The Salient Oversight: How a Missing Indemnity Clause Creates Costly Risk Transfer Gaps
A construction subcontractor's employee is injured on site. The general contractor's insurance pays the claim, but the subcontractor's contract lacks an indemnity clause requiring it to reimburse the GC. The GC absorbs the loss—a six-figure gap that could have been avoided with one paragraph. This scenario repeats daily across industries, not because indemnity clauses are complex, but because they are overlooked or treated as boilerplate. This guide shows you what a missing indemnity clause costs, how to spot the gap, and what to do about it. Who Needs This and What Goes Wrong Without It Every party that relies on contracts to shift liability needs a working indemnity clause. That includes general contractors, property owners, event organizers, software vendors, healthcare providers, and any business that hires subcontractors or independent contractors. Without it, risk transfer gaps appear in predictable ways.