Pub and bar insurance
Cover options for independent pubs and bars, including public liability, employers' liability, buildings, stock and loss of licence.
Pub insurance is a set of business covers for running a pub or bar: the customers who come in, the staff who work there, the building, the stock in your cellar and the income you'd lose if you had to close. Pubs usually combine public and products liability, employers' liability, buildings, contents, stock and business interruption, with optional cover for loss of licence, equipment breakdown and more.
PIB Insurance Brokers arranges cover for independent pubs and bars, whether you own the freehold or lease from a pub company. A broker can be particularly helpful when your pub is more complex, for example food, rooms to let, live music and events, a beer garden, late opening, or an older or listed building. If food is the main part of your business, see our restaurant insurance; if you let rooms, our hotel insurance; and for other types of venue, our hospitality insurance.
What pub insurance covers
Pub policies usually combine a core of essential covers with optional extras, depending on what you serve, what you host and whether you own or lease the building. The summaries below are general examples of what may be covered in each section; your policy schedule and wording decide what is and isn't covered in any claim.
Core covers
Public and products liability
Claims from customers and visitors who are hurt or whose property is damaged, such as a fall on the cellar steps, a slip on a wet floor or a cut from broken glass, and illness from food or drink you've served.
Watch for: Claims from your own staff (covered separately), deliberate acts. Some policies limit claims involving assault or violence, so check any conditions about door staff.
Employers' liability
Claims from staff hurt or made ill at work, such as injuries changing kegs, cuts from glassware or burns in the kitchen. Usually required by law if you employ staff, including part-time and casual bar staff. The law requires a limit of at least £5m.
Watch for: Door staff supplied by a security company, who should have their own cover. The definition of "employee" varies by policy.
Buildings
The structure of your pub, outbuildings and fixed fittings against fire, flood, storm and escape of water. If you lease from a pub company, the landlord often insures the building and recharges the cost to you, so check your agreement before insuring it again.
Watch for: A rebuild cost that's out of date, especially for an older or listed building, and restricted cover if the pub is empty beyond a stated period.
Contents and equipment
Furniture, fixtures you've added, glassware, tills, and kitchen and cellar equipment against fire, flood, theft and, often, accidental damage.
Watch for: Equipment leased from a supplier, which may be insured under the lease; wear and tear; theft without forced entry.
Stock
Beer, wines, spirits and food against fire, flood and theft, often including stock spoiled when cellar cooling or refrigeration fails, up to a stated limit.
Watch for: Stock limits set below what you hold at busy times such as Christmas, and spoilage from a power cut the policy doesn't cover.
Business interruption
Lost income and ongoing costs such as wages and rent while you can't trade after an insured event like a fire or flood. Choose a period long enough to repair the building and win back your regulars. See our business interruption insurance page.
Watch for: Closures caused by something the policy doesn't cover. Closures from disease are usually excluded unless you've added a specific extension.
Optional covers to consider
Loss of licence
May provide cover for certain financial losses following the suspension or loss of a premises licence, for example after a licensing review. Insurers usually offer it alongside business interruption.
Watch for: Breaches you knew about, or licence conditions that weren't followed.
Equipment breakdown
Sudden mechanical or electrical failure of cellar cooling, kitchen equipment and boilers, including repair costs.
Watch for: Breakdowns caused by lack of servicing, wear and tear, equipment beyond a stated age.
Glass
Replacement of broken windows, glass doors and illuminated signs, including emergency boarding up.
Watch for: Limits per pane or for signs, and glass that was already cracked.
Money
Cash on the premises, in a safe and in transit to the bank.
Watch for: Lower cash limits outside opening hours, and conditions on how the safe is used.
Legal expenses
Legal costs for disputes with staff, suppliers or customers, and some licensing and regulatory matters.
Watch for: Disputes that began before the policy started, claims below the policy excess.
Cyber
Costs of responding to a data breach or cyber attack, such as compromised card payments, a booking system or customer Wi-Fi.
Watch for: Incidents caused by known security flaws left unfixed, fraud by your own staff (usually separate crime cover).
Freehold, tenanted and leased pubs
Who insures what depends on how you hold your pub.
