Civil engineering insurance
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Rated 4.7/5
Based on 39,717 reviews
Claims paid in 24 hours
For 80% of settled claims
Why is civil engineering insurance important?
You’re giving advice to your clients every day, plus often working on unfinished spaces and construction sites. If a professional indemnity insurance claim came up – or maybe a public liability case – would you have the funds ready to cover it? We provide civil engineer insurance for companies right across the UK, including extra cover options for personal accidents, your kit, and employees, if you have any.
- professional indemnity insurance for civil engineers, between £50,000 and £5 million
- tools, accident, and employee cover – you choose what you need
- public liability insurance options, between £1 million and £10 million
What does civil engineer insurance cover?
From the professionals you work with to the tools you rely on, details are important when building a business insurance policy. We put you in control of your cover, starting with public liability insurance for third party accidents – you can have it as a standalone policy or add other covers like employers’ liability insurance or professional indemnity protection.
Public liability insurance civil engineers
In case your engineering business causes an injury or property damage.
Employers’ liability insurance
In case something happens to an employee while they’re working for you.
Professional indemnity insurance for civil engineers
In case there’s a claim for negligence, or breaches in your duty of care.
Business and office equipment insurance
In case something happens to equipment like your office hardware.
Tools insurance
In case your tools are lost, stolen or damaged.
Legal expenses insurance
In case you’re faced with legal costs from running your business.
Personal accident insurance
In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at or outside of work.
Public liability insurance civil engineers
In case your engineering business causes an injury or property damage.
What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?
Claims against your business for:
- injury or damage to someone’s property, caused by you or as a result of your work
- accidental damage or injury caused by your employees, if you have any
For example:
- you’re using some equipment on site which malfunctions, accidentally injuring the architect you’re teamed with
- you reverse into your client’s wall while parking in their driveway, causing extensive damage
Read more about public liability insurance
Employers’ liability insurance
In case something happens to an employee while they’re working for you.
What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?
Claims against your business for:
- an employee suing you because they’re injured or fall ill as a result of working for you (includes temp staff and casual workers)
**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 employee traps their hand in your car door, breaking three fingers
- a contractor you’ve hired cuts their hand on a tool you pass them, and needs several stitches
Professional indemnity insurance for civil engineers
In case there’s a claim for negligence, or breaches in your duty of care.
What’s typically covered by professional indemnity insurance?
Claims against your business for:
- advice which turns out to be incorrect
- mistakes in your work that cost others money to fix
For example:
- a client has agreed your plan, but it ends up not being fit for purpose, and they raise a claim against you
- you recommend another contractor to your client but they do a poor job, losing your client money
Read more about professional indemnity insurance
Business and office equipment insurance
In case something happens to equipment like your office hardware.
What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?
- theft of the operational equipment you use to run your business, rather than tools of the trade
- accidental loss of your equipment
- flood, fire, or accidental damage
For example:
- you lock your office up for Christmas and your assistant calls to say a leak from the kitchen has damaged your hardware
- you drop your laptop on its side, causing it to malfunction
Read more about business and office equipment insurance
Tools insurance
In case your tools are lost, stolen or damaged.
What’s typically covered by tools insurance?
- loss, damage, or theft of your engineering tools and equipment
For example:
- your tool kit is stolen from your car while you’re refuelling
- an overnight break-in on site causes damage to your tools, and a few have been lost completely
Read more about tools insurance
Legal expenses insurance
In case you’re faced with legal costs from running your business.
What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?
- legal costs that you’re responsible for, within your business
- property damage, nuisance, or trespass – specifically, the associated legal claims and compensation payouts
- tax and compliance disputes and investigations you need help with
- access to expert advice – including a tax advice phone line, confidential 24/7 legal phone line, and crisis support to help you protect your professional reputation
For example:
- an employee raises a contract dispute with you, and you need to pay for legal representation
- HMRC begin an investigation into your tax affairs, incurring costs which you need to recover
Read more about legal expenses insurance
Personal accident insurance
In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at or outside of work.
