Builders' Insurance - is £1 million okay?

[BrightGoldenHazeintheMeadow]

We are about to engage a builder for some renovation work on our house. It is a small, old 3 bed. The plan is to extend into the garden – where we will put the kitchen – we currently have a galley kitchen. Also rewiring and general refurbishment. The builder has builders’ insurance up to £1m with Direct Line which includes public liability cover. Looking at the Direct Line website, they offer insurance from £1-10 million. Any thoughts on if £1million is enough for the work we are planning? Thanks.

All I have to compare to is my public liability insurance for my crafting business and for when I taught T'ai Chi. In both instances public liability was for £5 million, so £1 million seems low to me

We have 5 million but we do major construction projects on schools and hospitals.

Thanks very much DPotter and Comefromaway.

We have more so seems low to me too

My employer (school) insists on £5m or £10m for any hot works, so that's what I look for.

Thanks very much Dame and Detail

We have £10m for our business and it's nowhere near as risky as being a builder!

Thanks WhatHave

No - far too low.

I'm a dog walker and mine is five million.

My DH is a self employed tradesman who has to have public liability. He works on new build rather than occupied houses and his is £1m. In an occupied area with more people around I’d expect more than £1m I think

The only question you need to ask really is do you think the builder you are looking to hire has the potential to cause more than £1million of damage to your property while they are working there? If your house is worth more than £1million then I would suggest asking the contractor to increase his cover (assuming you are happy to use them) or seek an alternative contractor.

@Debbie756x

The only question you need to ask really is do you think the builder you are looking to hire has the potential to cause more than £1million of damage to your property while they are working there? If your house is worth more than £1million then I would suggest asking the contractor to increase his cover (assuming you are happy to use them) or seek an alternative contractor.

Sorry to be blunt but this is exactly why you shouldn't seek technical or legal advice on MN because following bad advice could have massive ramifications for you.

Public liability covers a lot more than damage to your property, think about injuries to people, damage to the surrounding areas, legal costs, medical expenses etc etc etc. Lots of info online if you read around it a bit more.

Thanks iwantoneofthose

£1m tends to be the minimum that most insurance companies offer, but I’d expect a professional contractor to have £2m at the very least, and preferably £5m.

I wantoneofthose is right - it’s not just the damage to your house, it’s the damage/injury to third parties too.

@Debbie756x

The only question you need to ask really is do you think the builder you are looking to hire has the potential to cause more than £1million of damage to your property while they are working there? If your house is worth more than £1million then I would suggest asking the contractor to increase his cover (assuming you are happy to use them) or seek an alternative contractor.

Noooooo.

Public liability covers so much more than that!

ok point taken on above and sorry for the poor advice

Why is everyone of the opinion that £1million cover is not enough though? From comments here it seems a lot of tradespeople have more cover and more is certainly better, no argument there, but how much damage, injury, legal costs, medical costs, etc, etc. can one builder cause while renovating a small 3 bed house?

I guess this is just a case of famous last words so best follow the majority here and make sure your builder gets more cover just to be on the safe side.

This is the second time you've posted this thread isn't it op?

@Debbie756x

ok point taken on above and sorry for the poor advice

Why is everyone of the opinion that £1million cover is not enough though? From comments here it seems a lot of tradespeople have more cover and more is certainly better, no argument there, but how much damage, injury, legal costs, medical costs, etc, etc. can one builder cause while renovating a small 3 bed house?

I guess this is just a case of famous last words so best follow the majority here and make sure your builder gets more cover just to be on the safe side.

A million isn't enough because all it takes is one thing to go wrong.

A loose tile falling off a roof and killing or disabling a passer by, for example, or the scaffolding collapsing and crushing a car.

Add up medical fees, lawyers fees, legal costs etc. and you'll soon find that a million quid won't go far at all.

Thanks everyone for your responses

@BrightGoldenHazeintheMeadow

We are about to engage a builder for some renovation work on our house. It is a small, old 3 bed. The plan is to extend into the garden – where we will put the kitchen – we currently have a galley kitchen. Also rewiring and general refurbishment. The builder has builders’ insurance up to £1m with Direct Line which includes public liability cover. Looking at the Direct Line website, they offer insurance from £1-10 million. Any thoughts on if £1million is enough for the work we are planning? Thanks.

I work in insurance and would expect minimum of £2million but would be much more comfortable with £5m for this type of work. As this is liability cover, the value of your house is irrelevant. The cost of a claim could be much higher than this. Also worth checking your own building insurance policy - there may be an obligation on you to only engage contractors with a minimum of £x public liability cover.