Your subtrade broke the neighbour’s window. The neighbour is calling you.
On a BC job site the person who gets phoned is the name on the sign, not the trade who did it. Whose policy answers depends on the contract and the wording, not on who is at fault. That is the part that surprises people, and it is decided long before anything gets broken.
Build the contractor file The short answerThe general contractor, almost always, whoever actually did it
The subtrade’s liability policy, if it exists and if it responds
Whoever cannot prove the other one was covered
If a subcontractor causes damage, whose insurance pays?
The subtrade’s own liability policy should answer first. In practice the claim often lands on the general contractor, because the injured party sues the name they know and the general has no proof the subtrade was insured. The document that decides this is the certificate collected before the work started.
Fault and payment are different questions. A subtrade can be entirely at fault and still leave the bill with you – if their policy lapsed, if the work sat outside what their policy described, or if nobody kept the paperwork. None of that is arguable after the fact. It is fixed by what was collected on day one.
Property damage claims on a job site are rarely small. A window is a window. A window plus water through a finished floor plus two weeks of delay is a different conversation.
How this usually resolves.
The subtrade was properly insured
Their liability policy responds, your policy stays out of it, and your claims history stays clean. This happens when a current certificate exists, names the right parties, and the work matches what the policy describes.
The subtrade was not, or cannot prove it
Your policy is the one left standing. You carry the deductible, the claim goes on your record, and your renewal reflects it. Recovering from the subtrade afterwards is a legal exercise, not an insurance one.
Three things that settle the argument before it starts.
Named as additional insured
Being listed on the subtrade’s policy is not the same as being handed their certificate. Named properly, their insurer defends you as well. Not named, you are a stranger to the policy and you are on your own.
The work matches the description
A policy written for framing may not answer for the hot work someone did on the last afternoon. Insurers read the description of operations, and a subtrade who quietly took on a different trade has quietly moved outside their cover.
The dates line up
Damage is dated by when it happened, not when it was noticed. A certificate that covered March does nothing for a leak that started in September, and water damage is almost always noticed late.
What contractors ask us about this.
The subtrade admits it was their fault. Is that enough?
It helps and it does not settle it. An admission decides fault. Whether an insurer pays is decided by the policy wording and whether cover was in force. Plenty of people have admitted fault while uninsured.
Will claiming on my own policy raise my premium?
Usually, yes, and it stays on the record for years. That is the real reason to collect certificates – not paperwork discipline, but keeping other people’s claims off your own history.
Can I just deduct it from what I owe the subtrade?
Sometimes contractually, and it rarely covers the whole loss. It also turns an insurance question into a dispute between two businesses that still need to work together. Worth a conversation with a broker before a holdback becomes a lawsuit.
What if the neighbour sues both of us?
That is the normal pattern. Both policies get put on notice, both insurers appoint counsel, and the argument about who pays happens between them. Your position in that argument is only as strong as the certificate you kept.
Does my liability policy cover damage to the building I am working on?
Often not in the way people assume. Cover for the work itself, and for the structure it is attached to, is one of the most misread parts of a contractor’s policy. Send us yours and we will tell you what it actually says.
Not the question you had? Build the contractor file and set out your own situation in plain words. A licensed broker reads it and replies in writing.
Tell us what happened, before you tell the insurer.
We will read your policy and the certificates you hold, and say plainly whose claim this is. Next business day, and usually the same day.