Care Home Insurance, Nursing & Residential Care Home Insurance

Cover designed for your organisation

We provide specialist insurance for care homes, including nursing homes, hospices, dementia care homes, and homes for adults with learning disabilities or mental health issues.

Gallagher has worked with residential care home businesses for many years, from supported living facilities to homes providing specialist end-of-life care. We understand the level of care required, not only to look after residents but also to run what can be a complex business, and protect the organisation and its staff in this high-risk sector.

Our residential care home insurance can help to mitigate your risks so that you can focus day-to-day on the provision of quality care for those who rely on you.

What is care home insurance?

Care home insurance is a specialist type of business insurance for residential care facilities. It includes a number of different insurance products that can work together to help protect the business, its owner and operators. There are many risks associated with running a care home, such as claims of medical malpractice, employee injury claims, and damage to your buildings or contents due to an event such as a fire or flood. Having a care home insurance policy in place can help protect you from such eventualities.

Types of care homes we cover

Nursing or residential care homes
Dementia care homes
Supported living facilities
Hospices
Care homes for adults with learning difficulties
Care homes for adults with mental health issues and addictions
Day care services
Children’s care homes
Small businesses and start-ups
Portfolios of homes

What can care home insurance cover?

Your cover can be designed according to the type of service you provide, for example you may require a nursing home insurance policy, or specialist insurance for a home dedicated to supporting adults with learning disabilities. The size of your organisation and your level of risk will also be factors in the types and levels of cover that care home insurance providers may offer you. Standard cover will typically include the following:

Public liability insurance: Protects your organisation from the financial impact of compensation claims made by residents, members of the public or other third parties, for example for injury or damage to their property.

Employers’ liability insurance: Provides cover for work-related illness claims (including psychological), injury or property damage claims made by employees. In most cases, employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement.

Treatment risk cover: Protects your organisation financially if a resident makes a liability claim after suffering an injury or adverse reaction due to a treatment you administer.

Medical malpractice cover: Cover for your organisation if it becomes the subject of a compensation claim due to malpractice or unintentional injury.

Buildings insurance: If you own your building, this cover helps protect you against repair or reinstatement costs due to insured incidents such as fire, flood, storm damage or acts of vandalism.

Care home contents insurance: This cover is designed to cover the cost of replacing contents belonging to the care home which are lost or damaged because of an insured event.

Residents’ personal belongings: Contents insurance for care home residents can also form part of your policy, helping to protect your business as well as being a benefit for your residents.

If a resident or their family makes a claim against your organisation because of perceived negligence, for example due to poor care or service, professional indemnity insurance can cover the costs involved.

Unfortunately, abuse claims are one of the risks that care providers can face. If a member of staff is subject to a claim of abuse or molestation, this insurance can provide financial protection for the organisation.

What additional covers are available?

Other covers that can be included in your care home insurance policy include:

Money and personal assault: Insurance for cash held on the premises, in transit, carried in person, or at the home of a member of staff. Includes cover for assault, e.g., to cover medical costs.
Book debts insurance: Covers the cost of reproducing accounting records and chasing debit balances that you are unable to collect because the records have been destroyed.
Legal expenses: Designed to cover your legal costs in the event of a dispute with a resident, their family or another third party.
Directors’ and Officers’ (D&O): Protects your key people legally as individuals, as they are personally responsible for the decisions made regarding the organisation.
Business interruption: Cover to meet the shortfall of income for a set period of time if you cannot operate as usual due to an unexpected event.
Personal accident: If you or a member of staff suffers a serious injury while at work, this cover can pay compensation and help protect against loss of income.
Cyber liability: Designed to step in and cover the financial costs associated with a data breach or other cybersecurity incident.
Inspection and breakdown cover: Cover for your machinery and plant such as passenger lifts.

Do I need care home insurance?

Having sufficient insurance in place for your care home can be vital to protect you from the many risks you face, but it’s also necessary to meet the requirements of the relevant regulatory bodies. These include the Care Quality Commission (CQC), Ofsted (England), the Care Inspectorate Wales, Education and Training Inspectorate (Northern Ireland), and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (Scotland). Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement for care homes, the only exception being if all of your employees - including volunteers/work experience -are close family members.

How do I arrange care home insurance?

To get a care home insurance quote for your organisation, connect with us today. We can then set up a time with you to talk you through the above covers and arrange a policy to help you mitigate the risks you face.

These are brief product descriptions only. Please refer to the policy documentation paying particular attention to the terms and conditions, exclusions, warranties, subjectivities, excesses and any endorsements.