Food Manufacturing Insurance Checklist

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A practical UK checklist to help food and drink manufacturers choose the right cover, limits and policy add-ons

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FOOD MANUFACTURING INSURANCE CHECKLIST THAT HELPS YOU TAKE OFF

Why You Need a Food Manufacturing Insurance Checklist

Food and drink manufacturing is one of the most insurance-sensitive sectors in the UK. Claims can involve injury/illness allegations, recalls, contamination, spoilage, fire risk, machinery breakdown, cold chain failures, and contractual obligations with retailers, wholesalers and hospitality groups.

The problem is that many businesses buy insurance once, then renew on autopilot. Over time, turnover changes, product ranges evolve, stock values rise and new contracts impose higher liability limits. The result can be gaps in cover or underinsurance - which only becomes obvious during a claim.

This checklist is designed to help you sanity-check your food manufacturing insurance, spot common pitfalls, and prepare the right information for a smoother quotation process.

Food Manufacturing Insurance Checklist (UK)

Use this checklist as a practical guide. If you want, Insure24 can walk through it with you and recommend a policy structure based on your operation, contracts and risk profile.

1) Confirm the basics

  • Your legal setup: sole trader, partnership, limited company, group structure
  • Sites: number of locations, factories, warehouses, cold stores, dispatch units
  • Turnover: current year and projected next year
  • Products: categories, shelf-life, storage requirements, any high-risk ingredients
  • Customers: retailers, wholesalers, hospitality, export, D2C online
  • Accreditations/audits: BRCGS, SALSA, ISO, customer audits (where applicable)

2) Check your liability covers

  • Product liability: do limits match customer/retailer requirements?
  • Public liability: visitors, contractors, drivers and audits on site
  • Employers’ liability: required if you employ staff (including temps)
  • Customer contracts: any specific endorsements required by customers?
  • Overseas sales: territorial limits (UK/EU/worldwide)
  • Claims history: incidents, complaints, recalls, near misses

3) Review property and stock values

  • Buildings sum insured: rebuild cost (not market value) including fees and debris removal
  • Fit-out: hygiene areas, cold rooms, insulated panels, drainage, extraction
  • Contents/equipment: replacement cost of fixed equipment, racking, lab gear, IT
  • Stock: max value at any one time (ingredients, WIP, finished goods, packaging)
  • Peak periods: seasonal build-up (Christmas/Easter/Halloween/summer)
  • Third-party storage: stock held off-site or at fulfilment centres

4) Add food-specific protections

  • Contamination cover: accidental contamination and clean-up costs (policy dependent)
  • Stock deterioration/spoilage: refrigeration failure and temperature excursion risk
  • Product recall: withdrawal/recall costs and crisis management support
  • Allergen risk: labelling controls, segregation and validation procedures
  • Quality assurance: testing frequency and traceability documentation
  • Supplier dependency: key ingredients or packaging suppliers

5) Protect production uptime

  • Machinery breakdown: critical plant (ovens, mixers, chillers, packaging lines)
  • Engineering inspection: boilers/pressure systems where relevant
  • Utilities interruption: power/gas/water dependencies
  • Spare parts: do you hold critical spares and where are they stored?
  • Maintenance records: service schedules and logs up to date?
  • Contingency plans: outsourcing options, alternate suppliers, temporary production

6) Business interruption (BI) check

  • Indemnity period: 12–24 months is common for manufacturers
  • Gross profit: calculate accurately (not just turnover)
  • Extra expense: temporary premises, expedited shipping, subcontracting
  • Seasonality: align cover to peak trading windows
  • Customer dependency: key accounts that drive revenue
  • Supplier dependency: key raw materials/packaging suppliers

7) Distribution and transit risks

  • Goods in transit: theft/damage while delivering (own fleet/hauliers/couriers)
  • Single load limits: max value per vehicle at peak times
  • Chilled/frozen extension: temperature risk during transit if needed
  • Overnight parking rules: security conditions and approved locations
  • Returns & rejects: procedures for damaged or non-compliant deliveries
  • Retailer chargebacks: understand what is insured vs contractual risk

8) People, cyber and management risks

  • Cyber insurance: ransomware, ordering systems, traceability platforms
  • Management liability: directors’ & officers cover for leadership teams
  • Employment practices: HR disputes (where relevant)
  • Key person: reliance on a small number of technical leaders
  • Professional advice: recall planning and crisis communications
  • Compliance: policies aligned with your real processes and documentation

If you’ve ticked several boxes above, it’s a sign you need more than a basic “combined business” policy. Insure24 can help you structure manufacturing insurance that matches your real exposure, contracts and operational dependencies.

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Common Insurance Mistakes Food Manufacturers Make

Use this quick “pitfall check” to avoid the most common issues that can weaken a policy.

Underinsurance pitfalls

  • Using market value instead of rebuild cost for buildings
  • Forgetting to include hygiene fit-out and cold rooms in sums insured
  • Insuring “average stock” rather than peak stock
  • Not declaring work-in-progress and packaging exposure
  • Choosing an indemnity period that’s too short

Cover gaps & wording issues

  • Assuming spoilage/temperature loss is included when it isn’t
  • No recall cover despite high-volume distribution
  • Territorial limits that don’t match export sales
  • Security and alarm conditions not followed in practice
  • Contracts requiring endorsements you don’t have
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“We used the checklist to spot gaps in our policy - especially around spoilage, transit limits and BI periods. Insure24 then helped us restructure the cover with clear explanations.”

Operations Director, UK Food Producer

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

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What insurance does a food manufacturer need in the UK?

Most food manufacturers need product liability, public liability, employers’ liability, property (buildings/contents), stock cover and business interruption. Depending on your operation, you may also need contamination/recall, spoilage (stock deterioration), machinery breakdown, goods in transit, and cyber cover.

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How do I know if I’m underinsured?

Common signs include: buildings sums insured based on market value, stock sums insured based on average values, no allowance for seasonal peaks, and old figures that haven’t been reviewed despite rising costs. Reviewing replacement costs and maximum exposures is the best way to check.

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Do I need product recall insurance?

If you distribute widely (retailers, wholesalers, national customers, export) or sell under your own label, recall cover is often strongly recommended. It can help cover the costs of withdrawing product from the market, even when no injury has occurred, subject to the wording and triggers.

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What indemnity period should I choose for business interruption?

Many manufacturers choose 12–24 months depending on the complexity of the site and machinery. Consider equipment lead times, reinstatement works to food safety standards, and how long it would take to regain customer approvals and production capacity.

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What information helps insurers quote faster?

Useful information includes turnover, product types, sites and processes, staffing numbers, sums insured for buildings/contents/stock, maximum stock values, HACCP/QA controls, audit standards, claims history, and any customer insurance requirements (limits or endorsements).

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Can Insure24 help review our current policy?

Yes. We can review your existing cover, identify potential gaps (for example spoilage, recall, underinsurance or BI periods) and recommend a structure that aligns with your operations and contract requirements.

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