Builders' insurance

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

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

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

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

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.