heritage insurance target business guide

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Ecclesiastical’s commitment to the heritage market is long-standing. Since our establishment in 1887, we’ve cared for numerous heritage buildings and today we insure over 95% of all Anglican churches in the UK. But we’re not just a church insurer.

We’ve drawn on our vast experience of insuring large historic church buildings to become specialists in a number of niche markets including the commercial heritage market. Unlike the majority of companies, we have the expertise to understand the complex and specific exposures that heritage establishments face, and tailor both cover and premium to reflect their needs.

Our Heritage Commercial insurance is suitable for a wide range of businesses and we will positively consider any heritage risk – from stately homes, castles and forts, to shops, hotels and offices. It’s not just insurance for heritage property or insurance for listed buildings – it’s more than that. We consider locations, monuments, non-listed properties and businesses which share the extra dimension of being based in a heritage property, and the associated implications that come with it.

Heritage Commercial risks are underwritten and rated on their individual merits and by working closely with you, we can develop the right solution for your customers.

Our straightforward target business guide shows the wide range of heritage commercial business we target.

The following outlines the types of sector risks that we are looking to write.

PD = Property Damage
BI = Business Interruption
PL = Public Liability
EL = Employer's Liability

Category	PD	BI	PL	EL	Comments
Agriculture
Barns/tithe barns	a	a	a	a	We're looking for the buildings insurance only, no farm trading risk
Farm buildings	a	a	a	a	May be part of a farm portfolio. We're looking for the buildings insurance only, no farm trading risk
Historical and archaeological sites
Roman baths/villas	a	a	a	a	Check the current state of repair and source of funding for upkeep. The property damage cover may be tailored accordingly to reflect the risk
Castles and forts	a	a	a	a	Cover can extend to visitor centres, restaurants, shops, etc
Other historical sites	a	a	a	a
Care
Care homes	a	a	a	a	We'll use our specialist Care Sector Insurance policy
Caves and gorges
Caves, mining works, gorges	a	a	Refer	Refer	Museums/visitor attractions only
Education
Special needs schools/independent schools/independent faith schools and religious schools/residential centres and training centres	a	a	a	a	We'll use our specialist Education Insurance policy
Hotels/conference centres	a	a	a	a	No chains, unless a chain of heritage hotels. No modern construction hotels
Guest houses/B&Bs	a	a	a	a
Conference centres	a	a	a	a
Housing
Almshouses	a	a	a	a
Maritime
Lighthouses	a	a	a	a	Land-based risks only
Dockyards	a	a	a	a	Maritime history only, eg Mary Rose, HMS Victory at Portsmouth, not working dockyards
Converted dock buildings	a	a	a	a
Model Villages	a	a	a	a
Museums
Art galleries	a	a	a	a	Traditional galleries, libraries and museums, interactive exhibits and science museums, etc
Museums	a	a	a	a
Interactive museums	a	a	a	a
Libraries	a	a	a	a
Working museums	a	a	a	a
Natural history and wildlife
Habitat protection	a	a	a	a	Organisations dealing primarily with the protection of individual species of animal or plant and the protection of their habitat
Societies for protection of particular species of animal or flower	a	a	a	a
Wildlife trusts	a	a	a	a	Excluding risks involving wild animals as defined in the Wild Animals Act 1976
Office and surgery
All offices and surgeries	a	a	a	a	The risk must be predominantly heritage
Preservation
Building preservation surgeries	a	a	a	a	A range of organisations whose purpose is to restore and maintain a particular building, waterway or piece of machinery and also to preserve the traditional techniques of building and maintaining them. We may use our specialist Charity Insurance policy
Historic building societies	a	a	a	a
Historic skills	a	a	a	a
Mechanic/industrial preservation	a	a	a	a
Inland waterways	a	a	r	r
Canels and railways	a	a	r	r
Statues, monuments, follies, etc not forming a part of a garden or estate	a	a	a	a	There must be an element of pecuniary loss
Private dwellings
Country mansions/stately homes open to the public (otherwise not appropriate for this product)	a	a	a	a	Excluding pure residential (ie there must be some element of commercial enterprise or business being transacted at the property)
Religion
Churches and places of worship	a	a	a	a
Social, retail and leisure
Public houses	a	a	a	a	No chains, unless a chain of heritage pubs. No modern construction pubs
Restaurants/eating establishments	a	a	a	a	No chains, unless a chain of heritage restaurants. No modern construction restaurants
Shops	a	a	a	a	No modern construction, shopping malls/precincts
Theatres/cinemas	a	a	a	a	Must be a heritage property
Sports clubs and pavilions	a	a	a	a
Village and community
Village and community halls	a	a	a	a
Windmills and other mills
Windmills	a	a	a	a
Other mills	a	a	a	a
Other converted buildings eg factories, warehouses	a	a	a	a