If you already have Public Liability Insurance, it’s natural to ask whether Contract Works Insurance is also necessary. The short answer is — yes, you likely need both. They serve very different purposes and work together to protect your construction business.

Here’s the core difference:

• Contract Works Insurance covers the actual project while it’s being built.
  If your site is damaged by a storm, fire, theft, or vandalism, this policy helps cover the cost of repairing or rebuilding the work.
• Public Liability Insurance covers injury or damage to third parties.
  It responds if someone is injured on site or if you accidentally damage someone else’s property during the job.

Why Public Liability isn’t enough on its own:

Public Liability won’t cover:

• Damage to the structure you’re building or renovating
• Tools, equipment, or materials stolen from the site
• Storm, flood, or fire damage to the project
• Damage caused by subcontractors
• Rework due to accidental errors on-site

That’s where Contract Works steps in. It protects the project’s value and helps ensure you’re not left out of pocket if something goes wrong during the build.

Why do most builders and contractors need both?

• Public Liability protects people and property in the vicinity of your work.
• Contract Works protects the work itself — the thing your client is paying you to build.

We offer both one-off policies for individual jobs and annual policies for ongoing work across multiple sites.

See below for a visual overview of the differences in cover:

If you need assistance with your insurance requirements, please contact us today.