Contractor insurance — also called trades insurance or tradesman insurance — is the pack that lets a UK building, electrical, plumbing, or fit-out firm start the job: public liability so you can get on site, employers’ liability if anyone works for you, and professional indemnity if you design or advise. It is not one policy.
Meshed is an FCA-regulated UK broker (FRN 1033248). We place this cover for UK limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders, from a panel of insurers. Broker fee is a flat 10%, with no admin add-ons.
The injury-or-damage cover lives on Public Liability Insurance UK. Staff injury is Employers’ Liability Insurance UK. Design or advice claims sit on Professional Indemnity Insurance UK. For the wider “what does a UK company need” list, use the business insurance hub. This page is the sector: contractors and trades firms that work on sites, projects, and installations.
Who this is for
UK limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders that contract or trade, including:
Building and construction companies
Electrical, plumbing, heating, and multi-trade firms
Fit-out, installation, and specialist trade companies
Contractors working on domestic or commercial sites
Trade businesses that employ staff, or use labour-only subcontractors
Companies whose client or main contractor will not let them start without a certificate
We work with limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders, typically up to £30 million turnover.
If you are a tech or startup company, use Startup Insurance UK. If the work is advice or design more than site labour, start on Professional Indemnity Insurance UK. If you let property, that is Landlord Insurance UK. Payments, EMI, or other regulated financial services sit on Fintech Insurance UK.
Who we have helped
We place cover for UK limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders in construction and trades: firms whose main contractor wants a certificate before they go on site, businesses still on a one-person wording, and trade firms that need employers’ liability in place before they hire.
What contractor and trades insurance actually is
It is a pack, not a product. Three covers do most of the work. The rest is extra.
Public liability is the claim if someone who is not your employee is injured, or their property is damaged, because of your work. A customer trips on your cable. A pipe burst soaks the floor below. A tile comes off and hits a parked car. Clients, main contractors, and local authorities routinely ask for this before you start, often at £2 million, £5 million, or £10 million. It is not a legal duty for most companies. It is how you get on site. The product page is Public Liability Insurance UK. Do not size it from here.
Employers’ liability is the claim if someone who works for you is injured or made ill by the job. Once you employ staff, you almost certainly have to hold it. That is the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act, not a site rule. The certificate has to be for at least £5 million, from an authorised insurer. Most UK policies are written at £10 million. Labour-only subcontractors, casual labour, and apprentices can count as employees for this test. A bona fide subcontractor with their own cover is a different question. Tell us who actually works on the job. The product page is Employers’ Liability Insurance UK.
Professional indemnity is the claim if a client says your advice, design, or specification cost them money. A wiring design that will not pass. A measurement that is wrong. A method statement that does not work. Site labour on its own often does not need this. Design-and-build, specification, or any paid advice usually does. Contracts increasingly name a PI limit even for trade firms. The product page is Professional Indemnity Insurance UK.
Those three are not substitutes. Public liability will not pay a design claim. Professional indemnity will not pay an injured visitor. Employers’ liability will not pay a member of the public.
What else we look at
A site firm often needs more than liability.
Tools and kit — the things you own and take to the job. Theft from a van is the claim people remember. Overnight on site is the one they miss. Check the overnight and unattended-vehicle clauses before you assume the tools are covered.
Plant — larger kit you own or hire. Hired-in plant is often the hire company’s problem only if their conditions say so. Read the hire sheet. Ongoing hire charges after a theft sit on this cover, not on public liability.
Contract works — damage to the job itself while it is unfinished: fire, flood, theft, vandalism to the works and the materials you are responsible for. Public liability pays other people’s property. It does not rebuild your half-finished extension.
We will say whether we can place tools, plant, or contract works for your jobs. We will not pretend every trade firm needs the same extras, and we will not invent a named panel for them.
Directors of a limited company can still be sued as people for how they ran it. That is Directors’ and Officers’ Insurance UK, not this page. A ransomware lock or a mailbox takeover sits on Cyber Insurance UK.
Is contractor insurance required by law?
Not as a single policy. There is no statute that says a UK contractor or trades firm must hold “contractor insurance”.
Three things still bite:
Employers’ liability. If the company employs anyone, this is a legal duty. Trading without it can mean a fine of £2,500 for each day you are not properly insured. The family-member exemption that applies to some unincorporated businesses does not apply to limited companies. A company whose only employee is a director who owns 50% or more of the issued share capital may be exempt — check the Health and Safety Executive guide, do not guess. The detail is on the employers’ liability page.
The contract. Main contractors, housing associations, local authorities, and commercial clients routinely name public liability — and often professional indemnity — as a condition of starting. Fail the certificate and you do not get on site. That is not a statute. It is how the work is won.
The work itself. A serious injury or a damaged building lands on the company whether a contract asked for a policy or not.
How much cover do I need?
Enough for the contract in front of you, then enough for a claim that is worse than the last one you imagined.
