Stories and Features about Construction Insurance

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”

Two significant changes are bearing down on UK construction at the same time. The government has announced a ban on retention payments in construction contracts. And the Building Safety Levy goes live on 1 October 2026, charging developers on new residential projects submitted for building control approval from that date.

Neither of these is a distant proposal. Both require action now, not when the legislation lands. This article sets out what each change involves, who it affects, and what you should be doing about it today. Continue reading “Retention Ban and Building Safety Levy: Act Now”

Ask ten contractors whether CAR insurance and contract works insurance are the same thing and you will get at least three different answers. The terms are used interchangeably across the industry by brokers, insurers, and building contractors alike, and in many contexts they do refer to the same core protection. But there is a meaningful difference between them, and misunderstanding it can leave gaps in your cover that only become apparent when you try to make a claim.

This article sets out what each term means, what each type of policy does and does not cover, and how to work out which arrangement suits the work you do. Continue reading “CAR vs Contract Works: Which Cover Do You Need?”

Most construction projects run late. That is not a criticism of the industry, it is one of the most consistently documented facts about it. Supply chain failures, labour shortages, client variations, bad weather, planning delays: the list of things that can push a completion date back is long and familiar to anyone who works on site.

The problem is that your insurance policy does not care about any of that. A fixed-term contract works policy has a completion date written into the schedule, and if your project runs past that date without a formal extension in place, cover can simply cease. You could be working on an uninsured site and not realise it until something goes wrong. Continue reading “What Happens to Insurance When a Project Overruns?”

The short answer is: it depends on how the subcontractor is classified. But that classification matters enormously, both for the subcontractor’s own protection and for the main contractor’s policy to stay valid.

UK insurers recognise two types of subcontractor, and each comes with different insurance obligations. Getting this wrong does not just create gaps in cover; it can invalidate a claim entirely.

This article explains the distinction, what cover each party needs, and the mistakes that regularly leave contractors out of pocket. Continue reading “Do Subcontractors Need Their Own Insurance?”