SME

If you run a pub, then you will almost certainly have experienced some form of theft at one time or other.

In a December 2024 report, The Office for National Statistics claimed that there had been a 54% increase in robberies from business properties compared to previous years.

In this post we will discuss the common types of theft that occur in pubs, and outline some ways you can protect your pub from theft.

The Most Common Types of Theft in Pubs

• Petty theft of pub property. It is very common for customers to steal pint glasses, along with other items of cutlery, from bars and pubs. According to one survey, 34% of British adults have admitted to stealing tableware from pubs, which amounts to around £186 million worth of stolen items.
• Theft from pub staff and customers. This might include stealing unattended phones and keys, or lifting items from handbags or wallets left on tables. Or it might include violent thefts on pub premises. According to ONS, around 5% of all annual robberies take place on pub premises.
• Theft by pub staff. Whether through under ringing items, giving away free drinks, stealing stock, or lifting money directly from the till, it is unfortunately common for staff to steal from pubs.
• Breaking and entering. It feels like every few weeks there is another news story about a pub burglary. Some criminals target pubs while they are still open, using violence or the threat of violence to steal money. Others wait until the pub is closed before breaking in. In the latter case, the cost of the damages to the pub property can exceed the amount lost in cash.

How To Protect Your Pub From Theft

Below we will explore how you can address each type of pub theft, in turn.

How To Prevent Petty Theft of Pub Property

• Run a pint glass and tableware amnesty. Allow customers to return any items they may have stolen in exchange for a discount on drinks or food.
• Add a small charge to every item on your menu to offset the costs of replacing stolen items. This could be as little as 10p.
• Introduce a one-glass-per-customer system, where you wash and refill the same glass instead of handing out a new one. You could even ask customers to pay a deposit on their glass, which could deter theft while offsetting any potential losses.

How to Prevent Theft From Pub Staff and Customers

• Put up notices warning customers about the risks of theft, advising them to never leave any valuables unattended.
• Install CCTV to help deter theft, and to make conviction more likely if theft does occur.
• Consider hiring dedicated security staff, to help protect staff and customers from violent criminals.

How to Prevent Theft By Pub Staff

• Perform background checks on all new applicants. Highlight the importance of honesty and integrity during staff induction, and run regular training sessions to reiterate these values. Also make it clear that you have a zero tolerance approach to theft – one strike, and they are out.
• Perform regular stock and receipt checks. This will help you ensure that everything adds up, and that there are no discrepancies.
• Make sure every till is covered by CCTV. This could help deter all kinds of theft, while giving you a means of investigating should you suspect that theft has taken place.

How to Prevent Breaking and Entering in Your Pub

• Invest in extensive security systems, including extra locks, alarms, CCTV, motion activated floodlights, and so on.
• Lock all cash and other valuables in a safe overnight.
• Join a neighbourhood watch scheme. Encourage local residents to look out for your pub while you look out for neighbouring properties.

Get The Right Insurance For Your Pub

Dedicated insurance for your pub will not prevent theft, but it can help you bounce back from any financial loss you may experience as a result of theft.

James Hallam is an independent Lloyd’s broker with a dedicated team of experienced insurance professionals who care about protecting your pub. We can help you get the insurance you need at the most competitive price.

Learn more about how we can support you here.

Manufacturing insurance can give you all the cover you need for your manufacturing business on a single policy. This means you will only have one premium to pay, and you will have a single point of contact should you ever need to make a claim.

Though insurance is essential for all manufacturing businesses, you do not have a legal obligation to get a dedicated manufacturing insurance policy. So, in this post, we will outline what might happen if you do not have manufacturing insurance.

What is Manufacturing Insurance?

Manufacturing insurance is tailored cover for your manufacturing business. A single manufacturing insurance policy can cover every aspect of your manufacturing business, including your buildings, your equipment, your stock, your products, and your employees.

Core areas of cover in a manufacturing insurance policy include:

• Buildings insurance
• Vehicles insurance
• Product liability insurance
• Public liability insurance
• Employer’s liability insurance
• Goods-in-transit cover
• Business interruption insurance
• Stock cover (including cover for both raw materials and finished products you keep in storage)

Is There a Legal Requirement to Get Manufacturer’s Insurance?

If you employ any staff, then you have a legal requirement to have employer’s liability insurance. This provides cover for any legal fees or compensation should your employees make a claim for accidents or injuries they sustain while on the job.

Suppliers and contractors might require you to have certain cover in place before they agree to work with you. For example, if a company appoints you to manufacture their products, they may require you to have product and public liability insurance as part of their contract.

Beyond this, there is no legal requirement to get any form of manufacturing insurance. However, there are very good reasons why no manufacturing business should go without this specialist form of cover.

