Experts at ConstructionInsure.co.uk have discovered that over half of building contractors in the UK do not have the correct insurance to cover their work
Recent findings suggest that builders, plumbers, roofers and electricians are inadequately insured putting themselves and the contractors they work for at risk by failing to take out the correct insurance policies which may cost slightly more.
Experts detect that leading contracting firms who generate multi million pound turnovers are also at risk by failing to realise that their insurance could be unfit for purpose.
Mark Herbert of Construction Insure said: “Every week we see numerous cases of contractors being severely underinsured and this is down to them not properly informing insurers about the nature of their work.
“From our enquiries we estimate around 50% of all UK contractors do not have adequate insurance in place. Many contractors take out a basic policy and fail to check the small print which often includes caveats about the nature of the work they are covered for.
“They assume they are covered but the reality is the policy may not be worth the paper it is printed on if it doesn’t cover them for the work they are actually undertaking.
Further investigation into the issue has discovered that the use of insurance comparison websites could lead to the purchase of an inadequate policy.
Mark continued: “Contractors are not always to blame for this. Unfortunately, they might approach a broker who only facilitate for liability policies and are therefore not experienced enough to handle structural construction enquiries, or they might have gone on a comparison site which is the worst place to go as these sites will never be able to question and answer a client about their business like an experienced broker can to extract the correct risk information.
Mr Herbert said there is a legal requirement for contractors to make sure they are insured by giving their insurance company full disclosure on the nature of the work they undertake.
