Why You Should Make Sure Your Builder Has Appropriate Insurance

When it comes to hiring a builder for your home build, it is exceptionally important to consider a number of factors prior to choosing the right contractor for you. Whether you decide to go with a sole trader, or you’re looking for a big building firm to take on a much larger project such as a home development project, knowing the background of the builder is exceptionally important. While there may be a differentiation in opinion regarding the services that the builder of your choice has carried out, this shouldn’t be the most important thing that you look at. Quite simply, you should ensure that your chosen contractor has the right type of builder insurance for the work that they are looking to carry out, and in this article, we’re taking a closer look as to why.

Protecting Your Home In The Future

If you’re renovating a property in order to increase the home’s value for a future sale, then ensuring that the builder that you use to undertake the renovation is properly insured is imperative.  This is due to the fact that if something goes wrong with the project, or part of the property is destroyed prior to completion, your property will be protected. Ensuring that the builder has all-risk cover can ensure that in the event in which such an occurrence was to happen, you will not have to fund the repairs yourself.

High-Risk Industry

According to Eurostat, construction is considered to be a high-risk industry, with 20.9% of work-related fatalities which occurred in the EU-28 in 2014 coming from this particular industry. Due to the nature of the work environment that construction workers and builders have to work in, this is unsurprising. As a result, it is imperative that all builders have the most appropriate insurance, and the most up-to-date policies to incorporate every aspect of the job that they are carrying out on your home build.

If an accident occurs on your property and the builder that you have hired does not have the most appropriate insurance, then as the homeowner, you may find yourself held liable for any damages – even if the accident wasn’t your fault. In a high-risk sector such as construction, it is incredibly important for builders to not only protect themselves in the event of an injury, but also for you to ensure that you are protected by only hiring a builder that is insured correctly. Whether you’re building a property or renovating an existing home, in the UK or abroad, it is imperative the builders have the most appropriate insurance at all times.

Protecting The Public

If your builder does not have the most appropriate public liability insurance, and an accident occurs where a passing pedestrian is injured, then once again, you may find that as the homeowner, you are held accountable. The Citizens Advice Bureau advises that all homeowners should ensure that any builder they are looking to hire has appropriate public liability insurance, and following this advice can save you from having to pay for exceptionally high court fees and damages.

Protecting Employees

If you are hiring a company that has employees, then the contractor must have Employer’s Liability Insurance, by law. This can protect the employees working for the company from any injuries or accidents that may occur (due to the high-risk environment). If the contractor that you are hiring does not have Employer’s Liability Insurance, yet they boast about the number of employees that they have, then you can be safe in the assumption that the contractor is not legitimate, and ultimately unlawful.

There are a broad number of different insurance options for builders to choose from, including all-risk cover, contract works cover, goods in transit cover, tools cover, plant cover and much more. Knowing that your builder is covered can protect you in the long-run, as well as all of the people that may be affected by the work your builder is carrying out.