Running a thriving nursery is no easy feat, but can be one of the most rewarding jobs. Looking after and educate the children of tomorrow comes with great responsibility.
One of the responsibilities of running a nursery is making sure you have the right nursery insurance policies in place to protect not only the people you work with. But also to protect your business in the long run.
Now, what insurance might a nursery need? I will go over 4 of the key covers you should take out if you are running a nursery.
Property Damage
When running a nursery it is crucial you get the right cover. This is especially the case when it comes to protecting your property and assets.
Disasters can come in all shapes and sizes. Ranging from a fire to a leaky roof all of them can cause damage to the property inside your nursery. And not having insurance to cover these incidents can result in extra costs to repair or replace them.
So what’s the first step to avoiding this?
Firstly you want to be clear and concise about all the property owned by the nursery that would need to fall under this cover.
Building cover
Should the building the nursery is based suffer severe damage or perhaps even irreparable damage. Your policy should cover you for any demolition or clearances costs. This will include any costs to rebuild should the building need it.
Getting the property valued every 5 years can help you a clear understanding of the value of the building. As these values tend to increase over time. You want to make sure you are going to get the right amount of cover for any building damage.
If you are renting the building rather than owning it then you would need to check your lease. This is so you can identify what you are responsible for in terms of any building change costs. Changes made by you will most likely result in you having to insure those costs.
Physical Contents
When you work in a nursery you will more than likely need a lot of contents that will benefit the children in your care. This could be toys, books, furniture etc. All these items would need to come under property damage cover.
You would need to identify every item you want to put under this policy, this even means the items that are not used regularly. Or those that could be in storage. When you bring up every content with your insurer you save yourself the trouble of having to replace items that were not listed on the policy.
Activities Cover
When you run a nursery you can be expected to organise and engage in activities. Some could be inside the premises or some can be outside. One thing you have to make sure of though is making sure your Nursery is adequately covered.
Outdoor Activities
These could fall under trips to the park, zoo and farm. Or perhaps third-party teaching trips like going to a library or a museum or another school. Forrest and beach schools would fall under this category as would classes such as swimming and dance which require a specific environment to learn.
On-Premises
Now, these are the activities that happen at the nursery. These could be children’s parties held on site, fundraising events and open days. They could also days when goods are being sold. These tend to be bake sales and book sales.
Most of these activities will be covered under any activities cover. Although it is important to double check and make sure. Some activities need extra cover. These could be holiday clubs, before and after school clubs too. Always check with your broker as you might not be covered for those.
Business Interruption
Now, should a disaster happen and you need to close the business, you should be covered for that under a business interruption cover.
This could protect you from loss of revenue and any additional staff costs that may be incurred. Being financially crippled by a disaster can spell bad news for your Nursery’s future.
A cover like this is very important. When a property has been damaged, when there is a safeguarding issue. Failure of utilities or when there is an outbreak of an infectious disease. These could all result in the closure of the premises.
One key practice to have is a business continuity plan. Taking into consideration what to do in the event of a crisis. Then how best to act out the recovery. Without damaging the business too much. This plan should be provided to your insurance broker so that can best plan out a cover to suit your needs.
Liability Cover
As a business owner, you will need to have liability covers in place.
So what liability insurance will you need? Most Nurseries will be required to have these two liability policies in place.
Employers Liability
By law, businesses need to have employers liability. Nurseries are no exception. You have a legal obligation to your employees. This liability is a compulsory requirement and protects both your business and members of staff over any incidents that may arise.
Public Liability
Public liability will cover your legal liability for accidental loss or damage to a third parties property or death or injury to people other than your employees during the operations of your business. So when you run a nursery this will include children, parents and visitors.
Final Thoughts
It is important to have at least these policies in place when you are running a nursery. There are more business insurances to consider also. Some that cover vehicles and data breach that you might also want to consider. Running a successful Nursery goes beyond helping children learn and grow, it goes above and beyond to ensure everyone on site is protected against disasters and crisis’.
