What Insurance Do I Need in the Leisure and Hospitality Sector?

Whether you run a bar or club, a hotel, café or restaurant, or offer bed & breakfast, or are involved in recreation or travel & tourism, you need adequate protection for yourself and any third parties. Each area faces unique risks and challenges, so talk to a broker who can provide considered advice.

Public Liability- protect your business against accidental injury and property damage claims, from customers, the general public, suppliers or visitors. It protects you against compensation claims should a third party be injured, or their property damaged because of the actions of your business. It also offers legal protection against defending a claim against you.

Note that it does not cover accidents that happen to you, damage to your own property, employee claims, fines or penalties or environmental claims.

Employers’ liability insurance - a legal statutory requirement if you have someone working for you. It provides cover for work-related injury or illness claims from your employees, including temporary staff and volunteers.

As the owner of a licensed venue you require Public Liability Insurance, Employers Liability, Buildings (if required), Contents, and Stock Insurance.

Management Liability Insurance

All types of business are at risk of potentially damaging claims against them. Managers, owners or partners could individually be at risk if a claim is made, which could come from a variety of different sources.

A Management Liability insurance policy can consist of three cover areas: :

• Directors and Officers Liability

• Company Legal Liability

• Employment Practices Liability

Management Liability Insurance is designed to cover the cost of legal action and any civil settlements from allegations of wrongdoing, directed at your company as a whole or any of your managers, directors, and officers.

We also recommend that you consider Loss of Licence Insurance- providing financial cover if your licence is revoked

Product liability insurance – including food poisoning risks

Stock and contents insurance is needed that is suitable for your business- The loss of, or damage to, your stock could cause serious problems with your cashflow

Business equipment – to mitigate losses in the event of damage or theft to machinery or equipment

Cyber- Cyber risk is an exposure that no modern business can escape, large or small. Technology has totally changed how you deal with clients and customers. IT systems and the internet are an integral part of running a business, but what if you had a systems failure due to being hacked? The Government say that over half of Small & Medium Enterprises (SMES (54%) suffered an attack or security breach during 2022. You may not realise it, but traditional insurance policies were not designed with cyber exposures in mind, that is why it’s important to get specialist cover.

Business contents – cover for premises, fixtures and fittings against damage or loss caused by fire, flood, or theft

Business interruption cover in case your business is unable to trade due to specific reasons. Review your insurance documentation, to gain an understanding of what risks you are protected against. If the business interruption insurance is for ‘fire and flood’, then you will not be covered. Similarly, if ‘pandemics’ are an explicit exclusion.

Contingency and event cancellation- will cover any expenses or lost revenue that you might stand to lose if the event you are holding or attending is cancelled, abandoned or postponed for unforeseeable reasons beyond your control.

Non Appearance cover – gives you protection where an event is dependent on the attendance of one or more individuals. For example a Key Speaker at a conference, or singer at a concert.

Motor fleet- if you operate 3 or more vehicles, you could benefit from a fleet policy, insuring multiple vehicles under one insurance policy .

If you want advice on any aspect of accounting and payroll management, give us a call on 0800 056 0558

Financial management in the hospitality industry can be tricky. Whether it is bookkeeping or payroll it’s wise to get expert help. Plus, you need adequate protection for yourself and any third parties, with insurance. Each area faces unique risks and challenges. Read how to protect yourself, your business and third parties here.