We come across on a regular basis building contractors where they tend to start branching out into more bespoke areas.
This could be:
- Demolition and Soft Strip Demolition
- Asbestos Removal
- Piling
- Underpinning
- Excavation Works
- Roofing works
The above trades in isolation or one off contracts are high risk trades which insurers will not insure as standard under contractors all risk insurance policies or standard tradesman liability insurance policies.
The increased risk is due to the insurers are used to your standard activities which would involve a new build / conversion / extension / renovation unless stated otherwise.
They are fully aware that some of the above high risk trades might need to be performed and if they are then they would be carried out by bona-fide sub-contractors who would carry their own liability insurance.
This doesn’t mean though, that you should not declare that the above activities will take place as part of an overall project.
The more transparent you are with insurers for high risk liability insurance trades, the less likely there will be any issues at point of claim.
On the flip side if you are carrying the high risk trades out in house, even more reason to declare.
What often happens then is that a contractor might be asked to perform some of these liability risks in isolation for other contractors projects.
Some examples :
A property developer might come along and ask a building contractor to perform some underpinning works or piling works for a new build property.
You may get an enquiry from a prospect client to install a new roof for them.
Someone might ask to take down a load baring wall by means of soft strip demolition or demolish a house by form of machine and demolition.
Or It could be a high risk trade you are carrying out for your own project for example:
You might come across some asbestos in the roof or in tiles. You do have a licence to remove this hazardous waste, but you haven’t notified your insurers.
Again soft strip demolition of an garage of an existing extension.
Underpinning works for a new extension
If the Contractors insurance policy is aware that these works will be carried out in isolation then great, no problem.
But if these high risk trades are carried out without their insurers knowledge and there is a claimable incident, then there’s a huge issue.
In some cases an even bigger issue if the property developer you are working for isn’t insured correctly and he has nowhere to claim. So it could prove extremely costly for someone down the line!!!
So its always best to be transparent when taking out a contractors all risk insurance policy and think ahead. You must think about all of the activities you undertake and that they have been listed to the insurers, giving your wage roll for that element and a percentage split of your turnover for each high risk liability insurance activity, so they know exactly what they are covering. We always ask our clients if they force undertaking any of these activities in isolation, because if they do we can make sure they are set up with the correct insurer who will facilitate the high risks.
Contact us now to speak to one of our contracting specialists 020 8440 7400
