The calculation held. The contract did not.
Cover for consulting engineers, built around design liability and the contract clauses that decide whether a design claim is covered at all.
Engineering consultant insurance
Usually includes
Professional indemnity
Design liability
Public liability
Cyber & data
Employers’ liability
Office & contents
One
conversation.
You explain the business once, and we take it from there.
Bespoke service
for your business
No two businesses are the same, so we start with yours rather than with a template.
Everything
quoted together.
Your advice, the data you hold and the office behind it, priced in one go rather than piece by piece.
Know your cover
What is engineering consultant insurance?
Consulting engineers carry design liability with an unusually long tail and an unusually sharp contract risk. The technical work is only half of it. The other half is what the appointment or the subcontract says you have promised, because a design-and-build contract that asks you to guarantee an outcome can put a claim outside the policy that was bought to cover it.
It covers the design
Professional indemnity responds to a claim that your design, calculation or specification caused a loss.
It covers the inspection
Site visits, witnessing and the advice you give while work is being built.
It follows the contract
Reasonable skill and care is what the policy insures. A guaranteed result usually is not.
Who it’s for
Whatever you engineer.
✓
Structural engineers
Frames, foundations and alterations, including temporary works design.
✓
Civil engineers
Drainage, highways, earthworks and infrastructure design.
✓
Building services and M&E
Mechanical, electrical and public health design and commissioning.
✓
Geotechnical and ground engineers
Site investigation, ground conditions and remediation advice.
✓
Fire and facade engineers
Specialist advice where a failure is a life-safety failure.
✓
Sole practitioners and small consultancies
Independent engineers appointed directly or as subconsultants.
What we cover
Cover built around your appointments.
We ask what you design, on what contract and at what value before we approach anyone. Then show you what’s available, and you decide what fits.
Professional indemnity
The claim that your design, calculation or specification caused a loss.
Design liability
The section that answers for the drawing and the calculation rather than the advice around them.
Public liability
Injury or damage arising from site visits, inspections and witnessing.
Cyber & data
Models, calculations and the project data environment your work lives in.
Employers’ liability
Required by law from your first employee, including graduates and anyone site-based.
Office & contents
The office, the fit-out and the records and equipment kept in it.
Portable equipment
Laptops, survey and testing instruments, and everything taken out to site.
Business interruption
The fees lost when the office, the servers or the design files stop being available.
Legal expenses
Unpaid fees, and the cost of an adjudication or a contract dispute on a project.
Who this cover tends to suit.
This cover is generally bought by consulting engineers whose deliverable is a design or a technical opinion, from a sole practitioner to a consultancy with a project team. Not every part will apply to every practice, so tell us how you’re set up and we’ll show you what’s relevant.
Worth knowing
Check the details before you choose.
Fitness for purpose can void the cover
Professional indemnity insures reasonable skill and care. Promising a guaranteed outcome, which design-and-build subcontracts often ask for, can put a claim outside the policy.
Collateral warranties widen who can sue
A warranty to a funder, purchaser or tenant gives them a direct right of action. Tell us what you have signed and to whom.
Temporary works are a separate question
Designing falsework, propping or excavation support carries a distinct and immediate exposure. Declare it rather than folding it into general design.
The tail outlasts the project
Structural and ground claims surface years later, so continuous cover and run-off on closure matter more here than in most professions.
Every project is different.
A domestic beam calculation and a highways scheme don’t carry the same risk, so we ask different questions for each.
Structural design
Civil engineering
Building services
Mechanical design
Electrical design
Public health
Geotechnical
Site investigation
Temporary works
Facade engineering
Fire engineering
Drainage design
Highways
Infrastructure
Expert witness
Design and build
Structural design
Civil engineering
Building services
Mechanical design
Electrical design
Public health
Geotechnical
Site investigation
Temporary works
Facade engineering
Fire engineering
Drainage design
Highways
Infrastructure
Expert witness
Design and build
Why Vara
Bespoke service for you & your business,
without the big-firm minimum.
01
We read the contract first
Fitness for purpose is the clause that puts a design claim outside cover, and it appears routinely. We look for it before we present the risk.
02
Temporary works are declared separately
Falsework and propping design carries an immediate exposure that general design cover may not contemplate.
03
The tail is long
Ground and structural claims arrive years later. Continuity and run-off are part of the conversation.
04
We present the risk right
Fee income, disciplines, contract values, warranties and claims history. How it’s framed changes what you pay.
You talk to a person. The machines do the typing.
Free review of your engineering consultant cover and costs.
On a policy that ignores what you signed? Leave your details and we’ll call you straight back. One conversation covers the lot.
What the review covers
Design-and-build subcontracts often ask for a guaranteed outcome, which can put a claim outside a policy that only covers reasonable skill and care.
A collateral warranty to a funder, purchaser or tenant can widen who is able to bring a claim against you beyond your immediate client.
We approach insurers on our panel who write engineering consultancy risks, and come back with what they’ll offer.
We explain each option in plain English, including what it doesn’t cover.
If it’s not a risk we can place, we’ll tell you straight away rather than leave you waiting.
No obligation to switch. You decide what fits.
Rather not wait? Call us on 0333 091 3663
Good to know
Engineering consultant questions, answered straight.
What insurance does a consulting engineer need?
Why does fitness for purpose matter so much?
Is temporary works design treated differently?
What do collateral warranties do to my exposure?
How long am I exposed after a project finishes?
Does site inspection change the cover?
Am I covered for a subconsultant's design?
Is expert witness work covered?
Vara Commercial Insurance · 0333 091 3663
Vara is a trading name of Koral AI Operating Company Limited. Vara is an appointed representative of Innovative Risk Labs Ltd, under Firm Reference Number 1060955. Innovative Risk Labs Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, under FRN 609155. We are registered in England and Wales under Registered Company Number 17256222. Registered office: 167-169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor, London, W1W 5PF.