Pub insurance

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Pub barman serving beer to customers at the bar

Why do you need pub insurance?

Pubs. They’re a labour of love and need an expert hand, at the bar and on the business side. The clue’s in the name – you’re working with the public, and with that comes certain everyday risks. From a slippery floor to accidents in your beer garden, our licensed premises insurance can shield you from expensive claims, starting with public liability cover.

  • licensed premises and pub insurance (UK-specific) with a 24/7 claims team
  • quotes start at £4.74** a month
  • public liability insurance for pubs between £1 million and £5 million


Insurance for pubs – what’s covered?

We’ll start with public liability insurance (usually part of the pub insurance average cost), which can cover you against accidents in your pub, the beer garden or elsewhere on the premises. From there, you can add cover for your essential equipment and stock, as well as employers’ liability insurance for your team.


The average cost of pub insurance?

Find out how much you’ll pay by comparing prices from a range of trusted insurers. You choose what goes into your policy, so you only pay for what you need.

Prices start from £4.74 per month

Get your tailored quotes in 7 minutes

Example public house insurance quotes, real prices

zurich insurance
chiswell insurance

What kind of excess should I expect?

An excess is an amount you pay towards any claim you make on your insurance. For example, if your excess is £250 and you make a claim worth £1000, your payout will be a maximum of £750.

Insurance cover

Lowest excess

Highest excess

Main building

£200

£4000

Stock

£200

£4000

Contents

£200

£4000

Employers liability

No excess

No excess

Public liability

No excess

£750

The figures above are for guidance only and any excess applying to your quote may differ. You’ll get a breakdown of the excesses for each quote when you compare with us.


How it works

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How do I choose insurance?

Making sure you have the right type and level of business insurance can be the difference between getting a claim paid and having to cover the cost of an expensive accident yourself. Read our tips for guidance on what to consider when buying a policy.


Talk to an expert

Our team of UK-based insurance experts are here to help, Mon 09.00am – 05.30pm, Tues 09.00am – 05.30pm, Weds 09.00am – 05.30pm, Thurs 09.30am – 05.30pm, Fri 09.00am – 05.30pm, Sat 09.00am – 02.00pm

Call our team

0333 043 8527

Online

Contact us on our website whenever suits you

Phone

Call our insurance experts during office hours (calls are charged at a local rate)

FAQs

Find answers to common insurance questions


How do claims work?

Unlike price comparison websites, we take the hassle out of claims for you. We know how important it is to get your business back on track quickly – and with a minimum of fuss. That’s why you get access to your dedicated claims any time, day or night. Call them on 0333 207 0560 or claim online. They’ll do their best to be fair and supportive. The figure below is rounded across our range of products. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis.

£51 million in claims paid out in 2023

Example claim

Having pub insurance through Simply Business has saved businesses thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.

Imogen saved more than £23,000

Imogen (not her real name) shut her pub after discovering serious water damage on her pub’s ground floor, due to drainage from the business next door. The escape of water damage was covered by her public house insurance policy.

Chosen by nearly 1 million small businesses and landlords

Pub insurance FAQs

Whether you’re new to buying business insurance or you’ve been trading for a while, here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about business insurance for pubs. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.

Public and product liability insurance is often an important cover for pubs – it’s designed to protect you if someone is injured or suffers an illness, or their property is damaged, because of your business.

Are you hiring staff? If so, you’re usually required by law to take out employer’s liability insurance, even if it’s for a contractor team member, or casual and temporary staff. You’ll face fines of up to £2,500 a day for anyone you haven’t covered correctly.

From there, you can pick and choose from other specific protection for your pub’s stock, equipment, fixtures and fittings and the building(s) you use. Our licensed premises insurance policies are flexible – you can bundle everything into one policy or go for just one or two covers, depending on what you need.

A deep fat fryer is a high-risk piece of kit, so there are lots of safety measures you have to follow when you use one. If you’re claiming for unexpected costs through your insurance and you’re discovered not to have met these conditions, it could invalidate your policy. This means you wouldn’t get a payout.

To avoid this, you’ll need to check the requirements for the make and model of the fryer you’re planning to use at your pub. If you don’t have access to the manual, you can call the manufacturer and ask them for the information.

The top six criteria you may need to comply with are:

  1. cleaning schedule
  2. service record
  3. safety equipment
  4. volume of use
  5. replacement of oils
  6. contractors who are registered to work on fryers

Each insurer looks at CCJs and IVAs differently – some apply stricter rules than others, but having a CCJ or IVA doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t be able to buy insurance.

You can choose the payment type that suits your business and cash flow best. Some customers prefer to pay in one go, while others prefer to pay a regular monthly amount, like you do with lots of other bills. Simply Business offer three ways to pay for your policy:

  • one-off credit or debit card payment
  • BACS payment
  • Direct Debit

If you choose to pay by Direct Debit, our credit provider, Premium Credit, pays Simply Business the full amount for your policy up front. You then repay Premium Credit in 10 monthly instalments.

This will depend on whether you have employers’ liability insurance in place. Public liability insurance is designed to protect your business against the consequences of legal action brought by members of the public for injuries or damage to their belongings. But when it comes to your employees causing injury or damage, this protection only activates if you also have employers’ liability insurance.

If you employ people, you’re required by law to have employers’ liability insurance.

There’s one exception here. Family businesses that aren’t incorporated as a limited company are not legally required to have employers’ liability insurance. The government defines a “family business” as one where all your employees are closely related to you (as a spouse, civil partner, sibling, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, step-parent, stepchild or half-sibling). So if you run an unincorporated family business and you choose not to get employers’ liability insurance, it’s important to know that your public liability insurance wouldn’t cover you against damage or injury caused by your team.

We create this content for general information purposes and it should not be taken as advice. Always check policy documentation for details and seek professional advice. Read our full Terms and Conditions


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