Does Builders Insurance Cover Me If Equipment Or Work Is Damaged By Storm Or Flood?

Dramatic weather is one of the hallmarks of Ireland – but when you’re working on a building site, environmental conditions can wreak havoc. Will your builder’s insurance help you cover the costs of replacing or repairing wet equipment?

Yes it will, as long as you make sure your policy includes contractors’ all risks insurance (CAR). If it does not, you can easily add this on to your existing policy.

Contractors’ all risks insurance covers more than storm and flood, and is well worth getting to protect your tools and equipment.

In this article, we’ll go over the following questions:

• What is contractors’ all risks insurance?
• Will CAR insurance cover my equipment?
• Can I claim for tools damaged by storm or flood?

Builders’ tools and equipment can be very expensive to repair or replace. Make sure you have adequate cover in place so you can get back on your feet after the damage is done.

What is contractors’ all risks insurance?

Contractors’ all risk insurance protects against physical damage to works and site materials that you, as the main contractor, were hired to manage.

Contract works insurance or contractors’ all risks (CAR) insurance – not to be confused with “car insurance”, just to make things more complicated! – gives you protection if the building works or your tools are flooded or destroyed by fire or storm. It also covers accidental damage, such as if you back into a wall with your van.

If a contractor causes damage to a property they were hired to work on, standard public liability insurance would not provide full coverage for everything. Having a contractors’ all risk policy in place would fill the gaps and help pay to rectify the damage.

Will CAR insurance cover my equipment?

Yes – this is one of the best reasons to get contractors’ all risks insurance. Builders’ tools, materials and equipment can run to hundreds of thousands of euros’ worth, and are often vulnerable in transit or when left on a building site.

Unlike builders’ insurance, which covers the business for certain risks, contractors’ all risks insurance covers the building site as well as all materials and tools for all insurable hazards such as fire, flood, storms and more. It also covers any equipment or plant you hire in from other suppliers.

Contractors’ all risks insurance will also cover your equipment for theft. Building sites are notorious hunting spots for opportunistic thieves searching for expensive tools to sell on for cash. While it can seem pedantic or cumbersome or annoying to take photos and list every single piece of machinery and equipment, doing so will make a claim very simple and straightforward if the worst happens.

Approximately €7.8 million worth of items, including €6.3 million worth of tools, were stolen from construction sites in Ireland from January to October 2017. It’s an excellent idea to supplement your insurance by marking your equipment, locking all vehicles securely, never keeping equipment in a van overnight, and installing security locks and fencing where you can.

You should never under-insure the equipment you use to keep your premium down. You’ll only end up paying the price later on.

Can I claim for tools damaged by storm or flood?

Yes. If there’s a bad storm and water leaks through a roof you’re replacing, soaking your tools and equipment, you will be able to make a claim on your contractors’ all risks insurance. Similarly, if a flood renders your electrical equipment useless, you’ll be able to claim back the costs of replacement – providing, of course, you have declared the equipment on your policy.

But contractors’ all risks insurance doesn’t just cover theft, storm and flood, it also covers one of the major causes of damage to building works: fire.

Say for example you are building a house and it burns down before you hand it back to the owner, but no one was injured because it was empty. The cost of the build so far, as well as all plant machinery, tools and equipment, will come back to you thanks to your contractors’ all risks policy.

If you have any questions on Contractors All Risk Insurance give us a call

Want to know more about contractors’ all risks insurance? Give our builder’s insurance experts a call today, and they’ll be able to walk you through everything you need to know.