Business Property
Protection for buildings, offices, workshops, and contents against fire, storm, and accidental or malicious damage.
Business insurance
Business insurance for contractors
Project insurance protects your contract works. Business insurance protects your company. Your premises, tools, vehicles, equipment and liability exposures can be arranged on one policy, in the sections you select, wherever your work takes you.
Business insurance is built from the sections you select, and each is subject to underwriting. Cover is arranged by CivilSure and issued by the insurer. What is covered, what is excluded, and the limits and excesses that apply are set out in your policy wording and schedule.
- Protects
- The company, not the project
- Can include
- Office, tools, vehicles, equipment, liability
- Outside the project policy
- Your own premises, contents, vehicles and business liability
- Sections
- Chosen to fit your business
- Often held alongside
- Contractors All Risk
What Is It
Business Insurance For Contractors & Businesses
Commercial insurance is a broad package of covers designed to protect the operational risks of a business. For companies in construction and engineering, risks don’t stop when the project ends.
Businesses still face daily exposure from fire, theft, accidental damage, public liability and employee incidents. A policy is written around the contract works, so it insures the works it is issued for, subject to its wording, and not your own premises, yard, stock or day to day operations. Injury to your own employees is not covered by it. Commercial insurance is the cover written for that side of the business.
Whether you are a small contractor or an established firm, the sections you select are written around your own operations rather than around a single project. Where a loss falls within the wording, the policy responds up to the limit and after the excess on your schedule, which is what gives a business a route back to trading. It does not remove the risk of interruption.
CAR and business insurance: what is the difference?
Contractors All Riskprotects specific construction projects, the works, materials on site, and project liability. Business insurance protects the business behind the projects: your office, tools, vehicles, equipment, and ongoing liability exposures. The two respond to different losses, so many contractors carry both. What applies to your business depends on your operations and your contracts.
What it covers
Cover sections that can be included in your policy
While every business is different, the cover is tailored to match your size, operations, and industry risks. You choose the sections that apply to you.
Business Interruption
Covers loss of income if you cannot operate after an insured event such as a fire or major damage. Cover can extend to standing charges such as payroll, up to the sum insured and for the indemnity period stated on the schedule.
Theft and Burglary
Protects tools, equipment, office contents and small plant against theft following forcible and violent entry. Businesses holding specialist equipment commonly include this section. Security conditions on the schedule can apply to a theft claim.
Public Liability
Covers what you are legally liable to pay if your activities cause injury to a third party or damage to their property, up to the limit on your schedule. Many contracts and landlords require a liability section to be in place.
Employer's Liability
Covers what you are legally liable to pay where an employee is injured and you are held liable as the employer, up to the limit on your schedule. It complements your obligations and does not replace them.
Tools and Portable Equipment
Cover for tools and equipment used across multiple sites, including while off your main premises. It is written on an all risks basis, which means loss or damage is covered unless the wording excludes it, up to the limits and subject to the excesses on the schedule.
Goods In Transit
Protection for tools, equipment, or materials while being transported between sites, to clients, or from suppliers.
Electronic Equipment
Covers computers, servers, laptops and specialist electronic equipment used in business operations against breakdown, damage, and power surge events.
Fidelity / Employee Dishonesty
Covers financial loss caused by fraudulent or dishonest acts of employees, including theft of money, stock or assets. Cash handling businesses commonly include this section. Cover is subject to the limit and the conditions in the wording.
Kidnap & Extortion
Covers ransom payments and crisis negotiation costs if a director or employee is kidnapped, held hostage or subjected to extortion. Cover can extend to hijacking, wrongful detention and workplace violence, including trauma support, where the policy defines the event as qualifying.
Motor & Trucking
Covers commercial vehicles, trucks and trailers for accident damage, theft, hijacking, fire and weather events, together with third party liability, depending on the cover basis selected for each vehicle on the schedule. Used by businesses running delivery fleets, site vehicles or transport operations.
SASRIA
Riot, strike, civil commotion, public disorder and terrorism are excluded from conventional policies. SOC Ltd, a state-owned insurer, is the only provider of that cover, and it is added as an extension to an underlying policy you hold rather than as a section of it. It follows what the underlying policy insures, and its limit is confirmed on your schedule. See SASRIA.
These are summaries of sections that can be included, not the policy. Each section is optional and subject to underwriting, and covers only the events its own wording insures, up to the limit and after the excess shown on your schedule. Every section carries exclusions, and some carry conditions you have to meet before a claim is paid, such as the security requirements on a theft section. Where a sum insured is set below the true value, average can reduce what is paid on a partial claim. Cover is arranged by CivilSure and issued by the insurer. Ask us for the wording of any section before you rely on this page.
Who Needs This Cover
Commercial insurance is arranged for a wide range of businesses operating in the construction and building sector, including but not limited to:
Contractors and Building Companies
Businesses carrying out construction work, renovations, and building projects.
Engineering and Consulting Firms
Civil engineers, project managers, and consulting professionals who operate offices and employ staff.
Specialist Trade Contractors
Electrical, plumbing, roofing, glazing, flooring, HVAC, solar, and other specialist contractors.
Construction Service Businesses
Scaffolding companies, plant operators, equipment suppliers, and maintenance contractors.
Businesses that already hold Contractors All Risk often also arrange commercial cover for the operations that sit outside a specific project.
Some Important Things To Know
Common questions about business insurance
These are the questions we get most often from contractors and construction businesses inquiring about commercial / business insurance.
What is the difference between Commercial insurance and Contractors All Risk?
Contractors All Risk protects specific construction projects. Commercial insurance protects the business itself, including offices, equipment, tools, and operational liability exposures.
Do contractors usually hold both CAR and commercial insurance?
The two answer different exposures. Contractors All Risk is written around the contract works on a project. Commercial insurance is written around the business and its day to day operations, including your own premises, tools and staff. Many contractors hold both for that reason. Which sections a particular business needs depends on its own operations, which is a conversation with a broker rather than something a web page can answer.
Can this cover include tools used on a construction site?
Yes. Portable tools and equipment can often be included, depending on the insurer and policy structure.
Is liability included?
A public liability section is commonly part of a commercial policy, and it is one of the sections you can select here. Where it is in place it covers what you are legally liable to pay to a third party, up to the limit on your schedule and subject to the policy exclusions.
Can this cover be tailored?
Yes. Each policy can be structured based on business size, locations, turnover, asset values, and the specific risk profile. All applications are subject to underwriting, and the sections an insurer will write depend on that assessment.
Protect Your Business
Construction projects carry risk, and so do the day to day operations of running a business. CivilSure specialises in insurance for the construction industry, helping contractors and engineering businesses structure cover for their projects and for their company operations. Cover is issued by the insurer and every application is subject to underwriting. Speak to our team and we will work through the sections that fit your operation.