Contractors Liability Insurance

Public liability protects your business against third-party claims from clients, visitors, or members of the public for injury or property damage connected to your work. Employers’ liability protects your employees, ensuring they have the support they need if something unexpected happens while working for you. Together, they form the foundation of a well-protected contracting business.

If you operate as a sole trader with no employees, public liability is the core cover to have in place. It gives your clients confidence that your business is protected, and in many cases is a requirement before work begins on site. Our advisors are happy to help you identify the right combination of cover for where your business is today and where it is headed.

Contractors’ All Risks (CAR) provides broad protection for your project while work is ongoing, covering the works themselves, your own plant and equipment, hired-in plant, and tools against a wide range of events including fire, theft, storm, and accidental damage. It can be arranged annually or for a specific project, giving you the flexibility to match cover to how you work.

Products liability extends your protection to cover any materials, components, or products you supply or install as part of your contracting work. It is a valuable layer of cover for contractors who source and supply as well as build, ensuring your business is fully protected across every part of what you do.

Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance is designed for contractors who provide design, advisory, or specification services alongside their build work. It ensures that your professional expertise is backed by the right protection and is increasingly required by clients and project funders as standard. Gallagher can arrange PI on an annual basis or specifically for a single project.

An OCIP is a single, consolidated insurance programme arranged by the project owner to cover all contractors and subcontractors on a development. It creates a seamless layer of protection across the entire project, removing coverage gaps between parties, simplifying administration, and often including Delayed Start-Up (DSU) coverage. Gallagher has extensive experience structuring and placing OCIPs for major projects across Ireland and internationally.

Latent defects insurance, sometimes called inherent defects insurance, provides long-term structural protection, typically for 10 to 12 years after project completion. It gives funders, investors, and purchasers confidence in the quality and integrity of a new development, and is increasingly a standard requirement for residential and commercial projects.

Yes. Hired-In Plant Insurance covers machinery and equipment that you bring on to a project from a third party, for the period it is in your care. It is a practical and often essential addition for contractors who regularly hire specialist equipment, ensuring you are fully covered across everything on site, not just what you own.

In most cases, Gallagher can arrange cover and issue documentation the same day. Our team works efficiently to understand your requirements and get you protected quickly, so you can focus on the job at hand without delay.

Absolutely. Our insurance solutions are built to evolve alongside your business, whether you are expanding your team, taking on larger or more complex projects, or moving into new trades. Your dedicated Gallagher adviser will work with you to ensure your cover always reflects where your business is going, not just where it has been.

We work with a wide range of trades and professionals across Ireland and beyond, including general builders, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, roofers, civil engineers, steel erectors, scaffolding contractors, plant hire operators, painters, flooring and fit-out contractors, and more. Whether you are a sole trader or a growing construction company, our team has the expertise to design the right programme for you with capability to cover you and workers anywhere in the world.