11 May 2022

What is site insurance?

A simple green outline of a house, featuring a triangular roof and a rectangular chimney against a white background.
By Self Build Zone
Two construction workers are installing roofing shingles on a partially built brick house under a cloudy sky.

Specialist Site Insurance

Whether you are doing a self build, renovation, or extension, don’t forget about the importance of specialist site insurance, it will save you money and time if things take a turn for the worse on-site, or further down the line. After all, building or renovating your own home is the single biggest investment you make in your life, so why ignore specialist insurance?

There are lots of misconceptions around site insurance, with many people assuming their existing building and home insurance policy will cover any works undertaken as part of a renovation or extension project. However, home insurance doesn’t cover building projects and specifically excludes alteration, renovations and extensions, as well as unoccupied properties.

There’s also no guarantee that your builder/main contractor will have all of the necessary insurance in place and those carrying out a project through a builder with a single contract may feel that, as the builder has their own insurance policy, there is no need to go to the expense of a policy in their own name.

They might be right, but they should check the details of the builder’s policy to firstly make sure that it is current and secondly, that it is sufficient to cover for any eventuality – of which there are many! Many builders’ insurance policies will require you to prove fault in the event of a claim and will only provide cover while the builder is on site. It will also often exclude weather damage, theft and more. This leaves you exposed as the site owner.

Site Insurance is necessary to protect your investment when you’re carrying out a renovation, conversion, extension or new build. Our self build site insurance policies cover the new work, existing structure and rest of the site.

Site insurance protects against and includes:

  • Losses

  • Fire and Theft

  • Flooding

  • Storm Damage

  • Vandalism

  • Accidental Damage

  • Employer’s liability

  • Cover for existing buildings/structures

  • Optional legal expenses cover to help you pursue a claim in court.

Check out our Guide to Self Build Insurance video in association with Homebuilding & Renovating.

You can review some of our specific product pages for in-depth information on Self-Build Zone’s Self-Build Insurance.

Self-Build Zone offers a range of self build site insurance cover. All of its site insurance policies include public liability and employers’ liability cover as standard. For more information, call 0345 230 9874, or visit the rest of our website selfbuildzone.com.

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