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Our insurance for offshore energy contractors could help protect your business against mistakes you make in your work. Despite your best intentions, accidents can occur on platforms or vessels, or specialist equipment could get damaged. An incident could result in injury, or recommendations you provided could cause financial loss for your client, which could potentially lead to a costly claim.
Offshore contractor insurance is a suite of insurance products that protect energy contractors from the risks they face daily if you work on offshore oil and gas installations, at power stations, chemical works, oil refineries, nuclear plants, wind-farms or in other energy professions.
The primary cover offered is professional indemnity insurance, but we also offer public and product liability insurance; occupational personal accident cover; business equipment cover; cyber and data risks insurance, and legal expenses insurance.
Insurance requirements for offshore energy contractors differ from many mainstream industries due to the extreme risk situations of the sector.
Our suite of insurance products offer comprehensive cover specific to the energy sector to cover you for alleged negligence claims, design errors, breaches of contract, accidents and sickness, accidental damage to property, portable electronic equipment, loss of data and cyber risks, and many more.
The oil and gas industry has unique working practices, rules and regulations, therefore it’s important you seek an experienced insurer when you consider purchasing your cover.

Buying your insurance online is fast and easy - our easy quote form allows you to select only the cover you want and not have to pay for extras you don't need. You'll receive an instant proof of cover document to prove to clients and agencies you have the correct cover in place to secure a contract.
Get an online quote in just 90 seconds.
If you have an existing policy with us, please sign in to view your policy documents.
Below you will find examples of the documents provided.
Professional indemnity insurance for engineers covers the cost of defending your business against allegations of professional negligence (such as giving your client incorrect or wrongful advice) and, if unsuccessful, the cost of damages awarded against you.
Examples of claims include:
PI insurance is usually a mandatory requirement for contract engineers requested by either the recruitment agency or directly by the client. We offer cover for a wide range of limits ranging from £100k to £5m.
Public and product liability insurance covers the cost of defending your business (including damages awarded against you if unsuccessful) if someone is injured, or their property damaged, which arises from you going about your business or supplying products.
If you visit client premises or sites as part of your business’ activities, it’s likely you’ll need this insurance cover. Like professional indemnity insurance, it’s usually a pre-requisite for recruitment agencies and/or clients. Limits range from £1m to £5m.
Commercial legal expenses insurance covers the costs of defending you as a director or officer of your company against allegations of wrongful acts and any damages subsequently awarded against you. Cover is also provided for the legal costs and expenses of defending actions for disqualification as a director, investigations and extradition proceedings. Limits range from £100,000 to £5m.
Directors and officers insurance covers the costs of defending you as a director or officer of your company against allegations of wrongful acts, and of any damages subsequently awarded against you.
Cover is also provided in respect of the legal costs and expenses of defending actions for disqualification as a director, investigations and extradition proceedings. Limits range from £100k to £5m.
Office insurance covers your office buildings, office contents and computer equipment against accidental damage (including theft) whilst on your business premises. You can also choose to cover your business equipment (such as laptops and mobile phones) on a worldwide basis, and insure your business against loss of income and/or additional trading expenses following events such as damage to your property.
Occupational personal accident insurance provides a weekly payment if you are unable to work due to temporary total disablement (subject to a 14 day deferment period).
It pays a lump sum in the event of:
- Loss of limbs
- Loss of sight
- Loss of speech
- Loss of hearing
- Permanent disablement
- Death
This cover could help you maintain an income if you are unable to work following an accident while working on an engineering contract, and would struggle to maintain a steady income while off work.
Cyber and data risks insurance pays the costs of restoring data and equipment, informing clients, meeting ransom demands and loss of your net profit following a cyber attack. It also pays your legal defence costs and damages you are legally liable to pay to other parties. If you hold confidential information about your clients' projects (including designs, schedules and other sensitive data) on computers and other internet connected devices, you should give consideration to this cover.
At Markel Direct, we offer offshore contractors' insurance from £5 a month for £1 million worth of public liability cover. When it comes to insurance, the cost can change depending on;
To get a clearer idea of how much you’ll pay, simply get an offshore contractors insurance quote online. You can buy all or just some of the covers quoted, so you will only pay for the cover you need.
These frequently asked questions are designed to help you and include questions relating to policy cover, pricing and ‘technical’ terms.
Yes. We provide a dedicated 'Confirmation of Liability Insurance' document (detailing the cover you have with us) as part of the documents that are emailed to you if you purchase your policy with us. You can present this document to agencies and clients as proof that you are insured.
We offer cover for a wide range of professions working offshore. Get an online quote now or call us on 0800 640 6600 if you'd prefer to speak to someone.
In most cases, we can insure you if you do a proportion of your work abroad. Our quick and simple quote form will ask what percentage of your income comes from overseas and we can tell you instantly whether we can cover you or not. Alternatively, call us on 0800 640 6600 to speak to one of our contractor insurance experts.
Professional indemnity insurance covers against allegations of professional negligence - which means it would cover you if you were to make an error or mistake in a piece of work (such as a project or report) for a client.
Public liability insurance covers against allegations of injury or illness caused to third parties by your negligence. This includes many of the slips, trips and falls that are associated with personal injury claims. In addition, public liability insurance covers against damage to third party property - for example, if you were to damage a client-owned laptop or smartphone.
As they insure against different scenarios, it's important you consider arranging both types of cover to ensure you are properly protected.
Many clients and industry bodies with regulatory requirements will require you to have a minimum level of cover for you to undertake a contract, so it's worth checking this before you arrange cover. If you're unsure, give some thought to a worst-case scenario and the likely costs involved in putting your mistake right. We offer a range of limits on insurance, so you're sure to find the right cover for your business.
Markel Direct has over 25 years of experience insuring contractors, consultants and self-employed professionals. We insure over 200,000 micro businesses and are highly rated by our customers at Feefo.com.
We are a division of Markel International, a Lloyd’s of London market insurer that wrote gross premium totals of £2.4bn in 2023
To talk about your insurance requirements and better understand our cover, call us on 0800 640 6600 or get a quick quote online.
We do not currently offer employers' liability insurance for those undertaking work offshore.
Markel Direct is a trading name of Markel International Insurance Company Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Find out more on the Financial Services Register.
We are a division of Markel International, a Lloyd’s of London market insurer that wrote gross premium totals of £2.4bn in 2023
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Whether you need to renew a policy, or modify an existing policy, or simply have a question, contact us.