Declined for groundworks insurance? Here’s what to do next
Why groundworkers get declined online
Comparison sites and quote-and-buy insurers work on tick-boxes, and groundworks sits awkwardly in a tick-box world because the risk hides behind the trade name. One groundworker digs footings and drainage runs on open housing sites; another excavates deep beside occupied buildings. The automated systems can’t tell them apart, so they set blunt rules — depth caps, blanket exclusions for underpinning, an automatic no for claims — and decline everyone outside them. Answer honestly and the system knocks you out before a human ever looks. That’s the problem, and it’s also the way out.
The usual trip-wires
1. Depth limits
Many liability policies restrict work below a stated depth. Most of your year might sit comfortably inside it — then a deep drainage connection or an attenuation tank pushes one job past the limit. Online, that means a decline; on a policy you already hold, it can mean a gap you discover at claim time. Underwriters who deal with groundworks can extend depth on its merits: how often you go deeper, what ground you work in, and what shoring and support you use.
2. Underpinning and basement work
Underpinning and basement excavation are commonly excluded, or referred to a specialist desk, on standard trade policies — you are deliberately taking the support out from under something that already stands. That doesn’t make it uninsurable; it makes it a risk that has to be presented properly. Method, engineering input, sequencing and supervision are what the underwriter wants to understand.
3. Work near or affecting existing structures
Even without formal underpinning, excavation close to occupied buildings, retaining walls or party walls raises the stakes: vibration, settlement, undermined foundations. Forms ask a single yes/no question about work affecting existing structures, and yes usually ends the quote. An underwriter asks what the work is, how close, and what precautions sit around it.
4. Service strikes — the claim insurers expect
Cable and pipe strikes are one of the most frequent sources of groundworks claims, and a strike on your record won’t shock anyone who insures diggers for a living. What underwriters want to see is the culture around it: CAT and genny scanning as routine, service plans obtained before you break ground, permits to dig, trial holes near known services. That evidence is worth far more than a clean-sounding form — and it’s exactly what a broker puts in the presentation.
5. Contract conditions: JCT, NEC and what they drag in
Work under JCT or NEC forms and the contract may make you responsible for insuring the works themselves — which pulls in contract works cover — and may specify minimum liability limits or other insurance conditions. Signing first and checking later is how firms end up uninsured for obligations they’ve already accepted. A broker reads the insurance clauses against your actual cover and closes the gaps before the job starts.
6. Plant: owned and hired-in
Plant you own needs insuring in its own right. Plant you hire in is different: the hire terms usually make you responsible for the machine while it’s in your charge, and often for continuing hire charges while a damaged machine is off the road. Hired-in plant cover exists for exactly this, and the split between owned and hired-in kit is one of the first things to get straight.
7. Claims and new ventures
One claim can trigger an automatic online decline, and many quote-and-buy insurers refuse new ventures because there’s no trading history to rate. Underwriters look at what happened, what changed — and, for a new firm, how many years you’ve spent doing the work for someone else.
Why the broker route works differently
A broker doesn’t feed your details into the same machine and hope. We present the whole risk in writing to human underwriters — including insurers and specialist schemes that don’t sell through comparison sites at all: your real depth profile, work near structures, your scanning routine, your plant, what changed after any claim. We can’t promise acceptance — nobody honestly can — but for most groundworks businesses we can usually find a market, and we’ll tell you quickly if we can’t.
The cover a groundworks business usually needs
Most packages are built from the same blocks: public liability for injury or damage to others — including service strikes; employers’ liability, a legal requirement if you employ anyone, including labour-only subcontractors; contractors all risks for the works, own plant and hired-in plant; and tools cover. If contracts require particular limits or conditions, the programme gets shaped around them.
What to have ready when you call
The call goes quicker if you know roughly: turnover and wage bill, who works for you (employees and labour-only subbies), the type of work and your maximum depth, any underpinning or basement work, plant owned and hired in, your scanning and permit-to-dig routine, claims in the last five years, and when your current cover runs out — or when the job starts, if you’re uninsured right now. Then call 0117 325 0027. If it’s urgent, say so; we deal with time-pressed placements all the time, though we’ll never promise cover by a set date until an insurer confirms it.
Frequently asked questions
Why do online insurance sites decline groundworkers?
Because the trade name hides the risk. “Groundworks” covers everything from footings and drainage on a housing site to deep excavation beside a Victorian terrace, and an automated system can’t tell the difference. So the rules are blunt: depth caps, exclusions for underpinning and basements, an automatic no for claims or new ventures. Fall outside any of them and the system declines without a person ever looking at your business.
What is a depth limit and why does it matter?
Many liability policies restrict or exclude work below a stated depth. Plenty of groundworkers are inside the limit most of the year — then a deeper drainage connection or an attenuation tank takes them past it. An online policy either declines you up front or, worse, leaves you doing occasional work you’re not actually covered for. An underwriter can consider greater depths on their merits: how often, what ground conditions, and what shoring and support you use.
What is hired-in plant cover and do I need it?
When you hire in an excavator or other plant, the hire terms usually make you responsible for the machine while it’s in your charge — and often for continuing hire charges while a damaged machine is out of action. Hired-in plant cover deals with that responsibility. If you own plant as well, that’s insured separately, so tell your broker what you own and what you hire.
What information do I need before I call?
Rough turnover and wage bill, who works for you (employees and labour-only subcontractors), the type of work you do and your maximum working depth, whether you touch underpinning or basements, the plant you own and hire in, your scanning and permit-to-dig routine, claims in the last five years — including any service strikes — and any contract conditions you need to meet. Don’t worry if you don’t have it all; we’ll work through it on the phone.
Do you promise to get me covered?
No, and you should be wary of anyone who does. What we can honestly say is that we know which underwriters look at hard-to-place groundworks risks — depth, underpinning, strikes and all — and we can usually find a market. If we genuinely can’t, we’ll tell you straight and tell you why.
Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 724952). This page is general information, not advice on a specific policy.