Builders Insurance

As soon as you get in touch with us, a member of our team can help you can your hands on a wide range of cover types, all of which can be combined to create a builders’ insurance policy that you can be proud of.

But what exactly is on offer? What’s available?

Here’s the main types of builders' insurance cover you may wish to consider:

Public liability Insurance

This business insurance protects you in the event that something you causes either property damage or someone to suffer from an injury.

Employers’ liability insurance

Employers' liability insurance is compulsory for employers in the building industry.

Tools insurance

Builders' tools insurance is valued so highly in the construction industry, protecting building contractors and their business from tool theft.

Contract works insurance

Contract works cover protects you from accidental loss, destruction, or damage – offering cover for materials and labour that you’ve used.

Legal expenses insurance

Legal expenses insurance does what it says on the tin - it covers the fees that arise from legal disputes.

Hired-in Plant Insurance

Get the right cover when you hire a wide range of equipment and machinery.

Business equipment insurance

This insurance for builders makes sure that valuable equipment can be replaced or repaired so you're never left without what you need.

Van insurance

Self-employed builders will want to protect their business vehicle to ensure they're always able to get from A to B.

Of all the builders' liability insurance products, public liability cover is arguably the most important.

Builders’ public liability insurance is designed to protect a builder and their business if they are responsible for any property damages or injuries that have occur whilst they’re working.

For example, what if a member of the public trips and falls over a piece of equipment you’ve left out on the pavement and suffers an injury? What if a piece of scaffolding fell and damaged a neighbours property? In both scenarios, the affected individuals could sue or request compensation, and that’s where public liability insurance could have your back. Legal costs and compensation claims can add up, so liability cover is good to have to ensure you’re not hit too hard financially.

Do builders need public liability insurance cover?

No, builders are not legally required to have a public liability insurance policy, but it's highly recommended. Not only could public liability insurance protect yourself, but it could also put your clients at ease, knowing that you have appropriate protection in place.

You should also expect that clients request that you have public liability cover, because if something were to go wrong on their property, and their builder isn’t properly covered, the client could become financially liable to claims too, and therefore, at risk.

We'd recommend that self-employed builders get the most comprehensive cover they can, to ensure that they're always protected, not matter what happens, whether it's on site or on businesses premises.

However, if we had to recommend some business insurance 'must haves' for builders, we'd certainly pick public liability insurance, tools insurance and employers' liability insurance (if you have employees). Collectively, those three policies can provide sufficient and essential coverage for you and your business.

It’s tough for us to say how much your builders’ insurance policy will cost you, and the reason for this is because there’s so many factors to consider.

Insurance premiums are calculated based on the information you provide, whether that be personal details, your claim’s history, the size of your business operation or whether you’re paying upfront or across monthly instalments. Ultimately, until we have all the information we need from you, it’s very hard for us to even estimate how much you’ll need to pay to get a builders’ insurance quote.

However, what we can say, is that the best way to find out how much your premium will be is to simply just get a quote. You can do this this by getting in contact with us by clicking either the Get a Quote button on this page, or by calling us on 01276 601 690. We can then discuss with you exactly what you’re looking for from a policy and give you a better understanding of how much you could expect to pay.

Here at Howden, you also have the option to pay for your insurance policy via direct debit, if that's your preference.

Whatever’s happened, we’re here to help.

The first thing to do to start a claim on your builders’ insurance policy is to get in touch with your local branch, which you can access via our Howden Branch Finder.

Once you’ve got in touch with a member of the team, it’s then their responsibility to make sure your claim is dealt with as efficiently and as quickly as possible. When you have a builders’ insurance policy with Howden, claims don’t need to be any hassle.

Generally, builders’ insurance policies run on a 12-month basis, with many policyholders opting to renew their insurance annually.

Whether builders need professional indemnity insurance or not, depends on the business they’re running and the work they’re involved in.

Professional indemnity insurance is a coverage that’s used to support businesses in the event that they are negligent or offer bad professional advice that results in a financial loss for a client. Because many builders are not at any risk of these types of professional wrongdoings, and because this policy does not cover for any bodily injuries, many builders understandably opt to not get professional indemnity insurance.

However, for the contractors that run a larger operation, and are more involved in contributing to how buildings are designed and structured, builders' professional indemnity insurance could prove helpful to minimise the impact of any claims made in response to negligence or bad advice.

Also known as latent defects insurance, building warranty cover is a specialist type of insurance that provides financial protection against the costs of rectifying any damage that arises from an inherent defect in the building, that hasn’t been solved by the original contractor.

Building warranty can provide cover for defects that manifest over the policy period, which is usually around 10 to 12 years after the contract works have been completed.