Builders' Insurance

Tools Essentials
We know that when you're in the trades, your tools are vital and if the worst happens, they can be very expensive to replace, putting a pause on your business.

With Tools Essentials, we help you replace your essential tools fast, so that you can get back to work.

How does Tools Essentials work?

If your tools are stolen or damaged, contact us as soon as you can. After a few checks, we transfer up to £1,500 to you, within 24 hours, to help you replace your essential tools.

What are the benefits?
- By transferring the money to you, you have the flexibility of replacing your tools like for like, so that you can go back to building your empire.
- We transfer the money to you, even if your tools are stolen or damaged while working abroad (within the EU).
- If you've had more than £1,500 of tools and equipment stolen or damaged, we'll process the rest of your claim and when approved, send you the remaining balance of your claim.
How do I get Tools Essentials?

Buy Tools and Equipment Cover, with or without adding Overnight Tools Cover.

Conditions
- Upfront payment of up to £1,500 is transferred to your account, within 24 hours, after the claim has been validated.
- Proof of purchase or ownership needed.
- Crime Reference number or proof of damage needed.
- Claim limits apply.
- To report damaged or stolen tools, our lines are open between 8am-6pm, Monday to Friday, excluding Bank Holidays.
Read more on Tools Essentials here.
Public liability
Our builders’ public liability insurance covers you if you or an employee accidentally injures a member of the public or damages their property. For example, if a wall you are building collapses and falls onto a pedestrian or you accidentally put a ladder through someone’s window, we’ll cover the legal and compensation costs you are required to pay.

We can offer cover from £1 million to £10 million, depending on your business activities and requirements.

Many trade associations often require members to have public liability insurance. Similarly, many clients will also ask to see proof of your cover before hiring you for a job.

Excess per claim:
- Third party property damage - £250
- Third party property damage, heat & underground work - £500
- Third party property damage, escape of water - £500
- Third party injury - £0
Read more about public liability
Employers' liability

If you have employees, including apprentices and casual labourers, it is a legal requirement to hold employers’ liability insurance. This covers you if an employee is injured or becomes ill due to the work they do for you, for example, if an apprentice injures themselves on site due to inadequate training. If you take out this insurance, we will cover you for £10 million, as standard.

If you purchase employers’ liability with Direct Line for Business, you are required to take out public liability insurance with us as well.

Read more about employers' liability
Temporary employee cover
If you take out public liability or employers' liability insurance with us, you'll automatically get cover for temporary employees, if you use them.

The maximum number of days we cover temporary employees for will vary depending on the number of manual workers in your business.
- 1 – 5 manual workers - 60 days
- 6 – 10 manual workers - 100 days
- 11 – 15 manual workers - 150 days
Please note that the maximum number of days reflects the total number of days worked by all of your temporary employees. So, if you have seven manual workers in your business, we will provide cover for 100 days worked by all temporary employees in total.
Tools and business equipment
Builders can't work without their tools. If you're about to head to a job and you realise your tools have been stolen, you risk having to cancel the job and losing business, or purchasing new tools that you haven't budgeted for.

We can cover the cost of replacing tools stolen from you or your employees, so you can get the job done and don't have to disappoint your clients. Some of the tools we cover include: drills, hammers, screwdrivers, chisels, spanners, saws, pliers, trowels and blow torches.

You can also insure other equipment used by your business, such as ladders, steps, paint trays, brushes, workbenches and spirit levels.

We can cover tools stolen during the day, as long as the tools are secured in a locked building or in a vehicle where all points of access are locked.

Cover limits:

Tools owned by the business
- Up to 5 workers – £40,000
- Up to 10 workers – £50,000
- Up to 15 workers – £75,000
Tools owned by your employees - up to £10,000 per person

Excess per claim - £100

Read more about tools and business equipment cover
24-hour tools cover

If you're concerned about your tools getting stolen overnight, you can upgrade your tools and business equipment cover, by adding overnight tools cover for an additional premium.