- Freehold and free houses: you usually insure the building as well as your contents, stock, liabilities and loss of income.
- Tenanted or leased from a pub company: the pub company often insures the building and recharges the premium to you. You usually insure your contents, the fixtures you've added, stock, liabilities and loss of income. Your agreement sets out who covers what.
If you're taking on a pub, check the agreement before you sign, so you don't pay twice for the building or leave your own fit-out uninsured.
Food, rooms and entertainment
Tell your insurer if you serve food, let rooms, host live music, quiz nights or private functions, show live sport, or open late. Each may change the cover and the price, and cover may be limited if they aren't declared. Our restaurant insurance and hotel insurance pages cover kitchen and accommodation risks in more detail.
What pub insurance does not cover
Typical limits across pub policies:
- Problems that existed before the policy started: known damage and ongoing disputes are usually excluded.
- Wear and tear: equipment, fittings and buildings wearing out over time isn't insurable damage.
- Poor maintenance: damage caused by equipment or systems that weren't serviced or cleaned as required, such as kitchen extraction, may be excluded.
- Closures from disease: policies usually exclude lost income from disease or a pandemic unless you've added a specific extension.
- Underinsurance: if your sums insured are too low, the insurer may reduce a claim in proportion (known as average).
- An excess on most claims: most covers carry an excess (the amount you pay before the insurer contributes), which varies by cover.
Conditions matter too: claims may also be reduced or declined if policy conditions aren't met. Common examples: kitchen extraction not cleaned as required, fire alarms not tested or logged, or the intruder alarm not set when the pub is closed.
How much does pub insurance cost?
There is no standard price. What you pay depends on your turnover, whether you own or lease the building and its rebuild cost, how much of your trade is food, late opening, live entertainment and events, rooms to let, your security and your claims history.
What affects the cost
- A clean claims record: insurers usually look at the last three to five years.
- Fire safety: cleaned kitchen extraction, tested alarms and an up-to-date fire risk assessment may lower the cost of property cover.
- Security: an intruder alarm, CCTV and a safe may lower the cost of stock and money cover.
- Accurate values: an up-to-date rebuild valuation, especially for an older or listed building, can help reduce the risk of underinsurance or setting the sum insured higher than necessary.
- Your excess: choosing a higher excess (the amount you pay towards each claim) may lower the premium, the price of your cover.
Why work with PIB Insurance Brokers
We explore your options
We can approach insurers that cover pubs and licensed premises and set out the differences in cover, not just price.
We look at how you trade
Food, rooms, live music and events, a beer garden or late opening may each change what you need to tell your insurer.
We look for common gaps
A building insured twice, or not at all, under a lease, stock limits too low for busy periods, or no loss of licence cover where the licence is central to your business's value.
Here when things change
Our team is on hand throughout the policy year for advice, whether your circumstances change or you're not sure what to do next.
What our clients say
Reviews from PIB Insurance Brokers clients across the sectors we work with, collected by Reviews.io.
Taking on a pub, switching insurer, or not sure your cover fits?
Get a quoteFrequently asked questions
What insurance do I need for a pub?
The main insurance required by law is employers' liability, which most pubs need once they employ staff, including part-time and casual bar staff. The minimum is £5m, and you must display the certificate or make it available to staff electronically. Public liability isn't required by law, but you'll usually need it in practice, as pub companies and landlords often make it a condition of the lease. Beyond that, the covers worth considering are buildings (unless your landlord insures them), contents, stock, business interruption and loss of licence.
What is loss of licence insurance?
It covers the loss in value of your business if your premises licence is suspended or revoked, for example after a licensing review. Insurers usually offer it alongside business interruption, and it matters most where the licence to sell alcohol is central to what your pub is worth. It won't usually pay if the licence was lost because of breaches you knew about.
What happens if I don't have pub insurance?
In England, Scotland and Wales, if you employ staff without employers' liability insurance, you can be fined £2,500 for every day you're not properly insured, and £1,000 if you don't display the certificate or make it available to staff. Some employers are exempt, such as businesses that only employ close family members. Without other cover, you'd pay any compensation claims, repairs and lost income yourself, and pub companies and landlords often make insurance a condition of the lease.