SME

People often use the terms “contract works insurance” and “contractors’ all risk insurance” interchangeably. However, they are two distinct insurance products. To ensure you have all the cover you need for your project, it is important to understand the difference between the two.

What is Contract Works Insurance?

Contract works insurance provides cover for in-process construction projects. Usually, the cover lasts from a specified start date up to a specified completion, or handover date.

Contract works cover essentially provides cover for fire and other risks that might affect a structure while it is being constructed or renovated. The policy will provide enough cover to return the structure to the condition it was in before it was destroyed or damaged.

Who Needs Contract Works Insurance?

Certain construction contracts make contractors directly responsible for buildings and structures throughout the construction or renovation period.

For example, if a new home is being built, but the structure catches fire before it is completed, the contractor would be liable for damages. In this case, contract works insurance would give the contractor all of the cover they need to return the house to the condition it was in before the fire, so that they can finish the build.

What is Contractors’ All Risk Insurance?

Contractors’ all risk insurance gives contractors and property developers a diverse suite of cover. This can include cover for:

• Personal injury
• Professional liability
• Public liability
• Employer’s liability
• Tools, plant, and equipment – including any equipment hired specifically for the project
• Temporary buildings

What is the Difference Between Contract Works Insurance and Contractors’ All Risk Insurance?

The key difference is that Contract Works Insurance is cover specific to the destruction of an in-progress project, whereas Contractors’ All Risk Insurance is a suite of insurance cover for the broader range of risks of a construction project.

Essentially, contract works insurance covers in-progress construction projects for fires and other risks, in such contracts where the contractor would be liable for any destruction or damage. It covers the costs of repairing or redoing projects that have been affected by fire, flood, vandalism, theft, and other risks. This can include cover for any necessary tools, materials, and labour, but the policy will only provide enough cover to return the project to the state it was in before the incident.

While contractors’ all risk insurance gives contractors a suite of cover for the many risks associated with a construction project. This can include cover for personal injury, for loss or damage to tools, plant, and equipment (whether it is owned or hired), and for public, professional, and employer’s liabilities. This may even include contract works cover.

Do You Have All The Cover You Need For Your Construction Project?

Here are some key things to consider:

• Some contractors’ all risk insurance policies may include contract works cover. Check your policy wording for more information and talk to your insurer if it is not clear exactly what cover you have in place.
• Check the construction contract, to see who is liable for damage and destruction to the project while it is in progress. This may determine whether or not you need a dedicated contract works policy.
• If the construction project is an extension to, or renovation of, an existing building, then contract works insurance may not cover the costs of repairing the original building if it is damaged during the works. For this, the property owner may require specialist renovations cover as part of their home insurance policy.

If you are not sure whether you have all the cover you need for your construction project, we are here to help. We will take the time to understand your project and your contracts to ensure you get comprehensive insurance, with no gaps in your cover, at a competitive price.

Find out how we can help you.

With dedicated manufacturing insurance, you can get all the cover you need for your manufacturing business on a single policy.

There are many risks associated with manufacturing products and materials. You should not proceed with your operations until you have sufficient insurance in place to cover all of these risks.

What Is Manufacturing Insurance?

Manufacturing insurance is specialist cover for businesses that manufacture products or materials. A single policy can include cover for your buildings, equipment, stock, products, and your workers.

A manufacturing insurance may include:

• Buildings insurance.
• Business interruption insurance.
• Vehicles insurance.
• Product liability insurance.
• Public liability insurance.
• Employer’s liability insurance.
• Goods-in-transit cover.
• Stock cover, including any raw materials or finished products you keep in storage.

How Long Does It Take to Get Manufacturing Cover?

Depending on a number of factors, it could take a matter of days to arrange for manufacturing cover.

Insurers may need to tailor your policy to ensure it meets all of your requirements, and to ensure that they have thoroughly assessed your business’s unique risk profile. The bigger and more complex your manufacturing operation, the longer it may take to get the cover you need.

Note that many of these factors will also affect the price of your manufacturing policy.

What Can Affect the Time it Takes to Get Manufacturing Insurance?