Our 24-hour tools insurance covers your tools at home or in the van, wherever you are in the EU, as long as you are a UK resident.

In order to obtain overnight cover, when you get a quote online, you will need to answer 'Yes' to the following question: 'Our standard cover excludes theft from a vehicle overnight. Would you like to add cover for overnight theft of your tools and business equipment from a vehicle?'

Cover conditions: your vehicle must be secured at all points of entry and any alarms or immobilisers must be set. Tools must be hidden from view and removed when the vehicle is not being used for business purposes for more than five consecutive days. Cover excludes electrical items such as laptops, cameras, mobile phones, removable satellite navigation systems, handheld survey equipment etc.

Cover limit: there is a limit of £10,000 per claim and a single article limit of £1,500.

Excess: you will be liable for 10 per cent of each and every claim, with a minimum contribution by you of £100 up to a maximum contribution by you of £500.

Read more about 24 hour tools cover
Stock and materials
Include stock and materials in your builders’ insurance cover to insure those additional items needed for your business, like pipes and bricks. We can cover items that are being temporarily stored between jobs, items in transit and items on-site (until they are installed).

If these items are stolen or damaged due to an insured event, such as a fire, flood or storm, we’ll pay the cost of replacing the items so you can continue running your business.

Cover limits:
- Up to 5 workers – £10,000
- Up to 10 workers – £20,000
- Up to 15 workers – £25,000
Excess per claim - £100
Own plant
Own plant covers larger items of machinery owned by the business, such as cement mixers, diggers, mini-diggers, dumpers, excavators, generators, trailers and temporary site huts and caravans. This does not include regular items in your toolkit, like a hammer.

We can cover this machinery for theft and damage due to an insured event e.g. a fire. We do not cover machinery that has been damaged due to wear and tear.

Cover limits:
- Up to 5 workers – £75,000
- Up to 10 workers – £100,000
- Up to 15 workers – £100,000
There is a single article limit of £50,000.

Excess per claim - £250
Hired in plant
Hired in plant refers to machinery that you have hired from a third party, either for a short period of time or on permanent hire. The types of machinery we cover include: cement mixers, diggers, mini-diggers, dumpers, excavators, generators, trailers and temporary site huts and caravans.

If something happens to the machinery while it’s on hire and being used by your business, and the incident is covered by an insured event, e.g. a fire or theft, we can cover the cost of replacing it.

Cover limits:
- Up to 5 workers – £75,000
- Up to 10 workers – £100,000
- Up to 15 workers – £100,000
There is no single article cover limit.

Excess per claim - £250
Contract works
This covers work that is in progress that is damaged by an insured event, such as a fire, flood, vandalism or theft. We can cover the costs required to repair or redo the work.

For example, if you’re contracted to build a wall, and that wall is then damaged by flooding, we can help you complete the contract by:
- covering the costs required to purchase the materials needed to finish the job
- covering the costs required to rebuild the parts of the wall destroyed by the flood
- covering any labour costs to repair the damage
Cover limits:

Contract value (based on the maximum value for any one contract anywhere within the UK)
- Up to 5 workers - £750,000
- Up to 10 workers - £1,000,000
- Up to 15 workers - £1,000,000
Turnover limit - £1,500,000

Excess per claim - £500
Legal expenses

This covers the legal costs of providing specialist lawyers and taking action against many common legal problems, for instance disputes with suppliers or clients. Legal expenses cover can only be used if there is at least a 51% chance that the claim will succeed.

or call us on 0345 303 1761

How we support your business

Personalised insurance

Your own dedicated claims handler

Unlimited access to our 24-hour legal helpline and online legal documents service

Unlimited policy changes

10% off your new builders' insurance policy if you're already a Direct Line customer

Build your own policy

Tools Essentials

Public liability

Employers' liability

Temporary employee cover

Tools and business equipment

24-hour tools cover

Stock and materials

Own plant

Hired in plant

Contract works

Legal expenses

Policy documents

View and download our policy documents here: