A Guide to Care Home Insurance

A simple guide to care home insurance. We explain the features, exclusions and optional covers that are usually found in this type of business insurance. From public liability and contents insurance to the more specific care industry covers like medical malpractice insurance - find out what you need to make sure your care home insurance is right for you.

Simply put, standard business insurance doesn’t include vital protection against the specific risks of the care industry which could leave your service users, staff and business vulnerable. While some insurance providers will patch together various policies to cover your liability, buildings, contents, this will likely leave holes in your cover for:  

Medical malpractice insurance -This is a vital cover which protects against claims for example if a staff member was to administer the wrong medication.

Increased liability cover -We now offer public liability cover with a £10m limit of indemnity as standard. This has increased from the previous standard of £5m to support our customers to win quality contracts that require this limit.

Residents' contents -The personal belongings, valuables and money belonging to your residents are covered in this section. As an example we cover your residents for valuables up to £1000 per person, pedal cycles, £250 and personal money up to £100. All other items are included within the sums insured you set. These levels can differ between policies so make sure you check what you’re covered for.

In this section we look at some of the common business insurance protections features you will want in place for your care home. 

Buildings insurance

The rebuild cost - A care home is reliant on the premises and is most likely your most expensive asset. Buildings insurance exists to cover the costs for repairing damage right through to rebuilding - should it be needed. You should insure yourself for the full re-build cost of your property. Make sure you factor in any outbuildings, boundary walls, pools, fitted kitchens and bathrooms etc as well as the building itself. 

Care home contents insurance

• Care home contents insurance cover is there to protect the items in your building, belonging to the business. This means everything from office equipment to specialist care machinery such as mobility equipment. Service equipment such as lifts are required by law to be inspected annually, a good insurance provider can arrange these inspections (usually at an additional cost) as part of your protection plan.

• Employees’ and residents’ personal belonging can also be covered on a care home contents insurance policy. The amounts can differ though between insurers and policies. Resident’s high value items will likely need to be insured separately and don’t forget that personal cash is usually limited to £100.

Engineering inspection

• Service equipment such as lifts are required by law to be inspected on a regular basis, some annually and others bi-annually, a good insurance provider can arrange these inspections (usually at an additional cost) as part of your protection plan.

Public liability

This is to protect you and your customers. As the owner/manager you are responsible for making your care home as risk free as possible but accidents can still happen. Public liability insurance will cover your legal liability for accidental loss, damage or injury to a third party on your premises.

Business interruption

Should an insured event such as fire cause the business to run at an increased cost of working, you’ll be able to claim for the extra costs. For example, hiring extra staff or logistical costs if part of the building was out of action.

Building and tenant improvements - Maintaining and modernising a care home is a full time job. As you grow, add new equipment, make repairs or add extensions make sure you re-calculate you building and contents ‘sum insured’ levels accordingly. Without being careful you could exceed the amount you are covered for which could have a negative effect if you needed to make a claim.

Personal accident - In the care industry standard can’t be allowed to slip. But if a personal accident is keeping a member of staff off sick extra pressure is added to the rest of your work force, creating stress. Personal accident cover on your care home insurance policy can cover you for increased costs of working due to an absence of this kind, helping you to pay for replacement staff and keep your standards up.

Specialist policies for home care services, hospices, charities and many other care providers are available too. See the related policies section in this guide or view the care and medical insurance section on our website.

As well as great insurance, our care home customers have access to all these useful features free of charge.

CyberHR - Online care-specific human resources management tool.

24-hour legal advice line - Giving you access to industry-specific qualified solicitors and barristers for impartial advice over the phone, at any time. You don’t need to have a claim brought against you, so even if you suspect on might be raised, contact them for advice on how to handle the situation.

Bespoke legal expenses - Protects you and your business in the event of legal disputes and provides cover for the costs of solicitors, barristers, expert witnesses and court proceedings.

24-hour stress helpline - The care industry sees a high level of stress amongst staff. Our free, confidential service offers employers the resource to provide their duty of care. This can prove a vital tool in helping your staff cope and keeping up your standards.

Consistent with our policy when giving comment and advice on a non-specific basis, we cannot assume legal responsibility for the accuracy of any particular statement. In the case of specific problems, we recommend that professional advice be sought.