Road Surfacing and Highways Contractors Insurance
Road surfacing and highways contractors lay asphalt, resurface car parks and private roads, plane and inlay worn surfaces, raise ironwork and carry out associated works on or next to the public highway. The work involves hot materials, heavy plant and, very often, live traffic and pedestrians a few metres away.
Third party exposure is high. Vehicles can be struck by plant or damaged by loose chippings and bitumen spray. Pedestrians can trip on an unfinished edge or a temporary ramp. A badly set out fall can send surface water into a building, and a planer can strike a shallow service or a gully connection.
Highway work also comes with its own regulatory framework. Works under Section 278 and Section 38 agreements, and works in the street under the New Roads and Street Works Act, carry requirements for accredited operatives, traffic management and reinstatement standards, and highway authorities typically ask for evidence of insurance before work begins.
We can help you set out the split between private surfacing, car parks and adopted highway work, and arrange liability, plant, contract works and other covers that suit the contracts you take on, including checking how your plant is insured when it travels or works on the public road.
Common claims and risk exposures
The exposures that produce claims in this trade, rather than a generic list.
Working next to live traffic
Traffic management protects operatives and the public, but collisions with plant, cones struck into vehicles and drivers misreading a lane closure all lead to claims. The design and set out of traffic management, and who provides it, affect both the risk and the liability.
Damage to vehicles and property
Tack coat and bitumen overspray on parked cars, loose chippings after surface dressing cracking windscreens and asphalt tracked onto shop floors are frequent, moderate claims. Individually they are small; together they shape how an insurer views the account.
Hot materials and burners
Asphalt is laid hot, and hand burners, infrared heaters and bitumen boilers are used for joints and repairs. Burns to operatives and fires near buildings, vehicles or vegetation are recognised hazards, and many insurers apply heat or hot works conditions.
Planing and underground services
Road planers remove the existing surface, and in some locations services, ducts and old tram rails sit shallower than expected. Striking a cable or a gully connection can cause injury, flooding or disruption, and the location records you held at the time will be asked for.
Trips, falls and drainage after completion
Unfinished edges, temporary ramps and unmarked level changes cause trip claims while works are in progress. After completion, ponding or water directed towards a building can lead to property damage claims if levels and falls were wrong.
The cover we arrange
We arrange insurance around the work you carry out, the contracts you take and the sites you work on. The cover available will depend on the individual risk and the terms offered by insurers.
Public liability
Third party injury and property damage, including damage to vehicles and claims arising from work on the highway. Highway authorities and main contractors commonly ask for £5m or £10m.
- Third party injury and vehicle damage
- Damage to services and neighbouring property
- Claims from highway users
- Limits typically £5m or £10m
Employers' liability
A legal requirement once you employ people, and it can be arranged where required, subject to the policy terms. Struck by plant incidents, burns and fume exposure are the risks underwriters focus on.
- Operatives and plant drivers
- Burns and hot materials
- Hand arm vibration and noise
- Labour only subcontractors under your direction
Contractors plant
Pavers, rollers, planers, chip spreaders and hot boxes represent significant value and are often left on site overnight. Hired in plant needs continuing hire charges included.
- Owned plant, scheduled or blanket
- Hired in plant and continuing hire
- Theft and malicious damage on site
- Tracking and immobilisation conditions
Road risks for plant
Plant driven on the public road, even briefly between sites, may need motor insurance that meets the Road Traffic Act. Many plant policies do not include it, so it needs checking against your motor fleet policy.
- Self propelled plant on the public road
- Plant working on the highway
- Interaction with the motor fleet policy
- Low loader transport
Contract works
Covers surfacing, kerbs, drainage and materials until handover. Damage to newly laid surfaces by third party vehicles or vandalism before handover is a typical claim.
- Surfacing and kerbing in progress
- Materials on site
- Damage by third parties before handover
- Joint names where the contract requires
What an underwriter will ask
Having these to hand shortens the process considerably, and usually improves the terms.
