Yes, absolutely, if you are running a renovation or property development project, big or small, you will need to make sure that your contractors or builders have the right insurance in place.
A lot can go wrong with building a home or fixing up a property – with electricals, heavy materials and the great British weather in the mix too, you want to make sure that you are covered by any and every eventuality.
There are also risks of under-insurance, so if you have to eventually claim but are not covered for a large enough amount, you are very limited to cover your costs and will feel the pinch financially.
Below, we highlight some of the key insurances that you need to ask your builders and contractors for. In many cases, you should be starting a project without knowledge of these policies and it is not unreasonable to ask them to show you proof of documents before you proceed.
Public liability insurance
Public liability insurance is designed to provide cover for any third party individuals or buildings that you come into contact with. This may include visitors to the site, passers by or items of property or building that you may come into contact with.
Whether someone comes into your construction site and trips over something and sprains their ankle, or something falls off the roof and hits the neighbour’s car, you will be required to pay for any damages or repairs and this will fall under your public liability cover.
Buildings insurance
There is always a risk of the fittings and fixtures of the building being damaged when construction work is going on. This could be damage to the walls, floors, roof or anything in between and the buildings insurance is there to cover the cost of any repairs or replacements.
Business interruption
With business interruption, this is designed to help pay for any disruptions in your construction build, unbeknownst to you. This may include severe weather, covid, acts of terrorism, squatters or anything else that you may not expect. This type of cover should allow you to cover any costs for interrupted services and minimise the potential losses.
Do I Need Construction Insurance and How Much Does it Cost?
Your construction company should be insured already, although you can always take out extra insurance to be safe and cover anything internal such as contents.
The cost of construction insurance will vary depending on the size and complexity of your project, and its duration. Get Indemnity offers policies from £39 per month, or £468 per year if you need it for that long – and this is contractors all risk insurance, covering a range of cover designed for construction firms.
You can always look to get individual policies if you are the owner of the property and you should try to get a personalised quote to get the best rate possible. You will need to disclose full information of the project and the timeframes to ensure that your policy can be validated and any potential claims can be upheld.