• Comparing quotes. You may choose to approach a number of insurers to get multiple quotes for the cost of cover. This is good practice but bear in mind that the more quotes you get, the longer it will take to arrange for cover.
• The nature of your manufacturing business. The size of your business, including the number of employees you hire, will affect the cost and the complexity of your cover. Insurers will also consider the specific products you manufacture, including whether they use any potentially hazardous materials or processes in their construction, and whether they will pose any particular risks to your end customers. The size and complexity of your supply chain will also make a difference, as it will determine whether you need any additional cover for vehicles and drivers.
• The type of cover you choose. Some insurers may offer a standard suite of cover for all of their manufacturing customers. Others may choose to tailor their cover to meet your exact needs. Getting bespoke cover can prove more cost-effective, as you will not pay for any cover you do not need. However, it can take longer to arrange for a tailored policy than it can to get an off-the-shelf product.

No Matter How Long It Takes, You Need Manufacturing Insurance

Apart from some forms of cover, such as employer’s liability insurance, there is no legal requirement to get manufacturing insurance. However, you should not start manufacturing any products without first getting adequate insurance in place.

Product liability is a vital form of cover for all manufacturers. If any of your products are ever found to be faulty or hazardous, you may need to issue a product recall. You may also face legal action and compensation payments should any customers or stockists take legal action against you.

Without adequate manufacturing insurance, you would be liable for covering all of these costs yourself. A product recall alone could prove so expensive that it could sink your business entirely.

Never start manufacturing any products or materials until you have all the cover you need, no matter how long it takes to get a policy.

Get The Manufacturing Insurance You Need As Soon As Possible

Working with an insurance broker can help speed up the process of getting manufacturing cover.

An expert broker will take the time to get to know you, your business, and your products. They can then liaise with their approved insurers in order to arrange an insurance package that gives you all the cover you need at a competitive price.

James Hallam is an independent Lloyd’s broker with a dedicated team of experienced insurance brokers who are committed to protecting your manufacturing business. We can arrange specialist niche insurance packages for manufacturing businesses to ensure you are covered for all risks.

Find out how we can help you get a tailored and cost-effective manufacturing insurance policy today.

A risk assessment involves conducting a thorough audit of your sport club, to ensure that all of your members, volunteers, staff, coaches, spectators, and other participants are as safe as possible.

A good risk assessment for a sport club will take into account your activities, your equipment, and your facilities. It should also assess certain aspects of governance, such as your recruitment and safeguarding policies.

National governing bodies (NGBs), active partnerships (APs), and insurance providers generally require sport and activity clubs to carry out thorough risk assessments. A risk assessment may also be necessary for complying with health and safety law.

How To Write a Risk Assessment for a Sport Club

Below we outline five steps that should form the basis of your sport club’s risk assessment.

Who Should Be Writing the Risk Assessment?

You should not have to do this alone. Assembling a risk assessment team will not only lighten the workload. It will also ensure you get expert insights from across the club.

The risk assessment team could involve committee members, trustees, safeguarding leads, and any trusted individuals with relevant experience. This might include coaches and certain volunteers.

The more varied your risk assessment team, the better you will be able to consider risks from all aspects of your club’s operations.

How to Identify the Risks in Your Sports Club

Thoroughly inspect all of your current facilities and equipment. Also review your activities, including those that do not take place in your own facilities, such as away games and overnight trips.

You should also review certain aspects of your governance, including your safeguarding policies and procedures, your recruitment policy, and your systems for reporting and responding to accidents, injuries, and other incidents.

Review any previous incidents at your club. What went wrong? How did you respond to them, and what steps did you take to prevent the incident from reoccurring?

How to Assess Risks

Having identified the risks in your club, the next step is to assess these risks. This means considering:

• Who is at risk – whether it is coaches, participants, spectators, or volunteers.
• How likely it is that each risk you have identified will lead to harm.
• How severe each possible instance of harm will be for each risk you have identified.

Take Action Against Risks

According to the HSE, you are not expected to eliminate all risks in your sport club. However, you are expected to do “everything reasonably practical” to protect people from harm.

Appoint an appropriate member of the risk management team to monitor every individual risk you have identified and assessed. This person will then be responsible for assessing the risk while implementing any measures to manage them. They will also be responsible for providing routine updates to the trustees and management committee on how they are managing their risks.