What Happens If I Do Not Have Manufacturing Insurance?

A manufacturing business is a complicated operation with many moving parts. If there is a problem with any aspect of the operation, it can cause a chain reaction that could bring your entire business to a halt.

With manufacturing insurance, you will have cover for every part of your business. So, if anything goes wrong with any aspect of your business, you can quickly get the means and the support to fix any issues before they get any worse. This means your business can continue to operate with minimal disruption.

On the other hand, if you do not have manufacturing insurance, even a small issue could cause a domino effect that could ultimately bring down your whole business.

Example: What Happens If I Do Not Have Product Liability Insurance?

Product liability insurance is a particularly important form of cover for manufacturing businesses.

If any of your products are ever found to be faulty or hazardous, you may need to issue a product recall. This alone will carry significant costs. But beyond the costs of the product recall, you may also face legal action and compensation payments should any customers or stockists make a claim against you.

Without manufacturing insurance, you would be liable for covering all of these costs yourself. Product recalls are themselves highly costly. Add to this the potential costs of legal fees and compensation, and it is easy to see how even a minor issue with a single product could potentially sink your business.

For an example of how much a product recall can cost a manufacturing business, take a look at the 10 biggest product recalls of all time. Most of the companies involved are major multinationals. But also consider the small, privately held food manufacturing company that faced costs of around $1bn due to a salmonella outbreak.

Get The Manufacturing Insurance You Need, Today

No matter how long it takes you to get a policy, you should never start manufacturing any products or materials until you have all the cover you need. Read our guide to how long it can take to get manufacturing insurance.

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

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

It is important to understand the common fire hazards in the workplace. If you understand where and how fires are most likely to break out, you can design and implement fire safety policies and procedures to effectively manage, mitigate, or eliminate the risks.

Some of the most common fire hazards in the workplace include:

• Electrical and battery fires
• Flammable substances
• Smoking
• Build up of combustible materials
• Cooking
• Ineffective fire safety equipment

We will explore each of these, the common causes of these issues and how they can quite quickly lead to a fire in the workplace.

Electrical and Battery Fires

Electrical items have always carried a fire risk. But the risk may be greater than ever due to the widespread use of lithium-ion batteries.

Lithium-ion batteries are used to power a wide range of devices, including laptops, smartphones, electric scooters, e-bikes, and other kinds of electrical vehicles. They are compact, they have a high energy density, and they are rechargeable. Yet they may also carry a significant fire risk.

If lithium-ion batteries are faulty or damaged, it can lead to a chemical reaction known as thermal runaway: The battery overheats rapidly, and can ignite spontaneously, burning at temperatures of around 1,000°C. Burning lithium batteries also emit toxic, flammable gases, meaning that fires can quickly spread, and even result in explosions.

Flammable Substances

It is common to store large amounts of flammable substances in many workplaces. These include flammable liquids and vapours, including many common cleaning products, and combustible materials such as paper and cardboard.

A single spark can cause these substances to ignite. And as flammable substances are often stored in bulk, even a small fire can quickly spread.

Smoking

Smoking in the workplace is perhaps not as common as it used to be, and most smokers now smoke outside in designated areas. But people can be careless. If a cigarette, or a lit match, is not properly extinguished and disposed of, it can start a fire. If this fire breaks out near any flammable materials, then it will spread rapidly.

Build-up of Combustible Materials

Most workplaces produce a lot of waste, a lot of which is combustible. If you do not take proper precautions to store and dispose of this waste, then you are creating a significant fire hazard.

The build up of dust is another major cause of fires in workplaces. If you do not have adequate ventilation in place, dust deposits, along with atmospheric dust, can cause fires, and even explosions.

Cooking

There are many fire hazards in kitchens, from faulty ovens, toasters, and other appliances to the abundance of flammable oils and other liquids.

In offices and other workplaces, it is common for workers to put something in a toaster or microwave, and leave it unattended while it cooks. Such behaviour can make fires more likely, as it creates a risk that the food will ignite, or the appliance will overheat.

Ineffective Fire Safety Equipment

Finally, if the fire safety equipment in your workplace is not working like it should, then even a small fire can quickly spread into something much more serious.

Examples include:

• Untested fire alarms – are the batteries still good?
• Fire doors left open – which means that if a fire does break out, it will have a chance to spread.
• Blocked fire doors – which can endanger lives in the event of a fire.
• Inappropriate fire extinguishers for the type of fire hazard.