Public liability: domestic jobs often start at £1 million or £2 million. Commercial, public-sector, and main-contractor work commonly asks for £5 million or £10 million. We match the certificate to the contract, not to a comparison-site default. Size it on Public Liability Insurance UK.
Employers’ liability: the law says at least £5 million. The market writes £10 million. Size it on Employers’ Liability Insurance UK.
Professional indemnity: whatever the contract or the professional body already named, then enough for the design or advice you actually sell. Size it on Professional Indemnity Insurance UK.
Do not buy a cheap comparison pack and hope it still fits once you have staff, hired plant, or a JCT job.
What it costs
Premium follows the trade and the work: what you do, whether you work at height or with heat, turnover, headcount, who you use on site, claims, and the limits the contract names. A two-person electrical company and a groundworks firm with the same turnover will not price the same.
We will not publish a “from £X a month” figure that only exists for a comparison-site public-liability quote.
What you can control: a proposal that describes the work you actually do, who is on site, and the contracts you have already signed. Underwriters load the files that are vague.
How Meshed works
You tell us the company, the trade, the work, turnover, headcount, who else is on site, current cover, and any certificate a client has already named.
We review the documents and flag gaps in public liability, employers’ liability, professional indemnity, tools, plant, and contract works — and whether the current wording is still written for a sole trader.
We go to our panel and come back with options.
You bind. We stay on for mid-term changes and renewal.
Straightforward SME risks are often quoted in minutes. Heat work, height, scaffolding, demolition, large contract works, and claims histories can take longer. We will say whether we can place it before you spend a week on forms.
Read next
What insurance does a UK business need — company-level overview
Public Liability Insurance UK — get-on-site certificate
Professional Indemnity Insurance UK — design and advice claims
Startup Insurance UK — tech and SaaS, not site trades
FAQs
What is contractor insurance?
The set of covers a contracting company holds so it can do the work: public liability, employers’ liability if it employs anyone, and professional indemnity if it designs or advises. Tools, plant, and contract works sit on top when the jobs need them. It is not one product.
What is trades insurance? Is it different from tradesman insurance?
No. Trades insurance, tradesman insurance, and contractor insurance are the same subject sold under three labels. This page is that subject, for limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders.
Do I need contractor insurance in the UK?
Not as a blanket legal duty. You need employers’ liability if you employ staff. You need public liability if a client or a main contractor will not let you start without it — which, for site work, is most of the time. You need professional indemnity if you design, specify, or advise. For a limited company that actually goes on site, that is usually a yes.
When do I need contractor insurance?
Before the job that asks for a certificate, and before you employ anyone. Main contractors, housing associations, local authorities, and commercial clients routinely name public liability — and often professional indemnity — as a condition of starting. Employers’ liability starts when you become an employer under the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969.
Do main contractors ask for an insurance certificate before I start?
Usually yes. They name a public liability limit — often £2 million, £5 million, or £10 million — and ask for a certificate of insurance. Some also name professional indemnity if you design or advise. Fail the certificate and you do not get on site.
I am a sole trader. Can you help?
Yes. We place contractor and trades cover for sole traders as well as limited companies and partnerships.
What is the difference between public liability and employers’ liability?
Public liability is injury or property damage to someone who is not your employee. Employers’ liability is injury or illness to someone who works for you. Most trade firms with staff need both. They are not substitutes. The pages are Public Liability Insurance UK and Employers’ Liability Insurance UK.
Do I need professional indemnity if I only do the physical work?
Often no, if you only labour to someone else’s design. Yes, if you design, specify, choose a method, or give paid advice — or if the contract already names PI. When in doubt, show us the scope. The product page is Professional Indemnity Insurance UK.
Do you cover tools, plant, or the unfinished works?
Sometimes. Tell us what you own, what you hire, and what the contract says about the works. We will say if we can place it. Public liability does not do those jobs.
Can you cover roofing, scaffolding, heat work, or demolition?
Sometimes. Those are specialist. A standard trades wording often excludes them or loads them heavily. Tell us the trade and how the work is done. We will say if we can place it.
How much does contractor insurance cost?
Premium follows the trade, the work, headcount, and the limits the contract names. We will not publish a “from £X a month” comparison-site figure. Meshed’s broker fee is a flat 10%, with no admin add-ons.
I am an IT contractor. Is this the right page?
If you are a limited-company tech or startup firm, use Startup Insurance UK. If the risk is a client claiming your work cost them money, use Professional Indemnity Insurance UK. This page is for contractors and trades firms that work on sites, projects, and installations.
I let property on the side. Is that this page?
No. Use Landlord Insurance UK for rented buildings. This page is the trading company.
Are you an insurer?
No. Meshed is a broker. Mesh'd Limited trading as Meshed is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference number 1033248.
How fast can we bind?
Clean renewals and a standard limited-company trade risk can be same-week. New employers’ liability before a first hire is usually straightforward. Heat, height, scaffolding, large works, or a wording still written for a sole trader take longer.
Vincent Liu
Co-founder & CTO
