UK Insurance Repair Networks: Every One That Takes Contractor Applications
Most UK insurance repair work is controlled by a small set of managed repair networks and claims administrators - and applying to them is free in every case we track. But genuinely open application forms are rare: in our research across 23 UK insurance repair and FM networks, only four run one. The rest take approaches through supply chain and building consultancy teams, and knowing which door is which is most of the game.
This is the reference list: every network worth knowing, who the work suits, and exactly where the first eight applications should go. Whether the rates make sense for your business is a separate question - I have done the honest maths on insurance work already. This post is for when the answer is yes and you want in.
How insurance repair work reaches contractors
When a homeowner claims for a burst pipe or a storm-damaged roof, the insurer rarely sends its own builder. The claim flows to a loss adjuster or third-party administrator, and repair work is dispatched through a managed repair network - a vetted panel of contractors assigned jobs by postcode and trade, priced against the network's schedule of rates. Get onto the panel and volume comes to you without a penny of marketing spend. That is the entire attraction: it is base load, not premium work.
The eight applications to make first
1. Contractor Connection (Crawford & Company). The largest managed repair network in the UK. Insurer-funded building repair, drying and restoration, asbestos and reinstatement, assigned by postcode and trade off the back of Crawford's loss adjusting. Open application via the Join the Contractor Directory Network page; free to apply, and the credentialing is rigorous - have your insurance documents and references ready before you start the form.
2. Sedgwick Repair Solutions. Building repair, restoration and mitigation on fire, flood, escape-of-water and storm claims for major UK insurers, fed from Sedgwick's loss adjusting book. Open become-a-service-provider form on the network page - company details, trades, areas served - with the credentialing team following up.
3. Claims Consortium Group. A third-party administrator handling property claims for UK insurers, with strong volume in the South West and South East. Takes all building trades from plastering to asbestos and drainage. The application to join the network is a direct form; approval brings due diligence, regular audits and an assigned regional manager.
4. QuestGates (Artemis Repair). The largest independent UK loss adjuster, running the Artemis Repair contractor network - temporary and permanent insurance repairs and a strong subsidence specialism, which is a genuine niche if you have underpinning or structural repair capability. No public signup form: approach the building consultancy services team through the contact details on questgates.co.uk.
5. Innovation Group. Claims management with a UK network of over 700 trusted repairers, onboarded onto its IG Gateway platform once approved. No open form either - you register interest through the contact route and the supply chain team takes it from there.
6. Davies Group. A major claims administrator whose property arm handles building validation and repair on insurer claims. Less publicised as a contractor route than the big two, which is exactly why an application here faces less competition.
7. Aspray. A national insurance claims project management firm that delivers reinstatement through local approved contractors. Different shape of relationship: you work for the local franchisee managing the claim, which suits smaller firms that want claim work without joining a national panel's audit regime.
8. HomeServe. Policy repair work rather than claims reinstatement - plumbing, drains, electrics and heating jobs fed to approved subcontractors from one of the UK's biggest home assistance books. Free to apply, and the best fit on this list for wet trades and sole traders, because the jobs are small, constant and dispatched.
The restoration primes that subcontract the building work
Three national restoration specialists sit slightly apart: they win the drying, decontamination and restoration contracts themselves, then subcontract the follow-on building repairs. If reinstatement is your lane, they are clients rather than networks:
- BELFOR UK - major loss restoration; subcontracts reinstatement and building works after fire and flood.
- Polygon UK - the property drying and damage-control leader; building repairs follow its mitigation work.
- Rainbow Restoration - a national franchise network whose branches subcontract building works locally, so the approach is branch by branch.
The FM layer: same machine, different buyer
The other half of our 23 tracked networks are facilities management giants - Mitie, CBRE, JLL, ISS, Sodexo, Serco, Amey, OCS, Bellrock, Cloudfm, City Facilities Management, VINCI Facilities and Fortem. They run the same dispatch model on commercial estates, retail chains and social housing instead of insurance claims. Two things to know before chasing them: several are invite-led rather than open-application, and the open ones mostly filter through paid accreditations - Amey and VINCI source from Constructionline, Bellrock wants SafeContractor or equivalent, Fortem expects Constructionline plus an SSIP badge and a sponsor. Those badges are their own investment decision, and I have broken down exactly what that compliance stack costs before you spend a pound on it.
What every network vets - and what that means for your week
Across every application route we tracked, the same bar repeats: liability insurance at specified levels, financial standing, references, health and safety competence, and honest postcode coverage for your trades. After approval, expect audits and measured response times - a panel place is rented on performance, never owned.
One practical warning: apply for the coverage you can genuinely service. The fastest way off a panel is accepting a postcode map your vans cannot honour - missed response times kill a network relationship faster than bad workmanship, because the network answers to an insurer on service levels. Start with a tight patch, prove the numbers, then widen. And treat panel volume as the base load under better-margin work, not the whole business - it is one channel in the wider margin game, not a substitute for it.
The door to insurance work is not locked. It is just unmarked - the firms that know which eight doors to knock on get the volume, and everyone else concludes the work does not exist.
Members compare which networks are actually releasing volume by region, what the schedule of rates really pays trade by trade, and how they cleared each network's vetting - live numbers from operators on these panels today.
Join the Contractor Club community (free)⟶Frequently asked questions
How do you become an insurance approved contractor in the UK?+
You apply to the managed repair networks and third-party administrators that control the work, not to insurers directly. A minority run genuinely open application forms - Contractor Connection, Sedgwick and Claims Consortium among them - while the rest take approaches through their supply chain teams. Either way you submit trades, coverage postcodes, insurance documents and references, then clear credentialing checks. Applying is free on every network we track - the cost is meeting the vetting bar, not the form.
Which is the largest insurance repair network in the UK?+
Contractor Connection, run by Crawford & Company, describes itself as the largest managed repair network in the UK, assigning insurer-funded building repair by postcode and trade. Sedgwick's repair solutions network and Innovation Group, with over 700 repairers, are of comparable reach. Most established contractors end up applying to more than one, because each network serves different insurer clients.
Do insurance repair networks charge contractors to join?+
No network we track charges an application fee. The real costs sit behind the application: insurance at the levels each network specifies, an up-to-date health and safety position, and the working capital to carry schedule-of-rates work on 30 to 60 day payment terms. Treat any third party charging you for access to a network's application form with suspicion - the direct routes are free.
What do insurance repair networks check before approving a contractor?+
The pattern across every network is the same: public and employer's liability insurance at specified levels, evidence of financial standing, references, health and safety competence, and trade coverage by postcode. Most run ongoing audits after approval, and several assign you a regional manager who monitors response times and quality scores. Approval is a start line, not a finish line.
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mointhemarket Managing construction businesses across continents - with full location freedom. Running several at once. Bought and sold many more.
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