Self Build Insurance
A self-build project has to be risk free: the sums involved are far too large for any sort of gambling.
There are a number of policies especially for the self-builder, covering every risk from when you buy the land to when all is finished, and covering these risks both on and off your site, including theft of materials, which are stored at a distance, or damage suffered by others outside the site boundary as a result of your building operations. They all include three different types of cover, as follows.
Public Liability Insurance
This covers legal liability for claims made by any other person or body in respect of death, injury or loss arising from your building operations, and there is standard cover for either £1,000,000 or £2,000,000 in all self-build policies. Claims under this section of the policy are unusual, but when they do arise the sums involved are usually very large.
Employers Liability Insurance
This is a legal requirement if you are employing anyone. It is important to understand what is meant by employment, as most self-builders use sub contractors and do not employ anyone in the general sense of the word. However, as far as an accident to someone who is working for you is concerned, you certainly owe him a 'duty of care' to ensure he does not get injured on your site, and if a sub contractor is injured on your site his solicitor will establish that he has 'deemed contract of employment'
Contracts Works Insurance
This is sometimes called site risks insurance, and protects against the more common losses - theft, vandalism, structural damage, fire, flood, storm damage, damage by delivery vehicles etc. etc. The new building is protected at every stage, and materials are covered as soon as ownership of them passes to the self-builder, whether on or off the site.
Insurance required by others
Self-builders are often obliged to take out special cover by someone who is permitting them to do something. The most common example is when a drainage authority requires that they have five million pound of cover during the half hour that they are making a drain connection.
Other Insurance
Self-build insurance brokers will also help with any special insurance requirements. Among these are legal contingency insurance to cover you against the legal costs involved in dealing with claims arising from lost land titles, old covenants or ransom strips, and also vacant building insurance if for some reason a building is completed and cannot be occupied.
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