Strategies for managing the risks in your club might include:

• A safeguarding audit, to review and improve certain aspects of your club’s governance.
• Revising your policies and procedures, and ensuring they are clear and accessible for everyone.
• Investing in appropriate training for staff and volunteers.
• Reviewing your induction processes for new members.
• Maintenance and repairs, and investing in new equipment if possible.

Creating a Record and Review Process

A risk assessment is not a one-off task. It is an ongoing process that works like a tool for keeping anyone who interacts with your club in any capacity as safe as possible.

Keep good records throughout the risk assessment process. Record all of your key findings, along with the steps you are taking to address the risks in your club. Also record which individual is responsible for monitoring each risk.

Having completed your first risk assessment, date it, and make sure it is accessible throughout your club. You should then aim to regularly review the risks you have identified while also staying on top of any new or growing risks.

Sport and Activity Club Risk Assessment Templates

Your NGB or AP can offer further advice and support. You will also find risk assessment templates online:

• HSE – Managing Risks and Risk Assessments at Work.
• NSPCC risk assessment template for activities. Please note that this advice may only apply to children and young people. If you work with adults, you should look for a template from a resource that specialises in safeguarding adults.
• Club Template – Risk Assessments. From England Athletics. This means that the template may only apply to an athletics club, and it may refer to English legislation. However, you may be able to adapt the template to fit your setting.

Make Sure Your Insurance Covers All Risks

Your NGB or AP may already provide some form of liability coverage as part of your membership. However, this may not mean that your club is covered for all risks. There may be gaps in your cover, for risks such as damage to your facilities and equipment.

James Hallam is an independent Lloyd’s broker with a dedicated team of experienced insurance brokers who are committed to protecting your sport club. We can arrange specialist niche insurance packages for sport clubs to ensure you are covered for all risks.

Find out how we can help your sport club manage your risks.

This post is an essential introduction to insurance for pubs. We will assess how much you might expect to pay for your pub insurance, along with some of the factors that can affect the price of your policy. We will also outline some key insurance products you should consider if you own and run a pub.

Average Annual Insurance Costs For Pubs

According to research from a major price comparison site, pub insurance in the UK costs an average of £3,800 per year.

However, many factors can affect the price of pub insurance, which means that the cost of cover can vary greatly on a pub-by-pub basis.

What Affects The Price of Pub Insurance?

Your pub’s location
If your pub is located on a flood plain, or if it is located in an area with high crime rates, then it will likely drive up the cost of your cover.

Your pub’s size, and turnover
The bigger your pub, and the more money you make, then the more you will have to pay for insurance. The size of your business can affect the sort of risks you are exposed to, along with the costs associated with recovering from these risks. Plus, the bigger your workforce, the higher your premiums.

How you run your pub
You may have to pay more for cover if you stay open late, as the more time customers spend on your premises, the greater the risks for them, your staff, and your property. You will also have to pay more for cover if you serve food, and if you put on live events at your pub.

The level of cover you choose
You will be able to choose from a range of cover options, and you will be able to specify how much of an excess you pay.

What Types of Insurance Do Pubs Need?

• Employer’s Liability. If you employ any staff, even if it is just a single employee, then you have a legal responsibility to get employer’s liability insurance. This covers your staff for any illnesses or injuries they may sustain on the job.
• Public Liability. This covers your customers, along with any other members of the public, such as tradesmen or delivery drivers, for any injuries they may sustain while in or around your premises.
• Buildings Cover. This covers your pub’s physical premises for damages associated with fire, floods, storms, break-ins, and vandalism.
• Contents Cover. This is cover for any goods or equipment you store in your pub, including furniture. You may need additional cover for your stock, and there may be limits for the amount of cover you get for cash you keep on your premises.
• Product Liability. This can cover your legal fees, along with any compensation that might be due, if a customer claims they developed an illness, or an allergic reaction, having consumed food or drinks prepared or sold on your premises.
• Business Interruption Insurance. If an insured event, such as a fire or a flood, means you are unable to open your pub for a while, business interruption insurance can cover your overheads while you recover. Pub owners may also wish to get dedicated loss of licence insurance.

