’s an overnight break-in at your work site and an excavator is stolen
• you cause damage to a water pipe by drilling through it while working on site
• a flood damages a hired cement mixer and generator beyond repair

Read more about plant machinery insurance

Contract works insurance

In case your building work in progress is damaged by something like a fire, flood or vandalism.

What’s typically covered by contract works insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• repair costs for work that’s been damaged or destroyed while on the job
• labour, materials and tools that’ll get your work back to the stage it was in before the damage
• damage caused by fires, floods, storms, vandalism, or theft

For example :

• there’s a fire at your place of work, setting back the completion date of the job
• a flood destroys your specialist construction equipment
• someone breaks into your site and steals your tools

Read more about contract works insurance

Excess insurance

In case you need to make a claim on your insurance policy.

What’s typically covered by excess insurance?

Claims made by you for:

• when you make a claim on a cover included in your business insurance policy, you won’t need to pay excess

For example :

• strong winds cause severe damage to the roof of your property – you don’t have to pay the £250 excess thanks to your excess insurance
• a guest accidentally breaks a television during their stay at your property and thanks to your excess insurance, you don’t need to pay excess on the claim
• a guest’s child trips on a loose carpet and breaks their arm – they claim compensation and you don’t pay excess due to your excess insurance