What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?
- accidental injury or death of anyone you’ve chosen to cover in your policy – whether this happens at work or elsewhere
- lost income, hospital bills, or other medical costs associated with the accident
For example:
- while playing tennis you dislocate your shoulder, and are finding it difficult to carry out work as normal
- your employee bumps their head while on site, causing ongoing health complications which stop them from working
Read more about personal accident insurance
This content has been created for general information purposes. Make sure you have the right level of business insurance by checking your policy documentation for details. Read our full Terms and Conditions
How much does civil engineering insurance cost?
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.
Prices start from £3.19 per month
Get your quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.
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10% of our customers paid up to £38.32 a year for a public liability insurance policy between 1st April 2023 - 30th June 2023. Equivalent to £3.19 per month based on a monthly cost when paying for the policy in one annual payment. Paying monthly is usually more expensive as you'll pay interest. Most customers pay more than this but some pay less.
Example civil engineers insurance quotes, real prices
£96.43 /month
£857.19 /month
A self employed civil engineer who undertakes contract work on cladding & curtain walling
- 2-3 years' experience
- Sole trader
- No employees
- Based in Coventry
Public liability
£1,000,000
Employers’ liability
Not included
Professional indemnity
£250,000
£190.71 /month
£1695.21 /month
A small civil engineering firm who work with local councils on roads and sewers
- 5+ years' experience
- Limited company
- 3 employees
- Based in EH11 2AY
Public liability
£5,000,000
Employers’ liability
£10,000,000
Professional indemnity
£2,000,000
How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 19/04/2021). 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.
What kind of excess should I expect?
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 |
Stock | £100 | £500 |
Business and office equipment | £50 | £750 |
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.
How it works
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How do I choose insurance?
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.
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 civil engineers insurance cover my work correctly?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?
Can I just cover my most expensive tools?
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 tool cover.
Which type of workers do I need insurance for?
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.
Will tools insurance cover all my equipment?
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.
Does civil engineers insurance cover my work correctly?
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 electrical engineer insurance or engineering consultant insurance?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
If you provide these services alongside building work, make sure you’re covered:
Other types of insurance
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?
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.
Talk to an expert
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
How do claims work?
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. They’ll do their best to be fair and supportive.
The figure above is rounded across our range of products. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis.
£39 million in claims paid out in 2022
Paying 80% of settled claims within 24 hours in 2022
Example claim
Having civil engineering insurance through Simply Business has saved professionals thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.
Ella saved more than £7,700
Ella (not her real name) arrived on site to find the doors of her locked shipping container storage ripped off, and her tools and equipment stolen.The tools cover in her civil engineering insurance policy helped pay her replacement costs.
Insurance payout
£7,747.20
Covering the cost of tool theft
Ella’s costs
£100
The excess amount stated in Ella’s policy terms
Chosen by 900,000 small businesses and landlords
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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Rated 4.7/5
Based on 39,717 reviews
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Civil engineer insurance FAQs
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 civil engineer insurance. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.
Yes. You may start offering additional services that require you to use different skills or carry out different tasks. If you find yourself in this situation, it’s important to give us a call on 0333 043 8527 to update your policy before you take on this new work. If you don’t have the correct type of cover in place for the work you do, you may be unable to claim on your policy if something goes wrong.
You can choose the payment type that suits your business and cash flow best. Some customers prefer to pay in one go, while others prefer to pay a regular monthly amount, like you do with lots of other bills. Simply Business offer three ways to pay for your policy:
- one-off credit or debit card payment
- BACS payment
- Direct Debit
If you choose to pay by Direct Debit, our credit provider, Premium Credit, pays Simply Business the full amount for your policy up front. You then repay Premium Credit in 10 monthly instalments.
If you change your business legal structure from sole trader to limited company mid-way through your policy, give us a call straight away on 0333 043 8527. It’ll only take us a few minutes to cancel your existing policy and replace it with one that correctly covers your new legal structure. It’s worth bearing in mind that your insurer and premium amount may need to change.
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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