Pub insurance – thinking about the risks

18 Jun 2009

If you own or run a pub, you may think that you are aware of the risks associated with your occupation. Yet your legal responsibilities and risks may be more numerous than you think and perhaps they may cause you to consider whether or not you need specialised pub insurance. 

If you employ staff, you may already have employers' liability insurance - in fact this is usually obligatory by law. That may protect you from incurring very high costs should one of your staff be injured carrying out their duties but it won't help you much if they accidentally injure a third party while working for you. If that happens, it will be you who may have very large sums for damages awarded against you by a court, unless you have public liability insurance in place.

Sadly, most publicans will admit that although rare, trouble can arise from time to time. Should a member of your staff become involved and accidentally injure someone in the process, you may find that you are liable as a result. This may also be the case if a bystander is accidentally hurt in the process. All this could see you face claims for compensation.

However, public liability insurance protects you against such claims made by a third party against your business for issues such as injury caused by you, an employee or while on your premises. These costs - if you are without insurance - can run in to hundreds or even thousands of pounds, which could seriously affect your profits.

Other risks

Of course, it is not just liability insurance that you need to consider - some customers can also find it entertaining to vandalise things such as toilets and furniture. The costs of repair and replacement may be non-trivial.

It's also necessary to think a little about the special risks that come with your premises and why pub insurance can be so essential to ensure your business does not take a financial hit. Whether you own or rent it, the nature of your business probably means that you are at a higher risk of burglary and theft than many others. You may have relatively high levels of valuable stock and a building that is unoccupied for periods of time overnight. 

There are in fact many other forms of risk that unfortunately ‘go with the territory' of running a pub and there are various forms of pub insurance required to deal with some of them. These may include things such as public liability, which we have already discussed, legal expenses and commercial premises insurance.

How can you be sure of taking out the right cover? Fortunately, as specialist providers of business insurance, we can offer excellent guidance services for businesses - particularly to those that may have trouble in finding wide cover elsewhere. We pride ourselves on not just offering affordable, relevant cover, but first class support and advice. If you're thinking of pub insurance as a way of protecting your interests, it may be worth consulting us before you make any firm decisions.        

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