Pub and restaurant insurance is a specialist commercial package built for UK hospitality venues. The core covers: Public & Products Liability (with food poisoning and allergen scope), Employers' Liability for staff, buildings and contents, business interruption, money cover, stock and deterioration cover, glass cover, and legal expenses. Optional add-ons include Pool Re terrorism cover (increasingly relevant under Martyn's Law), cyber for booking systems, and accommodation cover for pubs with rooms. The cover differs fundamentally from generic small business insurance — hospitality has high injury rates, allergen exposure, and licensing scrutiny that generic packages don't contemplate.

Martyn's Law is the popular name for the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, named after Martyn Hett who died in the 2017 Manchester Arena attack. It received Royal Assent on 3 April 2025 with a 24-month implementation period — so compliance becomes mandatory around April 2027. The law applies to venues with capacity of 200 or more people. Standard tier (200–799) requires basic procedures: evacuation, invacuation, lockdown, communication, staff training, and SIA registration. Enhanced tier (800+) requires full terrorism vulnerability risk assessments with CCTV, bag search policies, and vehicle checks. The Security Industry Authority (SIA) is the regulator.

Natasha's Law refers to the Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2019 (with equivalents in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland), named after Natasha Ednan-Laperouse who died of an allergic reaction in 2016. The regulations require full ingredients lists with the 14 mandatory allergens emphasised on Prepacked for Direct Sale (PPDS) food — items packaged at the same premises they're sold from. This affects most cafés, sandwich shops, and takeaways. Restaurants serving from a kitchen to a table have separate but related allergen disclosure duties under broader food information regulations. Insurance impact: failure to comply leaves you exposed on the Products Liability side for any allergen-related claim.

Standard property insurance typically excludes terrorism by default in the UK. Pool Re-backed terrorism cover can be added — and is increasingly relevant under Martyn's Law. For Standard tier venues (200–799 capacity), terrorism cover is good practice but not legally required. For Enhanced tier venues (800+), terrorism cover is functionally essential and often a contractual requirement from landlords, brewery operators, or lenders. The premium uplift varies by location (London and major cities priced higher than rural locations) but is typically £100–£500 per year for a smaller venue, scaling with property value. Worth speaking to a specialist broker if your capacity is near or above 800.

Yes, where the policy has appropriate Products Liability scope. Food poisoning is typically covered under the Products Liability section of a hospitality policy — separate from general Public Liability for slips and trips. Key things to check: explicit food poisoning scope (not all generic policies include it); allergen reactions explicitly covered; cover responds to single-incident claims as well as outbreak scenarios; sub-limits aren't unreasonably low. Claim values for serious food poisoning incidents can reach £25,000–£200,000+ per claimant, with outbreak scenarios reaching £500k+ in aggregate. Specialist hospitality cover gets the right limits and scope; generic small business cover often doesn't.

Indicative 2026 annual premiums (for £150k–£300k turnover venues): cafés / coffee shops £550–£1,300; restaurants £900–£2,400; traditional pubs £1,500–£3,800; gastropubs / pubs with rooms £2,200–£5,500; cocktail bars £1,800–£4,500; large venues (800+ capacity) £4,500–£12,000+. Pricing scales with turnover, capacity, premises type (listed buildings premium considerations), late-night trading, alcohol scope, claims history, and limits. Premium reduction levers include: documented allergen management, SIA-registered door staff, monitored alarms, sprinkler systems, and 3+ years of continuity with the same insurer.

Most specialist hospitality Public Liability cover responds to alcohol-related incidents — slips and falls by intoxicated customers, ejection injuries, fights between customers — provided you can demonstrate you operated within your Licensing Act 2003 duties. Critical points: over-service of visibly intoxicated customers can void cover; failure to follow Challenge 25 for under-25s served alcohol can void cover; SIA-registered door staff documented for capacity venues; CCTV operational and stored to police request standards. Generic small business cover often excludes alcohol-related liability entirely. Specialist hospitality placement is essential for any wet-led venue.

Pubs with rooms need a hospitality programme plus accommodation cover. Key extensions: buildings cover including accommodation rooms; guest belongings cover (loss and theft from rooms); separate Public Liability scope for guest-related incidents in rooms; Cyber cover for booking systems and card processing (especially important for accommodation revenue); Legal Expenses with both FSA / licensing and accommodation-specific scope. Many pubs with rooms cross the 200-person capacity threshold for Martyn's Law and should plan for Standard tier compliance. If you also list on Airbnb or Booking.com, see our specialist Airbnb and short let insurance page.

Yes, where the closure arises from an insured event. Business Interruption (BI) typically covers loss of gross profit and ongoing costs (rent, salaries, utilities) for the time it takes to reopen, after fire, flood, escape of water, theft, or other insured damage. Indemnity periods are typically 12, 18, or 24 months — choose based on how long it would realistically take you to rebuild and re-establish trade. BI generally does NOT cover voluntary closure, pandemic-related closure (most policies excluded this following COVID), or closure due to licensing review or HSE intervention (Legal Expenses covers the latter). For hospitality, BI is typically the highest-value cover after PL — don't underinsure it.

Increasingly yes. Modern hospitality venues hold significant customer data: booking systems with names, email, phone, dietary requirements; EPOS systems with card transaction data; loyalty programmes; CCTV footage. UK GDPR exposure can reach £17.5m or 4% of global turnover for serious breaches. Cyber cover for hospitality typically includes: breach notification costs, ICO investigation defence, ransomware response (a growing threat against hospitality EPOS systems), business interruption from system failure, and PCI DSS compliance support. Premium typically £200–£800 per year for a small venue. See our Cyber Insurance page for full detail.

Legal Expenses cover with hospitality-specific scope responds to licensing reviews, FSA prosecutions, HSE investigations, employment tribunal defence, and contract disputes. This is separate from your Public Liability cover. Important: Legal Expenses typically has a "reasonable prospects of success" requirement — meaning the cover responds to defendable cases, not certain losses. If you're facing a licensing review, engage your Legal Expenses insurer at the earliest stage (typically when you first receive notice from the licensing authority). Late notification is the most common reason for cover dispute.

Key levers: documented allergen management procedure with staff training records (5–10% discount common); SIA-registered door staff for capacity venues; monitored intruder alarm with police response; sprinkler systems and fire suppression; CCTV with adequate retention; Challenge 25 procedure documented for wet-led venues; 3+ years continuity with the same insurer (5–10% loyalty discount); annual payment rather than monthly; specialist broker placement vs comparison sites. Avoid the trap of buying the cheapest generic small business cover — at claim stage, the £200 saving creates uninsured exposure on every alcohol or allergen-related incident.