Tips & Advice For Pubs on World Cup Event Insurance

It’s bound to be a busy time for pubs across England, so here are some handy insurance related tips;

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, kick-off times will fall much later in the day for UK viewers, with some matches starting as late as 10 pm.

The UK government has confirmed that pubs in England and Wales will be permitted to extend their operating hours during the knockout rounds, with venues allowed to stay open until 1 am for most matches, and until 2 am for 10 pm kick-offs.

This represents a large commercial opportunity for the hospitality industry, but with bigger crowds, later nights, and higher alcohol consumption all but guaranteed, the risks for pub operators are extremely high.

To help pub landlords prepare, the insurance team at small business comparison site, Bionic, has outlined the essential cover every pub needs for the tournament and highlighted any necessary checks and changes which need to be made to existing insurance policies to avoid running into issues.

The three insurance types every pub should consider for the World Cup

Laura Court Jones from Bionic comments:

1. Employer’s Liability Insurance

“If your pub employs staff, Employers’ Liability Insurance is legally required. It helps protect pubs if an employee is injured or becomes ill as a result of their work. If you’re hiring temporary staff during the World Cup, you need to make sure they are covered by your policy.

“Without it, pub landlords could be fined £2,500 every single day they are uninsured.

2. Public Liability Insurance

“While public liability insurance isn’t mandatory under UK law, for a pub heaving with World Cup fans, it could be essential..

“Legal fees or compensation costs from a single incident could add up. A customer slipping on a spilt drink or a crowd-related injury could result in costly claims, so it’s important to consider having the right cover in place to help protect your pub in the event that any of these things happen.

3. Buildings & Contents Insurance

“With larger crowds come greater risks of accidental damage. Buildings and contents insurance can help protect the physical aspects of your premises, including the building itself and your fixtures and fittings. This can help in the event of unexpected damage. “

The NECESSARY insurance policy checks & changes pubs need to be aware of ahead of the World Cup

Laura Court-Jones has also commented on the checks and changes pub businesses need to make to their policies ahead of the World Cup.

1. Update stock insurance

“If pub landlords are buying in more stock during the World Cup, they need to make sure they have the right ‘sums insured’ in place and update their stock insurance policy accordingly.

“This means they need to tell their broker/insurer if they have more stock than usual, so they can make sure the limits reflect the maximum sums insured of stock held at any one time.

“If more stock is bought in and the broker or insurer is not informed, pub owners will only be insured for the amount that already exists on their policy. This means if they put a claim on stock insurance, it could be rejected because they are significantly underinsured.

2. Check capacity limits

“No matter how busy it gets, pubs must still maintain their max capacity limits and abide by health and safety regulations and fire rules to help manage customer injury risks. If they don’t and an incident happens, they may run into some difficulties.

“Ahead of the World Cup, pubs are advised to check their capacity limits to avoid getting into any difficult situations.

3. Check licensing and streaming capabilities

“If pubs do not have a music or entertainment licence in order to legally show the football, they should get one in order to stream it. Owners should then update their broker/insurer to let them know they have one in place, prior to the start of the World Cup.