Covering Your Stock and Equipment
If your pub is damaged or destroyed in a fire, how would you pay for the food, drink, furniture and other supplies that you would need to start trading again? Contents cover typically provides for exactly that scenario, and may be included in your pub insurance. You or your broker will need to provide a comprehensive list of the inventory you hold including furniture, carpets, lighting, wet and dry stocks, computers, tills, fridges, freezers … your inventory is a good place to start, but consider all areas of the premises room by room and see what needs to be covered.
When considering stock don’t forget to include a seasonal upwards adjustment for such times as Christmas, Easter, Bank Holidays, World Cup or other events that you know will require an increased stock holding. I would suggest a 50% seasonal increase in your stocks to cover these times and by doing so you will not need to keep informing your insurer of these increases.
Remember that you are not insuring your property on the basis of what it cost you at the time of purchase but at a level of cover that will enable you to purchase them at the prevailing price when you lose them; this is called on a replacement basis. For instance a computerised till system that is on the inventory at a value of £1,500 purchased three years ago will be significantly more expensive to replace today.
It is essential that you not only cover your own inventory (on a replacement basis) but also those items of equipment that your landlord or their agents and suppliers have on the premises.
You need to check with the landlord exactly what they expect you to cover, for instance, boilers, plate glass and windows, beer raising equipment, beer cooling equipment, cellar refrigeration, outside lighting etc.
You will need to get them valued in terms of replacement insurance if your landlord requires them to be insured by you. A good place to start on any standard inventory will be those items listed by the landlord as being on the premises but not included in the monetary value of the inventory you have either purchased or rented from them.
Your tenancy or lease agreement will contain specific clauses and obligations upon you regarding insurance and you should consult your solicitor when arranging your insurance cover to ensure you miss nothing.
Loss of Licence
Losing your licence would be catastrophic as a pub which cannot serve alcoholic drinks will lose its value, pub insurance can compensate for some of this loss. This is an important part of any pub insurance policy as it could be disastrous for the pub owner’s business to not have this cover.
Damage to Fixed Glass and Sanitary Fittings
As mentioned above your landlord may require you to insure (in your joint names or by way of a registered interest in the insurance policy) plate or fixed glass. Together with sanitary fittings (toilets, cisterns, urinals, sinks etc) these are specific risks that can be covered in an insurance policy.
Continue reading … page 1 • page 3 • page 4