Every job is somebody’s home or livelihood.
Commercial insurance for builders and main contractors of any size: a two-person team on extensions, or a firm running several sites at once.
Builders & main contractor insurance
Usually includes
Public liability
Employers’ liability
Premises & contents
Business interruption
Contract works & materials
Tools, plant & equipment
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.
The tools, the van, your liability and the work in progress, priced in one go rather than piece by piece.
Know your cover
What is builders insurance?
Building work puts you inside other people’s property, with your own people and often other trades on site at the same time. Add materials sat waiting to be used and the plant you’ve bought to do the job, and there’s a lot moving at once, whether you’re running one job or six. Cover for it comes as a commercial combined policy: property, liability and business interruption in one, with fleet alongside, sized to what you actually run.
The work in progress
A half-finished job is exposed in a way a finished one isn’t, weather, theft, damage, all of it.
The people on site
Your own team and the subcontractors you bring in. Both have to be declared.
The days you can’t work
If your yard or store is out of action, the jobs stall and the money stops with them.
Who it’s for
Whatever you build.
✓
Jobbing builders
Extensions, loft conversions and domestic work, on your own or with a small team.
✓
General contractors
Running several trades on site, with subcontractors in and out.
✓
New-build contractors
Ground-up work with higher values on site at any one time.
✓
Renovation specialists
Working inside occupied homes, with everything that involves.
✓
Commercial fit-out builders
Office and retail work, often to a tight programme.
✓
Groundworkers & site-prep
Machinery and excavation before the build starts.
What we cover
Cover built around the way you work.
We get to know how you actually run before we build anything around it.
Public liability
Injury or damage arising from your work, on site or on your own premises.
Employers’ liability
Required by law from your first employee, and it scales with how many you take on.
Premises & contents
The yard, unit, store or office you work out of, and everything in it.
Business interruption
If your base is out of action, jobs stall. This covers the trading you lose.
Contract works & materials
Work in progress and the materials waiting to go into it, on site or in the store.
Tools, plant & equipment
Owned plant, power tools and site equipment, on site or in the van.
Legal expenses
Contract disputes, employment matters and the cost of defending a claim.
Fleet
Vans, tippers and pickups on one fleet policy alongside the main cover.
Cyber & data
A payment diverted to someone posing as a subcontractor, and an attack on the office systems that hold your contracts and payroll.
Who this cover tends to suit.
This cover is generally bought by builders and building contractors at any size, from a two-person team to a firm running several sites. Not every part will apply to every business, so tell us how you’re set up and we’ll show you what’s relevant rather than sell you cover you don’t need.
Worth knowing
Check the details before you choose.
Work in progress
A part-built job carries different exposure from a finished one.
Subcontractors on site
Whether they’re labour-only (working under your control, with your materials) or bona fide (running their own business, with their own insurance) changes how they’re accounted for.
Heights and depths
Roof work and excavation both get looked at more closely.
Occupied properties
Working in someone’s home while they live in it needs flagging.
Every site is different.
A loft conversion and a new-build plot don’t carry the same risk. We ask different questions for each, and we’ll quote both.
Builders
General contractors
New-build
Extensions
Loft conversions
Renovations
Groundworks
Site prep
Builders
General contractors
New-build
Extensions
Loft conversions
Renovations
Groundworks
Site prep
Commercial fit-out
Domestic builders
Design & build
Refurbishment
Basement work
Barn conversions
Property developers
Small works
Commercial fit-out
Domestic builders
Design & build
Refurbishment
Basement work
Barn conversions
Property developers
Small works
Why Vara
Bespoke service for you & your business,
without the big-firm minimum.
01
How your sites are run changes the premium
A two-person team on extensions and a contractor running six sites at once are rated on different work, different payroll and different site controls. We ask how you operate before we approach anyone.
02
Cover that follows the job
Site, store and van. We make sure nothing drops down the gap between them.
03
Certificates your contracts will accept
Principals and clients want proof before you start. We turn it round quickly.
04
We present the risk right
The work you take on, how you’re staffed and your claims history all change what you pay.
You talk to a person. The machines do the typing.
Free review of your builders cover and costs.
Cover spread across three or four policies? Leave your details and we’ll call you straight back. One conversation covers the lot.
What the review covers
A part-built job carries different exposure from a finished one, so getting the values right matters.
Whether the subcontractors you use are labour-only or bona fide changes how they’re accounted for, so tell us which you use.
We approach insurers on our panel who write builders’ 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
Builders questions, answered straight.
What insurance does a builder actually need?
Are the subcontractors I use covered?
Is a half-finished job covered if it's damaged?
Can my vans go on the same arrangement?
Does working in occupied homes change anything?
How is business interruption calculated?
Are my materials and stock covered, or just tools?
What does this cover if I lease my premises?
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.