Who is Responsible For Pub Insurance?

The pub’s landlord – that is, the person who owns the building – is responsible for arranging building insurance.

The pub tenant is responsible for arranging contents insurance, and certain other forms of cover. For example, if the tenant is considered an employer under a licencing agreement, they may be responsible for arranging employer’s and public liability insurance.

Please note that, if you live on your pub premises, then your home insurance policy will not give you all of the cover you need. You will need specialist pub insurance to cover you for all the risks associated with running such a business.

Get The Pub Insurance You Need From James Hallam

As an independent Lloyd’s broker, we have been providing dedicated insurance solutions to hundreds of pubs and bars across the UK since 1982. With our specialist Touchstone scheme, we can design a pub insurance package to match your unique requirements, whether you run a traditional pub in a small village, a high street wine bar, or a pop-up bar at events.

Learn more about our bespoke insurance services for pubs.

Museums face a unique set of security and safety risks. If you manage a museum, it is essential that you take the time to understand the risks you face, so that you can take steps to safeguard your museum, your staff, your exhibits, and your visitors from all possible threats.

What Security and Safety Risks Do Museums Face?

When most people think about museum security, they most likely think about the risk of theft. The British Museum reported stolen artefacts as recently as 2023, while a Swiss museum recently experienced the theft of a £2m Ming vase.

Museums must also contend with health and safety risks for staff, visitors, and other members of the public. The Wirral Transport Museum was recently prevented from reopening due to the discovery of significant “hazardous substances risks”.

In recent years, museums and galleries have also had to contend with acts of vandalism carried out by activists. As well as the possible loss or damage of priceless artefacts, demonstrations from activists may also compromise the safety of other museum visitors. And if an activist harms themselves during their protest, will the museum be held liable?

Beyond this, museums face the same risks that any business or building in the UK must contend with, including, but not limited to:

• Fire
• Flood
• Burglaries – as in, the everyday theft of money or stock, rather than the high-profile theft of exhibits or artefacts.
• Public liability – if any member of the public slips, trips, or falls while on museum property, the museum may be liable.
• Product liability – if the museum prepares or sells food on the premises, they may face claims should any member of the public experience food poisoning or allergic reactions having consumed this food.
• Employer’s liability – in the UK it is a legal requirement to get adequate employer’s liability insurance if you have any employees.

How Can Museums Manage These Safety and Security Risks?

Arts Council England and the Collections Trust have produced a Museum Security Toolkit. This toolkit is designed to help museums understand the unique safety and security risks they may be facing, and to take appropriate action to manage these risks.

The toolkit advises on four steps for managing museum safety and security:

1. Gather Information – Aim to get as comprehensive a picture as possible of the current measures you have in place to protect your collections, your staff, and your visitors. For this, they recommend an Environmental Visual Assessment (EVA), and a dedicated Museum Security Audit.
2. Identify Threats – Devise an exhaustive list of all the threats to your collection, your staff, your museum premises, and to your ongoing operations should any of these threats occur. As part of this, they recommend creating and maintaining a good Collections Management System (CMS), to identify any particularly vulnerable objects.
3. Assess, Plan, and Implement – Assess the likelihood of any possible threats or risks. Plan to manage these risks through either current or improved control measures. Then outline how you will implement these plans, including how you will communicate them across your staff. For this, they recommend using a Risk Awareness Profiling Tool (RAPT).
4. Monitor and Review – As part of your ongoing management and planning cycles, you should continually review the threats your museum and your collections face, along with your control measures for managing these threats.

Is Your Museum Covered For All Possible Risks?

James Hallam is an independent Lloyd’s broker with access to a hand-picked selection of A-rated insurance providers. We can help you understand the unique risks your museum faces, before arranging for comprehensive insurance to cover your museum, your collections, your staff, and your visitors.

Get in touch for a free quote today.

If you are running a restaurant, or a chain or restaurants, then you no doubt know that you need insurance to cover your business for the range of risks you will face.

Yet there are many different insurance products out there, and not all of them are relevant for restaurants. So, how can you ensure you get the cover you need at the best possible price?