How To Prevent The Risk of Fire in the Workplace

Please note that this guidance is not exhaustive, and is merely intended to provide some best-practice examples for how you can control the fire hazards in your workplace:

• Train all of your staff in fire safety. Make sure everyone understands the specific risks in your workplace, and how to manage them. Also ensure that everyone knows exactly what actions to take in the event of a fire, in order to keep themselves and their colleagues safe. Make this training part of all staff inductions, and ensure that everyone gets periodic refresher training.
• Take care with electricals. Never overload any plug sockets, and if possible, unplug any machinery or equipment when not in use.
• Take particular care with lithium-ion and other batteries. Do not use them if they appear in any way damaged or degraded. Do not overcharge them. And never dispose of any batteries in the main waste stream. Use a dedicated recycling service instead.
• Take care in how you store waste and other combustible materials. When it comes to flammable substances, follow the manufacturer’s instructions on storage and management exactly. Clean up any spillages immediately.
• Regularly test all of your fire safety equipment, and replace anything that needs replacing as soon as you spot an issue.

Are You Covered For Workplace Fires?

James Hallam is an independent, family-run Lloyd’s broker. Since 1982, we have helped hundreds of businesses across UK understand and manage their fire risks, while getting comprehensive cover for all risks at a competitive price.

Learn more about our specialist business insurance services.

If you offer any kind of beauty therapist services, then you need specialist beauty therapist insurance to cover you, and your customers, for all of the risks associated with your services.

In this post we will outline what is included in beauty therapist insurance, and why you need it.

What is Beauty Therapist Insurance?

Beauty therapist insurance is specialist cover for beauticians of all kinds, including:

• Beauty therapists
• Hair and beauty consultants
• Hairdressers
• Nail technicians
• Make-up artists
• Massage therapists
• Manicurists
• Pedicurists
• Salon owners
• Mobile hairdressers or beauticians

What Types of Treatments Can Beauty Therapy Insurance Cover?

Beauty therapist insurance can cover a range of treatments, including:

• hairdressing
• barbering
• facials
• makeup
• spray-on tans
• massages
• body wrapping
• eyelash and eyebrow treatments
• ear piercing and more

It can also cover more specialist treatments, including:

• microblading
• dermaplaning
• microdermabrasion
• hydrotherapy and more

What is Included in Beauty Therapist Insurance?

You can tailor your beauty therapist insurance policy to meet your exact requirements. But most policies will include the following cover:

Treatment Risk Insurance
There are risks involved in many of the treatments you might provide as a beauty therapist. A customer could have an allergic reaction to a product you use, for example. Or you might accidentally injure a customer while applying a treatment. If a customer makes a claim against you, treatment risk insurance can cover any legal fees or compensation that might be due.

Professional Indemnity Insurance
If a customer is unhappy with your work, or if they believe you have mis-sold or misrepresented your services, they may make a claim against you. In this case, professional indemnity insurance can cover any compensation or legal fees that may arise.

Contents Cover
This is cover for the equipment you use to apply your treatments, along with any products you might use. It can also cover your administration and IT equipment, including salon furniture, cash registers, smartphones, tablets, and laptops.

Buildings Cover
If you own or manage a beauty salon or a hairdressers, buildings insurance is cover for your premises against fire, flood, theft, and other events.

Public Liability Cover
If you own or manage a beauty salon or a hairdressers, public liability insurance can cover your customers, along with any other members of the public, for any accidents or injuries they sustain while on your business premises.

If you are a mobile hairdresser or beautician, public liability insurance can cover any accidents that may take place while you are visiting a client’s home – such as spilling a bottle of nail varnish, or accidentally scorching a surface with some hair straighteners.

Employer’s Liability Insurance
If you employ any staff, then you have a legal requirement to get employer’s liability insurance. This will cover you staff for any accidents, illnesses, or injuries they may sustain while on the job.

Do I Need Beauty Therapist Insurance?

Yes. You have a legal requirement to get some forms of cover, such as employer’s liability insurance. Certain professional bodies may also require you to get cover as part of their membership. Plus, if you rent a chair at a salon, or if you run a salon yourself, you may have a contractual obligation to get certain forms of cover.

But even if there were no legal or regulatory requirement to get beauty therapist insurance, we would still strongly advise you to get all the cover you need. If something ever goes wrong with your treatment, your customers could make a claim against you. This could result in excessive legal fees, and even more excessive compensation payments. Without cover, you would be liable to pay these fees yourself.

Also, without cover, even the smallest mishap could sink your business completely. If any of your equipment were lost or damaged, for example, would you be able to afford replacements? With beauty therapist insurance, you would be able to recover from most setbacks with the minimum of disruption to your business.

Specialist Beauty Therapist Insurance From James Hallam

James Hallam is an independent, family-run Lloyd’s broker. Since 1982, we have helped hundreds of beauty therapists across the UK get the insurance they need at the best price. Whether you are running a single hair or beauty salon, or a chain of salons, or a mobile beautician service, we can help you get specialist cover at a competitive price.

