Builders insurance

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Why do you need builders insurance?

Builders insurance protects you against the cost of accidents and mistakes at work. While you can’t stop them from happening, you can make sure you’re covered. Whether it’s just you or you have others working with you, it’s protection for your business and your customers.

  • protection from big claims like accidental injury or damage
  • help to keep going when an unexpected event gets in the way
  • it covers what you need from legal costs, to tools, to personal accidents

What does builders insurance cover?

You understand your business best – that’s why we put you in control. Whether you want to cover yourself for accidents on site, legal disputes with clients or the tools you need to run your business, you pick what goes into your policy. 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.

  • Builders public liability insurance

    In case you or your employee injure someone or damage their property.

  • Employers’ liability insurance

    In case an employee gets sick or injured while working for you.

  • Tools insurance

    In case your tools are lost, stolen or damaged.

  • Stock insurance

    In case materials you’re responsible for, like bricks, are lost, stolen, or damaged.

  • Business and office equipment insurance

    In case things like laptops or office filing cabinets are lost, stolen, or damaged.

  • Hired-in plant insurance

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

  • Own plant insurance

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

  • Contract works insurance

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

  • 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.

  • Professional indemnity insurance

    In case a client loses money because of your advice, services or designs.

  • Builders public liability insurance

    In case you or your employee injure someone or damage their property.

    What’s typically covered by public liability insurance for builders?

    • accidents while working at your premises, or on a commercial or residential building site
    • accidents while building new structures, or altering, converting or extending existing ones
    • accidents that happen because of your work, or faulty materials, equipment or parts

    For example:

    • a wall you’re building accidentally falls on a member of the public
    • your employee accidentally puts a ladder through someone’s window

    What you’ll need additional cover for

    • if you do work other than building on some standalone jobs – for example, electrical work, plastering, or plumbing

    Read more about public liability insurance

  • Employers’ liability insurance

    In case an employee gets sick or injured while working for you.

    What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

    • employee illness or injury caused by working for you
    • medical bills and legal fees due to employee illness or injury
    • some temporary or casual workers may be covered – find out which ones

    **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 bricklayer develops a repetitive strain injury in their shoulder
    • your apprentice gets an electric shock from a faulty power tool

  • Tools insurance

    In case your tools are lost, stolen or damaged.

    What’s typically covered by public liability insurance for builders tools insurance?

    • loss, damage or theft of your hand tools, power tools and equipment

    For example:

    • a flood at your workshop causes water damage to your Stihl saw
    • you turn your back on site for a minute and your tool box is stolen

    What you’ll need additional cover for

    • tools left in your van, hired plant, machinery, stock or contents

    Read more about tools insurance

  • Stock insurance

    In case materials you’re responsible for, like bricks, are lost, stolen, or damaged.

    What’s typically covered by stock insurance?

    • loss, damage or theft of materials like bricks and cement

    For example:

    • your bricks are stolen from your business premises

    Read more about stock insurance

  • Business and office equipment insurance

    In case things like laptops or office filing cabinets are lost, stolen, or damaged.

    What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?

    • loss, damage or theft of things like your work laptop

    For example:

    • you take your laptop on site and drop an electric drill on it
    • your work laptop is stolen from your home

    What you’ll need additional cover for

    • your tools, materials and machinery

    Read more about business and office equipment 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?

    • loss, damage or theft of things like excavators, rollers, cement mixers etc. you’ve hired in

    For example:

    • a bulldozer you’ve hired is stolen from the site you’re working on
    • you damage a cement mixer you’ve hired by dropping a saw into it

    What you’ll need additional cover for

    • tools and plant machinery you own

    Read more about hired-in plant 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?

    • loss, damage or theft of things like excavators, rollers, cement mixers etc. you’ve hired in

    For example:

    • your bulldozer is stolen from the site you’re working on
    • you damage your cement mixer by dropping a saw into it

    What you’ll need additional cover for

    • plant machinery you hire in

    Read more about own plant 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?

    • repair costs for the work you have in progress on a building site or job if it’s damaged or destroyed
    • labour, materials and tools to get the job back to the stage it was at before it was damaged or destroyed
    • damage caused by things like fires, floods, storms, vandalism or theft

    For example:

    • a fire partially destroys a house extension you’re in the middle of building
    • high winds rip the roof off a summer house you’re in the middle of putting up in a customer’s garden

    What you’ll need additional cover for

    • existing structures already on the site you’re working on

    Read more about contract works 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 expenses resulting from your day-to-day business activities, like disputes with employees
    • the cost of legal claims relating to property damage, nuisance or trespass
    • HMRC investigations, and tax and compliance disputes
    • includes a tax advice helpline, a 24/7 confidential legal helpline, and crisis PR support to help you protect your business’s reputation

    For example:

    • if an employee is injured at work and brings a case against you
    • if your site is vandalised and you bring a case against the vandals

    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?

