Stories and Features about Construction Insurance

A developer is halfway through a project when their solicitor flags a covenant buried in a 1958 conveyance. It limits the plot to a single dwelling. The new scheme has two. Work stops while everyone scrambles for answers.

This happens more often than most people in construction expect. Restrictive covenants sit quietly in title deeds for decades, then surface at exactly the wrong moment, during a sale, a planning application, or partway through a build. Continue reading “Restrictive Covenant Indemnity Insurance Costs and Cover Explained”

The question usually arrives at the worst possible moment. A buyer’s solicitor asks for it during a sale. A lender asks for it before releasing mortgage funds. A self-builder finds out, halfway through the project, that nobody has actually arranged it.

A structural warranty is one of those things that sits quietly in the background of a project until somebody specifically asks for proof of it, at which point it becomes urgent. By then, getting one can be slower and considerably more expensive than it needed to be. Continue reading “What Is a 10-Year Structural Warranty and Do You Need One”

In October 2025, a homeowner went public on the Renewable Heating Hub forum with a £22,000 heat pump dispute against their installer. The system showed a 34% radiator shortfall, an 8 to 10°C loss across the buffer tank, and over £2,000 in extra electricity bills across two winters. The installer stopped replying. The homeowner ran a Section 75 claim through their credit card provider and threatened to escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Continue reading “The PI Gaps Hitting UK Heat Pump Installers in 2026”

A contractor converts a 100-year-old shop into a doctor’s surgery. Internal walls come out, both roofs are stripped, some underpinning goes in. Weeks later, cracks appear in the neighbour’s bathroom. An engineer points to vibration from the works.

The claim goes in three times. Public liability says no, the contractor wasn’t negligent. Contractors’ all risks says no, that’s not the works being built. The employer’s existing structures policy says no, vibration isn’t a specified peril.
Continue reading “Demolition Insurance and Why Standard CAR Won’t Cut It”

The King’s Speech 2026 confirmed the biggest shake-up to UK construction regulation in over a decade. From a ban on retention payments to tighter product liability rules and faster cladding remediation, the legislative pipeline now reshapes how contractors price risk, manage cashflow, and structure their cover.

For SMEs already dealing with a tough market, knowing what changes and when matters more than ever. Generalist brokers often miss the detail. Specialist construction brokers do not. Continue reading “The King’s Speech 2026 and What It Means for UK Construction Insurance”

The Future Homes Standard is no longer a proposal. The regulations were laid before Parliament on 24 March 2026 and will come into force on 24 March 2027. From that date, most new homes built in England must use low-carbon heating, include solar panels, and meet significantly higher fabric efficiency standards. Gas boilers in new builds will effectively be a thing of the past.

The 12-month transition window is shorter than it looks. According to the Barclays Business Prosperity Index 2026, 98% of housebuilders say FHS alignment is a priority, but 82% are worried about being ready in time. The Home Builders Federation estimates the standard will add between 3% and 8% to build costs per dwelling. Continue reading “7 Urgent Steps Builders Must Take Before the 2027 FHS Deadline”

When a renovation project goes wrong, the first sign of trouble is often two insurers pointing at each other. The contractor’s public liability insurer says negligence hasn’t been proven. The buildings insurer says the property sat empty too long and cover has been cut back. The developer is left with a large reinstatement bill and no clear route to a payout.

This is not an unusual outcome. It is one of the most common patterns in renovation insurance disputes, and it almost always comes back to the same root cause: the policies in place were built for a different kind of risk. Continue reading “The Cover Gaps Costing Developers Money In Renovation”

A subcontractor falls from height on your site and sustains a serious spinal injury. His claim lands on your desk. You reach for your public liability policy. Your insurer declines the claim.

That single misunderstanding, one that occurs regularly across the UK construction industry, can leave a business facing six-figure damages with no cover in place. Public liability and employers’ liability are distinct policies that protect against entirely different risks. Treating them as interchangeable, or assuming one fills the gap left by the absence of the other, is one of the most consequential insurance mistakes a contractor can make. Continue reading “Public Liability vs Employers’ Liability: What Every Contractor Must Know”

Plant and equipment theft costs the UK construction industry an estimated £800 million every year. That figure covers stolen excavators and telehandlers, but also generators, power tools, copper cable, and fuel.

The losses extend well beyond the value of the equipment itself. A stolen machine can halt a programme, trigger penalty clauses, and leave a contractor chasing a replacement hire at short notice. Continue reading “Plant Theft Is Rising and Most Sites Are Not Ready”