In this post we will explore some of the most important insurance products for restaurants, cafés, pubs, and other businesses that prepare and serve food.

Running a catering van? Take a look at our guide to insurance requirements for mobile caterers.

Types of Insurance for Restaurants

Public Liability Insurance

If a member of the public gets injured on your restaurant premises, public liability insurance can cover any compensation they may be due, along with any associated legal fees. This cover extends to your customers, as well as any other members of the public who may visit your premises, including contractors, delivery drivers, and health inspectors.

Public liability insurance can also cover any loss or damage to customers’ property while they are on your premises – such as if one of your waiters spills a drink on a customer’s clothing.

Product Liability Insurance

Product liability insurance can cover for claims related to the food and drink you prepare and serve on your premises. For example, if a customer has an allergic reaction to your food, or if they fall ill after eating at your restaurant, product liability insurance can cover any compensation they may be due, along with any associated legal fees.

Employer’s Liability Insurance

This is similar to public liability insurance, though rather than providing cover for claims made by members of the public, it covers you for claims made by your employers for any illnesses or injuries they sustain while working at your restaurant.

In UK law, there is a legal requirement to get adequate employer’s liability insurance should you employ any staff.

Contents and Stock Insurance

Business contents insurance can cover your restaurants furniture and equipment if they are lost or damaged as a result of fire, theft, floods, or other incidents. Contents insurance can provide cover for repairs or replacements, as necessary.

Stock insurance can cover your perishable stock for similar losses. But it can also cover for other kinds of situations, such as if your frozen stock goes bad following a power cut to your freezer.

Business Buildings Insurance

This can cover your restaurant premises for necessary repairs following fires, floods, storms, or break-ins.

Business Interruption Insurance

If you are forced to temporarily close your restaurant following an insured event, such as a fire or a flood, business interruption insurance can supplement any lost income, allowing you to stay afloat during your downtime.

All claims are different and we would recommend that you read through your policy documents to ensure you are familiar with the details of the cover you’ve been offered.

How Much is Restaurant Insurance?

The amount you pay for your restaurant insurance will depend on a number of factors, including but not restricted to the following:

• The level of cover you choose. The more extensive your cover, the higher your premiums will be.
• Your restaurant’s annual turnover.
• The number of staff you employ. Some insurers may ask for additional information about your employees, including their ages, so as to determine their respective risk profiles.
• The rebuild costs of your restaurant premises following a total loss. Insurers will also consider the value of your restaurant’s content and stock.
• Your physical location. If your restaurant is located in an inner city area, there may be an increased risk of burglary. Also, any restaurants located on flood plains will likely have to pay more for buildings cover.
• The construction of the premises.

We Can Help You Get All The Cover You Need at a Fair Price

James Hallam is an independent Lloyd’s broker with access to a hand-picked selection of A-rated insurance providers.

We know that no two restaurants are quite the same. So, we will take the time to get to know you, your business, and your customers. This will allow us to design a restaurant insurance package that truly meets your needs at a competitive price.

Get in touch for a free quote today.

What is the difference between directors and officers (D&O) insurance, and a management liability policy (MLP)? Each can provide some cover for a company’s upper management and decision makers. But is there any overlap between the two? And which type of cover is right for your business?

What is Directors and Officers (D&O) insurance?

D&O insurance provides cover for your business’s directors and officers in the event of legal claims made directly against them. If someone alleges that one of your decision-makers has acted wrongfully while managing the company, a D&O policy can cover their legal fees, along with any settlements or compensation that may be due following the claim.

Such claims could come from regulators, shareholders, creditors, competitors, or even from current or former employees. Plus, directors and officers may be held liable for a number of risks, including cybersecurity, data breaches, and losses arising from mergers, acquisitions, insolvency, and bankruptcy.

With this in mind, D&O insurance can act as an essential safety net, allowing your upper management to make key business decisions with confidence.

Read our full guide to D&O insurance, and why your business may need it.

What is a Management Liability Policy (MLP)?

MLP can include a form of D&O cover, along with cover for corporate legal liability, and for employment practice liability. The D&O cover can cover your upper management for allegations of breach of trust, defamation, insider trading, negligence, and other types of wrongdoing. Beyond this, MLP can provide additional cover for legal claims following alleged breaches of health and safety law, unfair dismissal, discrimination, harassment, pay inequality, employment contract breaches, and more.