    • injury or death at work or outside of work, for anyone covered on the policy
    • lost income, medical costs and hospitalisation benefit

    For example:

    • you lose a finger while working on site
    • your casual labourer breaks his leg while on a night out

    Read more about personal accident insurance

  • Professional indemnity insurance

    In case a client loses money because of your advice, services or designs.

    What’s typically covered by builders professional indemnity insurance?

    • legal costs of defending yourself if you give bad advice that causes a client to lose money

    For example:

    • you design an extension to a house and it collapses within the first year
    • you advise a customer to use superglue to hold up kitchen cabinets and they fall off the wall

    Read more about professional indemnity 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 builders 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 £4.74 per month

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The price is for up to £2 million of public liability insurance – 10% of customers paid £56.82 or less annually between 1st Jan – 31st May 2024. Equivalent to £4.74 a month (and excludes the extra costs for paying monthly). 76% of customers have a £1 million limit and 24% £2 million. If you complete a quote, more types of cover will be available. These all have additional costs.

Example builders insurance quotes, real prices

£17.68 /month

£176.82 /year

A builder working on residential alterations, conversions and extensions

  • 5+ years experience
  • Sole trader
  • No employees
  • Based in Manchester

Public liability

£1,000,000

Employers’ liability

Not included

Stock

Not included

£185.32 /month

£1,853.19 /year

A builder working on commercial new builds, alterations, conversions and extensions

  • 5+ years experience
  • Limited company
  • 3 employees
  • Based in Swansea

Public liability

£5,000,000

Employers’ liability

£10,000,000

Stock

£9,000

How we work out example quotes: These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 01/10/2024). 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.

How it works

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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

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How do builders insurance 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 team any time, day or night. Call them on 0333 207 0560 or claim online. They’ll do their best to be fair and supportive.

£51 million in claims paid out in 2023

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.

As part of our 18 years of insurance experience, here’s how we’ve helped builders like you

Having builders insurance through Simply Business has saved builders thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.

Andy saved more than £4,335

Andy (not his real name) was working on a loft conversion for a customer when his ladder fell onto someone else’s car. It damaged the bonnet, roof and windscreen. Luckily Andy’s insurance covered the cost of the repairs.

Insurance payout

£4,335.00

Covering the cost of the damage to third party property

Insurance payout

Covering the cost of the damage to third party property

Covering the cost of the damage to third party property

Chosen by nearly 1 million small businesses and landlords

We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then, with nearly 1 million customers across 1,500 trades now trusting us to provide their business insurance.

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Builders insurance FAQ

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 builders business insurance. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.

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.

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.

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.

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 roofers insurance or bricklayer 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.

Insurance companies calculate the price of your policy based on a range of factors. The quotes you get to compare will be based on your unique business. The following factors could affect the prices you’re quoted:

  • your claims history
  • how long you’ve been in business in this particular trade
  • if you work in dangerous environments
  • if you work with dangerous materials
  • the value of your tools, equipment or materials
  • the number of covers you want to include in your policy

If you have people working for you, employers’ liability insurance is required by law. While you may not be legally required to have other types of insurance, there are some covers builders may want to consider.

Being covered may be especially important if you want the added mark of trust you get from membership of a trade body or professional accreditation. Some trade bodies may require you to have a certain level of public liability or professional indemnity cover, for example.

You can set up your insurance before you begin trading. At this point you don’t need trade licences, but as soon as you begin trading, you’ll need to have any required licences in place.

Under the terms of your builders insurance policy, you’ll need to comply with all relevant rules and regulations for your insurance – and any claims you make – to be valid. Check which licences apply to your unique business using the government’s licence finder.

Whether you set up as a sole trader or a limited company, you’ll also need to register with HMRC (and Companies House if you form a limited company).

No, your builders insurance won’t cover you for poor workmanship. Depending on your policy, your builders insurance could cover you for things like:

  • third-party claims made against you for accidental injury or damage
  • theft or loss of your tools
  • claims made against you by an employee who has been accidentally injured or fallen ill as a result of working for you

We cover a range of builders and building types, from new builds to alterations on existing builds. We also cover a wide range of locations from domestic to commercial. If you’re completing a self-build or class yourself as a property developer, then please call our contact centre who can help you to find the best policy for your needs.

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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