- Turnover split between private surfacing, car parks, adopted highway and Section 278 or Section 38 work
- Whether you work on live carriageways, and who designs and installs traffic management
- Street works qualifications held by supervisors and operatives
- Whether you carry out planing, surface dressing or hot box repairs
- Hot materials handling and burner use, and any hot works procedures
- Service location procedure before planing or excavation
- How plant moves between sites, and road risks cover
- Plant schedule with values, and overnight security
- Whether you design levels and drainage, or work to a client's design
- Five years of claims, particularly vehicle damage and trip claims
What affects the cost of your insurance?
The main factors insurers consider when assessing the premium.
Highway exposure
Live carriageway work carries more third party risk than private car parks and estate roads. The split between them affects terms more than total turnover does.
Plant fleet and security
The value of the fleet drives the plant premium, and tracking, immobilisers and secure overnight storage moderate it.
Traffic management and accreditation
Qualified supervisors, accredited traffic management and documented method statements show an underwriter that highway work is properly controlled.
Claims frequency
Frequent small vehicle damage and trip claims affect pricing because insurers price the pattern. Photographs of site set up and signage help defend them.
Conditions and exclusions to consider
Terms vary between insurers, so treat these as the questions to ask rather than a description of any one policy.
Road risks under liability policies
Public liability usually excludes liability that should be covered under motor insurance. Plant used on the public road may therefore be outside the liability policy and needs to be covered under a motor or road risks policy instead.
Heat and hot works conditions
Where a policy includes hot works conditions, they often require extinguishers on hand and clearance of combustible materials. Breach of these conditions during a fire claim can lead to it being declined or reduced, depending on the policy.
Defective surfacing
Relaying a surface that ravelled, deformed or failed its specification is a rectification cost and is generally not insured. Damage that the defect causes to other property, such as flooding from wrong falls, may be covered.
Coal tar and contaminated arisings
Older roads can contain coal tar, which is typically classified as hazardous waste once planed. The cost of correctly disposing of contaminated arisings is a contract matter and is not normally insured, so testing and pricing for it before work starts protects your margin.
Common questions
What insurance do road surfacing contractors need?
Public liability is the core cover, typically £5m or £10m for highway and commercial work. Employers' liability is a legal requirement once you employ people and can be arranged where required, subject to the policy terms. Contractors plant covers pavers, rollers and planers, and road risks cover may be needed for plant that uses the public road. Contract works covers surfacing until handover.
Do I need special insurance for Section 278 work?
Section 278 agreements under the Highways Act 1980 allow developers to carry out works to the existing public highway, and the highway authority usually sets insurance requirements, often a minimum public liability limit and indemnity wording. Your policy needs to meet those terms, so it is worth sending us the agreement or the authority's requirements before work starts.
Is my roller covered when it drives on the road between sites?
Not necessarily. Plant used on a public road may need motor insurance meeting the Road Traffic Act, and many contractors plant and liability policies exclude it. Whether your motor fleet policy picks it up depends on how the plant is listed. It is worth checking before it happens rather than after an accident.
Who pays if chippings break a windscreen after surface dressing?
If the damage arose from your work and you were negligent, for example by not sweeping or signing properly, public liability would usually respond, subject to any excess. Many of these claims are small and fall within the excess. Signage, speed restrictions and sweeping records help defend claims where the work was properly managed.
Am I covered if a new car park floods a neighbouring building?
Damage to the neighbouring building may be covered under public liability if it arose from your negligence. Correcting the levels and relaying the surface is generally your own cost. If you designed the levels and drainage, the claim may also involve professional indemnity, which is worth considering where you take on design responsibility.
How do I get a quote from True Risk Solutions?
Call 01304 262880 and speak to a broker, or email info@truerisksolutions.co.uk with what you do, what you need cover for and a phone number with the best time to call, and a broker will call you back. We need a phone number to quote, because the cover and the price depend on questions that are quicker to answer on a call than by email.
Speak to a specialist who understands your industry
Tell us about your business and the work you undertake, and we will come back to you with cover options built around it. Call 01304 262880, or email us with a phone number and the best time to call and a broker will ring you back.