Pub Insurance

Employers' liability insurance becomes a legal requirement the moment you take on staff, whether they are full time, part time, seasonal bar workers or a family member on the payroll. The Employers' Liability Act 1969 sets a minimum of £5m of cover, and most pub policies arrange £10m as standard. It pays compensation and legal costs if a member of your bar or kitchen team is injured or made ill because of the work they do for you.

The duty applies even to a single weekend glass collector. Trade without valid cover and you can be fined for each day you are uninsured, and the certificate has to be available to your staff. See our pub insurance guide for how staff cover fits into a licensed-trade policy.

Public liability covers claims from members of the public who are injured, or whose property is damaged, because of your pub. A customer slipping on a spilled drink, tripping on a step or hurt by a falling fitting is the classic example, and the risk climbs on a busy weekend with high footfall. Cover is commonly arranged at £1m, £2m or £5m, and a pub company or landlord will often ask for a set limit.

It is not required by law, but few licensees trade without it, and customers and pub companies expect it as a matter of course. The right limit depends on how busy the pub is and the terms of your lease or tenancy.

Products liability responds if the food or drink you serve causes injury or illness, from food poisoning and an allergen not declared on the menu to a foreign object in a meal. A pub kitchen and bar carry real exposure here, and a claim can arrive well after the customer left.

For most pubs products liability sits alongside public liability under a single combined limit. Good food safety records, allergen information and supplier and batch details help trace a problem back to its source if a claim is ever made against you.

This cover protects the buildings, where you own the freehold or are responsible under a lease, together with contents, fixtures, tills and equipment, and your cellar stock of alcohol, glassware and food, against fire, flood, theft, escape of water and accidental damage. It can also include stock deterioration, so spoiled beer or frozen food after a cellar cooling or freezer breakdown is met. Set the sum insured to the full rebuild and replacement value, not an average across the year.

Seasonal peaks matter, with cover often arranged to step up for a busy Christmas or a beer festival. See our pub insurance guide for how buildings and stock limits are set.

A pub cannot trade without a valid premises licence, so loss of licence cover is one of the covers that sets a licensed-trade policy apart from a general business policy. It responds if your premises licence is lost, suspended or not renewed for reasons outside your control, meeting the drop in the value of the business and, on some policies, lost income while the position is resolved.

This is not something a standard business or commercial policy includes. Fixed glass such as windows and doors is usually covered under the buildings and glass section, but it is the licence that keeps the doors open, which is why this cover matters so much to a pub.

Money cover protects cash and card takings held by the pub, both on the premises during and outside trading hours and while the weekend takings are being carried to the bank. Different limits usually apply to money in a locked safe, money in the till and money in transit.

Assault cover is a valuable part of a pub policy, paying benefits if you or your staff are hurt during a robbery or an incident at the bar. Following the cash-handling and banking routines set out in the policy is what keeps this cover valid at the point of a claim.

Business interruption replaces the income a pub loses when it cannot trade after an insured event such as a fire or flood. It covers lost gross profit and the extra costs of getting back to normal, over an agreed indemnity period, and can reflect cancelled live music, quiz nights and function bookings that would have brought people through the door.

The indemnity period should be long enough to rebuild, refit and win trade back, which for many pubs is 12 to 24 months. Setting it too short is one of the most common gaps in a licensed-trade policy.

Insurers set security conditions in return for cover on stock and premises. These commonly cover the standard of door and window locks, an intruder alarm to a recognised specification, CCTV and, for late-opening venues, door supervision on busy nights.

Meeting these conditions can reduce the premium, but they are also warranties: if the alarm is not set or a lock is not used, a theft claim can be refused. Honest disclosure of your security at quote stage is essential, since the Insurance Act 2015 makes undisclosed material facts grounds for a claim to be reduced or avoided.