Learn more about our specialist beauty therapist insurance services.

If you own or manage a hotel, then you are no doubt familiar with just how much it can cost to get adequate hotel insurance.

In this post we will outline some of the factors that can affect the cost of hotel insurance, and explore some ways you can bring down the price of your policy.

What Can Affect The Cost of Hotel Insurance?

• Your hotel’s size. A bigger hotel means more rooms, which means more guests, which means more risks. So, the bigger your hotel, the more you might expect to pay for hotel business insurance.
• Your employees. The size of your workforce can also affect the price of your policy. Once again, the more employees you have, the more you should expect to pay. But you should also consider that different employees will face different risks, which can itself influence the cost of cover. Your kitchen staff, for example, will potentially face more risks than your front desk or back office staff.
• Your hotel’s location. If you are located in an inner city area, your hotel may face a higher risk of theft. If you are located on the seafront, your hotel will be more vulnerable to floods, and to damages from adverse weather conditions. Insurers will take all of this into consideration when calculating the cost of your cover.
• Your amenities. You may have to pay more for cover if you offer certain amenities that bring added risks, such as swimming pools, spas, and sport facilities.

Get a Risk Assessment For Your Hotel

Insurance is all about risk. When calculating your premiums, insurers will consider the specific risks that your hotel, your guests, and your employees may face.

If you take action to manage, reduce, or eliminate these risks, it can help to bring down the cost of your cover.

So, to begin with, conduct a thorough risk assessment for your hotel. Identify all of the things that could possibly go wrong, taking into account your building, your fixtures and fittings, your amenities and facilities, your staff, and your guests.

Assess how likely it is that each risk you have identified will lead to harm, and also how severe the harm might be for every possible risk. This should give you an idea of the sort of measures you can introduce to address these risks.

Take Action to Minimise Risk in Your Hotel

Here are some of the actions that could help bring down the price of your hotel business insurance premiums.

Please note that this list is not exhaustive, and the impact these measures might have on your premiums might vary depending on your specific circumstances:

• Get extra security, including alarms, CCTV, dedicated security staff, and motion activated lights.
• Invest in training and development for your staff. This could incorporate workplace health and safety, first aid, fire safety, and even cybersecurity awareness. Make this training a part of every member of staff’s induction, and make sure everyone gets a refresher at least once a year.
• Consider your fire risks, and your fire response policy and procedures. Invest in new fire safety equipment, and be sure to replace any items that may be approaching their use-by dates. Also think about how you can aid escape and minimise damage in the event of a fire, with sprinkler and smoke control systems.
• Consider your flood risks. Read our guide to how you can safeguard your business against floods.

Get The Right Kind of Insurance For Your Hotel

What sort of insurance does it take to cover a hotel?

Among other things, you will need to consider cover for your:

• Buildings
• Fixtures, fittings, furniture, and equipment
• Employees
• Guests
• Vehicles
• Stock

Combine Separate Policies into One Combined Hotel Insurance Policy

Do you have a separate policy for every aspect of your hotel business? If so, you may be paying more than necessary. It is often possible to make significant savings if you combine your policies into a single dedicated hotel insurance policy.

There are added benefits to getting a single policy. It means you will only ever pay one premium, and should you ever have to make a claim, you will have a single point of contact and a single process to manage.

You might be able to make additional savings on your policy if you:

• Pay for your cover annually, rather than monthly
• Pay a higher excess (though this could cause you some issues in the event of a claim)

Work With an Insurance Broker

If you are looking to renew your hotel insurance policy, you will likely compare quotes from multiple insurers to ensure you get the best price for your cover.

This is good practice. But if you want to save money on the cost of cover for your hotel, it is much better to work with a dedicated insurance broker.

A broker will take the time to get to know your hotel, your staff, and the sort of guests you cater for. When they fully understand your insurance requirements, they will work to tailor an insurance package that meets all of your needs at the best possible price.

Working with a broker can be more cost-effective in more ways than one. If you only pay for the cover you need, then you will not pay excessively for any cover you do not need. Plus, there will be no risk of any gaps in your cover, or of any unnecessary duplicated cover across multiple policies.

An insurance broker may also be able to assist you in your hotel risk assessment, advising on the sort of measures that could help bring down the price of your policy.

We Can Help You Get the Tailored Hotel Insurance You Need

James Hallam is an independent Lloyd’s broker with a dedicated team of experienced insurance brokers. We are committed to protecting your hotel, your staff, and your guests from every risk you might possibly face. No matter if you are running a large or a small hotel, we can tailor a niche insurance package to ensure you are covered for all risks at the best possible price.

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

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.