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Public Liability Insurance covers claims from third parties who are injured or whose property is damaged by your work. Contractors' All Risks Insurance covers accidental damage to the physical works, plant/machinery, and materials on site relating to a contract. One protects against claims from outside your business. The other protects the project itself. Builders and contractors typically need both.
If you work in construction, renovation, or any kind of building trade, you're probably familiar with both Public Liability Insurance and Contractors All Risks Insurance. Both are common requirements on-site. Both protect against financial loss from something going wrong. But the risks each policy covers are quite different, and understanding how they fit together is important if you want to make sure your business is properly protected.
What is Public Liability Insurance?
Public Liability Insurance protects you if a third party, such as a client, a member of the public, or anyone else who isn't employed by you, suffers an accidental injury or has their property accidentally damaged as a result of your work.
As a tradesperson, the scenarios are straightforward. A client trips over cables you've left across a doorway. A tool falls and damages a neighbouring property. A customer visiting your site is injured by materials stored in the wrong place. Public Liability Insurance covers compensation and legal costs arising from such incidents.
At Rhino, Public Liability Insurance costs from £62.50 a year and includes cover for accidental bodily injury to third parties, accidental damage to third-party property, legal defence costs associated with a claim, and Products Liability for injury or damage caused by products you've supplied.
What is Contractors' All Risks Insurance?
Contractors' All Risks Insurance covers something quite different: the physical works themselves. If the building or structure you're working on as part of a contract is accidentally damaged before completion, Contractors All Risks Insurance covers the cost of putting it right.
It also covers plant/machinery, both hired-in and owned, tools and equipment on site, and materials stored on site awaiting incorporation into the works. In short, it protects the project's physical assets rather than covering claims made by third parties.
At Rhino, Contractors All Risks Insurance costs from £112.00 a year and applies to building, construction, renovation, and civil engineering work. The policy covers accidental damage from any cause not otherwise excluded that occurs on site during the period of insurance.
What's the key difference?
The clearest way to separate the two is to ask: who or what is the claim about?
If a third party is injured or their property is damaged because of your work, that's a Public Liability claim.
If the physical works or materials on site are accidentally damaged, that's a Contractors All Risks claim.
Here's a practical example. A storm rolls through overnight and collapses part of a wall you've built but haven't yet handed over to the client. No one is injured. The client's property isn't damaged. But your work is. That's a Contractors All Risks claim - the cost of rebuilding that wall falls to the policy, not out of your pocket.
Now imagine a client's visitor trips over building materials left near the site's entrance and breaks their wrist. No damage to the works. But a third party is injured. That's a Public Liability claim.
Both scenarios happen on the same site. One policy doesn't cover the other.
What does Contractors All Risks Insurance cover in detail?
The policy covers several categories of asset on site:
Contract works: The physical building or structure being constructed, including all materials incorporated into it.
Plant, tools and equipment: Machinery and tools owned or hired for use on the project.
Offsite materials: Materials purchased for the project and awaiting delivery, up to £50,000 per occurrence.
The policy also includes useful extensions such as debris removal (up to 10% of the loss), professional fees for reinstatement (up to 15% of the contract value or £250,000), maintenance period cover for up to 24 months after completion, and continuing hire charges if hired plant is damaged and unavailable.
It applies to contracts up to one year in duration with a value up to £250,000, unless a higher value has been agreed with the insurer.
What isn't covered by Contractors All Risks Insurance?
The policy excludes defects in design, workmanship, or materials from its core scope. So if a wall collapses because it was built incorrectly, the defective element itself may not be covered, though any consequential damage caused by the collapse may be. Theft from unattended vehicles is excluded unless the vehicle is locked and secured with tools hidden from view. Existing structures on the site that aren't being worked on are also excluded unless agreed separately.
For claims arising from professional design errors or specifications, Professional Indemnity Insurance is the relevant cover.
Do builders and contractors need both?
For most building and construction businesses, yes. The two policies address different aspects of on-site risk that coexist. Public Liability Insurance protects you against claims from third parties. Contractors' All Risks Insurance protects the physical works and equipment on site. Neither substitutes for the other.
If you employ anyone on site, Employers' Liability Insurance also becomes a legal requirement alongside both of these.
A builder working on a residential renovation who holds all three covers has meaningful protection across the main risk categories: claims from the client and public, damage to the works in progress, and injuries to their own workers. Without all three, there are gaps.
How much do they cost?
Cost | Yearly | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
Public Liability Insurance | From £62.50 | From £5.21 |
Contractors' All Risks Insurance | From £112.00 | From £9.33 |
Together, both covers cost from £174.50 a year. On most building contracts, that's a fraction of your daily rate and far less than the cost of a single uninsured claim or repair job.
Check out our guides on Public Liability Insurance and Contractors All Risks Insurance for a deep-dive on both products.
Working in construction or renovation? Make sure you're covered on both fronts. Get your instant quote from Rhino and find out how much it costs to protect your work and your business.
Frequently Asked Questions
Public Liability Insurance covers claims from third parties who are injured or whose property is damaged by your work. Contractors' All Risks Insurance covers accidental damage to the physical works, plant, and materials on site. Public Liability protects against claims from outside your business. Contractors All Risks protects the project itself. Builders and contractors typically need both.
Contractors All Risks Insurance covers accidental damage to the contract works (the physical building or structure being constructed), plant, tools and equipment on site, and materials stored on site awaiting incorporation into the works. It also includes extensions such as debris removal, professional fees for reinstatement up to 15% of the contract value, and maintenance period cover for up to 24 months after completion. At Rhino, it applies to contracts up to one year in duration with a value up to £250,000.
Contractors All Risks Insurance excludes defects in design, workmanship, or materials from its core scope, though consequential damage caused by a defect may be covered. Theft from unattended vehicles is excluded unless the vehicle is locked and secured with tools hidden from view. Existing structures on site that are not being worked on are also excluded unless agreed separately with the insurer.
For most building and construction businesses, yes. Public Liability Insurance protects against claims from third parties such as clients and members of the public. Contractors All Risks Insurance protects the physical works and equipment on site against accidental damage. Neither policy substitutes for the other. Together at Rhino, both covers cost from £174.50 a year.
