How Do I Make A Claim Under My Builders Insurance?

If the worst should happen and your building project has gone awry, you should already have a solid builders’ insurance policy in place. But how do you go about making a claim, and what do you do first?

When you buy any builders’ insurance policy, you will be provided with a contact number or email address. These are the experts you need to call if someone gets hurt, makes a claim against you, or your building site is destroyed by fire or storm.

All you need to do is tell them what happened, and what you know about the situation. These experts will offer assistance, advice and start the damage limitation and claims process immediately.

In this article, we’ll cover the following questions:

• When do I need to call my builders’ insurance?
• How do I make a claim on my builders’ insurance?
• What happens after I make a claim for builders’ insurance?

If something goes wrong, don’t worry. All you need to do is call the number your insurance provider has given you.

When do I need to call my builders’ insurance?

In short, as soon as possible. If anyone is injured by an event on site, make sure they’re safe before anything else. Call emergency services if necessary, and take care of the situation at hand. Once everything has calmed down, then it’s time to call your insurance provider.

Once you, your workers and other members of the public are safe, you need to obtain key information from any witnesses such as contact details and accident reports.

Do not delay or this may compromise your claim. This means your insurer may not investigate and defend you if you have delayed reporting an incident.

It is a condition set out in your policy document that you notify your insurer as soon as you possibly can. You may be asked to complete a form, describing the event and noting down witnesses and their contact details. Again – don’t delay in completing this form and returning it.

How do I make a claim on my builders’ insurance?

Just phone up your insurance provider and tell them what happened. No matter if there was a fire, an accident, flood or other disaster, they will calmly and helpfully walk you through the next steps.

Once you describe the incident, they will open up a claim on your insurance. Your insurance company may appoint a professional to investigate the circumstances of the claim: don’t worry, this is perfectly normal.

During the course of the claim you may receive a lot of letters, emails, notifications or PIAB correspondence. It’s very important that you do not reply to any of these messages. You may inadvertently land yourself in hot water. All you need to do is forward any such correspondence to your insurance company and let them handle it.

What happens after I make a claim for builders’ insurance?

Once the site has been surveyed and your insurance provider has talked to all the parties that have been involved, your claim may be settled. If a member of the public was injured and claimed under your third party liability policy, they would be awarded compensation for their injuries and any missed work.

If the building work in progress was damaged or destroyed by flood, storm or fire, your insurance would help cover the costs of the labour and materials that would be needed to start again from scratch.

However, if your insurance provider does not agree to pay out, any damages or losses would come out of your own pocket. This means you would have to pay for fixing the damage yourself.

This is why it’s crucial to have comprehensive insurance, always be upfront and honest while making a claim, and do everything in your power to help them process your claim. If something goes wrong, it could be a very expensive mistake and potentially ruin your business for good.

Confused about builders’ insurance? There’s no need: all you have to do is give us a call, and we can help find the perfect tradesman’s insurance for your business.