MLP can also cover the costs associated with legal claims made against your company and its directors.

What’s the difference between D&O insurance and an MLP?

Compared with D&O insurance, MLP offers much broader and more comprehensive cover.

In short, while D&O insurance will only cover your directors and officers for alleged wrongdoing, MLP provides additional cover for individual employees, and for the company as a whole.

D&O or MLP: What sort of cover does your business need?

D&O and MLP – is it a case of either/or, or does your business need both types of cover?

As many management liability insurance policies include some level of D&O cover, it might seem as though all businesses can get away with getting an MLP to cover all risks. However, a dedicated D&O policy can provide some tailored cover that may be beyond the scope of an MLP.

It all depends on the size and structure of your company. If you are running an SME, then the comprehensive cover provided by an MLP could indeed tick all of your boxes. Yet if your company is structured in such a way that your decision makers could be personally liable for claims of negligence and wrongdoing, you may also need the specialist, focused cover provided by a dedicated D&O policy.

Get help deciding what cover your business needs

If you cannot decide which form of cover is right for your business, or if you are having difficulty understanding the difference between D&O and MLP, talk to us.

We are an independent Lloyd’s broker, and since 1982 we have been helping businesses of all sizes get the cover they need at the best price. We will take the time to get to know your business, and the risks you are facing, so that we can advise you on your unique insurance requirements.

Get in touch for a free quote today.

If you run a hotel, then you know you need to get certain forms of insurance to cover your establishment against risks such as fire, flood, and theft. But does your hotel need cyber insurance? Is your hotel really so vulnerable to cybercrime that you need specialist insurance to cover you against the risks?

Short answer: Yes. Your hotel absolutely does need cyber insurance. In this post we will explain why.

What are the cyber security threats for hotels?

Phishing attacks

A phishing attack involves sending a message, usually via email, which appears to come from a trusted source, such as a manager, a colleague, a bank, or an online retailer. These fake messages can trick employees into providing sensitive information, such as login details. This can give cybercriminals access to your system, which can leave you vulnerable to other types of cyber-attacks.

Ransomware attacks

With a ransomware attack, cybercriminals can encrypt your files remotely. You will be unable to access your online system until you pay a ransom. If you fail to make this ransom payment, the cybercriminals might simply delete your data, or they might choose to sell it to other cybercriminals. This will put you and your guests at significant risk of further financial exploitation.

Data breaches

If cybercriminals gain access to your system, they may simply choose to steal your data outright. This could result in significant financial and reputational losses for your hotel, while leaving your guests vulnerable to identity theft and financial exploitation.

Why do cybercriminals target hotels?

There are a few reasons why cybercriminals might choose to target hotels.

Your hotel is unlikely to have sophisticated cybersecurity measures in place, and it is unlikely that you have trained your staff to recognise the risks of phishing emails, and other forms of attack. This means that it would be easier for cybercriminals to access your system. It also means that you will not be able to adequately respond to a cyberattack.

Also, hotels tend to store a lot of sensitive data on their systems, including guests’ personal details, and even their credit card numbers. This sort of data can be immensely valuable for cybercriminals.

Finally, hotels tend to offer cybercriminals multiple points of attack. From your online booking systems to the devices you use to check in your guests, cybercriminals will have a choice of vulnerabilities to test and exploit so as to gain entry to your system.

How can cyber insurance protect your hotel?

Investing in staff training and cybersecurity can protect your business from cybercrime. But while such investments offer strong prevention, cyber insurance provides a reliable cure.

In the event of a cyberattack, cyber insurance can provide cover for customer data loss, for system breaches, and for any legal fees you might face following the incident. In this way, cyber insurance is crucial for helping your business and your guests recover from the devastating effects of a data breach.

At James Hallam, we can provide you with comprehensive cyber insurance cover as part of a wider travel and tourism insurance package.

Find out more about our cyber insurance for businesses as well as our comprehensive insurance policies for travel agents and tour operators.

For more information, call us on 0330 024 0755 or email enterprisenb@JamesHallam.co.uk.