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Each type of builders’ insurance is designed to protect your business against the risks associated with the work you and your employees carry out. It’s a business with risk of injury, damages and compensation claims being made against you.
Getting the right cover can protect you from the financial risk of all these and give you peace of mind.
Construction is a hazardous industry, so you’ll want to protect yourself and the public if something goes wrong. If someone makes a claim against you, public liability insurance offers you protection that could cover your legal costs and any compensation you might need to pay.
Public liability insurance isn’t a legal requirement for businesses in the UK. But if you don't have it and someone makes a claim against you, the impact on you and your business could be hugely damaging.
Accidents can happen, even if you have strict health and safety procedures in place. Public liability insurance can help protect your business from more than just financial costs – it can be vital for securing new contracts.
Public liability insurance can be an essential requirement for potential customers – some won’t consider using you for building work without it. Local authorities usually ask for a minimum cover level of £5 million before you can tender for work.
Subcontractors without public liability insurance could lose out on valuable contracts from contractors who consider it an essential requirement and won’t work with you unless you have it.
If you’re responsible for causing personal injury to clients or members of the public, or for damaging their property, public liability insurance could cover any resulting legal fees, medical expenses or compensation, as well as the cost of any repairs.
As a builder, you’ll often be working in close proximity with the public, on public and private property, so it’s not just you and your employees who are at risk if accidents happen.
Here are just a few examples of when public liability insurance could be invaluable:
the scaffolding you’re working on falls down and injures a passer-by, and they decide to claim compensation
you’re demolishing a wall and some of the brickwork falls onto and crushes a nearby parked car
your work weakens the structure of a building and, as a result, a ceiling or wall collapses and causes injury
This type of cover is specifically for damage or injury to the public or to their property, so you can’t claim for any accidents or injuries that you or your employees suffer.
And if you do have employees, remember that it’s a legal requirement to have Employers’ liability insurance – the fines can be extremely high if you don’t.
Employers’ liability insurance could cover you if one of your employees becomes ill or is injured as a result of working for you.
If you employ one or more people or are a limited company with multiple directors, it's a legal requirement to have cover.
If you're not a limited company, it's not a legal requirement to have employers' liability insurance if the employees are immediate family members, though if a policy is in place it would still cover immediate family members working for you.
Similarly, builders’ public liability insurance won’t cover you for any damage to your own property or business premises, or to your own tools and equipment – you’ll need extra cover for that.
Public liability insurance cover can vary, so you should always check the policy terms carefully to see what you’re covered for and what’s excluded.
Public liability insurance cover can vary, so you should always check the policy terms carefully to see what you’re covered for and what’s excluded.
See our tips for freelancers, sole traders and growing businesses
There are lots of situations when builders might find themselves facing a claim. For example:
If a member of the public is injured or even killed as a result of your work. This could happen if equipment is left on a path and someone trips over it.
If your work damages someone else’s property. You might put a ladder through someone’s window or scratch and dent a car.
That’s up to you and depends on the size of your business. A small business might get cover from between £1 million and £10 million. The higher your cover, the higher your premium will be, but it’s generally better to have too much cover than not enough.
If you’re registered as a sole trader, you’ll need to get your own public liability insurance.
Ideally, you should also consider taking out additional insurance to protect your income or business if something happens to you. You might want to consider:
If you employ anyone, other than yourself and direct family members, then it’s a legal requirement to have employers’ liability cover. This could cover you for compensation claims if your employee suffers a work-related injury or illness.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reported 40 deaths and 61,000 injuries to construction workers in 2019/2020. In such a high-risk industry, protecting the financial future of your business is vital.
And once your policy is in place, be sure to check the latest health and safety requirements to ensure both you and your employees remain safe, as well as ensuring your insurance remains valid.
Yes, damage or injuries caused by your employees while at work should be covered.
Even the smallest construction company will own a huge array of tools and business equipment, which will be expensive to replace if they’re stolen or damaged. The right tools insurance will protect you, should that happen.
If you transport your tools in your van, you’ll also want to make sure they’re covered by your commercial van insurance.
If you’re working on a large refurbishment, you might want to consider contract works insurance.
It's designed to cover work in progress on a building site. This could protect you if you need to restart the job due to theft, fire, flooding, a storm or malicious damage.
For example, if you had part-built a wall and a storm blew it over, contract works insurance could cover the cost of redoing the work, the cost of materials, labour and tools to put back the situation to how it was before the incident happened.
However, it won't cover damage to any existing structures on the site.
So, for example, if you’re building a new extension and there’s a flood, it could cover the extension you’re building – but any damage to the main house should be covered by the homeowner’s buildings insurance.
There are a number of things that can affect the cost of your builders’ insurance including:
How long you’ve had your building business for
If you work in dangerous environments
If you work with dangerous materials and substances
Extra cover you want to add to your policy
The value of your tools and equipment
Your claims history
Prices can vary between insurance providers and will depend on your specific business. However, it’s important to choose a policy that’s tailored to your working needs, not just based on the cost alone.
At Comparethemarket, you can save time and money by comparing and buying the right cover for you and your business. And it's easy to do. Simply answer a few questions about your business and we'll pull together some quotes.
Amy helps make sure you get the best value when choosing insurance. Thanks to more than four years’ experience at Compare the Market, she understands what people look for, working closely with insurance providers to offer you deals and services that are fair, easy to understand and right for your needs.
1 Based on the % of respondents reporting Compare the Market is their preferred brand in the last 12 months vs. other leading PCWs. Source: Savanta BrandVue Financial Services, National Representative Survey of 12,257 respondents (June 2026)
What our expert says...
"Public liability insurance is especially important for builders. Working on other people's property and often in contact with the public can leave you exposed to claims. Combine that with the nature of the work and the use of power tools and heavy-duty equipment, you'll want to protect yourself against any accidents you could be held responsible for."