Compare care home insurance

What is care home insurance?

Insurance for care homes is a package of business cover for residential and nursing homes. A policy can cover claims from staff, residents and visitors, plus damage to the building, contents and lost income.

The owner or operator of the home buys it, not the residents. A fire or a claim can affect your residents’ home as well as your income.

Quotezone lets you request quotes from UK business insurance providers with one short form.

What insurance does a care home need?

Most care homes look for a mix of liability and property cover. The usual starting point is employers’ liability, public and products liability, buildings and contents, and business interruption.

The policy is for the business that runs the home, whether you own the building or lease it.

Of these four, employers’ liability is the only one UK law requires, and only once you employ staff. Registration with your national care regulator is a separate legal duty.

Contracts with councils, leases and loan agreements may set their own insurance conditions, such as a minimum liability limit. Check each one so your policy meets the highest figure asked for.

The price is likely to depend mainly on the number of beds, the type of care, the building and your claims history. Read the exclusions closely, particularly for abuse allegations and residents’ property.

To compare, give Quotezone the details of your home once. Providers that can offer cover may then contact you with quotes.

What does care home insurance cover?

A policy can cover liability claims, the building and its contents, and lost income. Each part is a section of the policy, sold as a package or as add-ons. Limits and exclusions vary by insurer, so check the wording.

Employers’ liability

This helps pay compensation if staff are injured or made ill by their work. The duty comes from the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969. More on employers’ liability cover.

Public and products liability, including abuse cover

Public liability can cover injury or property damage claims from residents, visitors and contractors. Products liability can cover harm from things you supply, such as meals. Abuse cover can sit here too. More on public liability cover.

Medical malpractice and treatment risks

Nursing homes give treatment, such as medication. Medical malpractice cover can deal with claims that this treatment caused harm. Some insurers write it on a claims-made basis, so ask how it works if you change insurer.

Buildings, contents and specialist equipment

Buildings cover can pay to repair or rebuild after insured damage such as fire, flood or escape of water. Contents cover can protect furniture and specialist equipment such as hoists and profiling beds. Our commercial property insurance page covers the premises side.

Business interruption and loss of fees

This can replace lost income, mainly residents’ fees, if insured damage stops you using part of the home. You may want to consider an indemnity period that allows time to repair and refill the rooms.

Legal expenses and regulatory investigations

Legal expenses cover can pay the costs of disputes such as employment tribunal claims. Some policies include care regulator investigations.

Which care settings can you insure?

Providers may offer cover for many types of care home, from one family-run home to a group. They may ask what care you provide, because the risks differ:

• Residential care homes giving personal care, such as help with washing
• Nursing homes, where registered nurses are on duty
• Dementia care homes and units
• Homes for people with learning disabilities or mental health needs
• Children’s homes (in England these register with Ofsted, not the CQC)

Home care (domiciliary) agencies, which send carers into people’s own homes, need a different type of policy.

Regulation and the risks insurers ask about

Insurers may ask about registration, fire safety and care-specific hazards.

Registration with your care regulator

In England, providing a regulated activity without registering with the Care Quality Commission is an offence (CQC, July 2025).

The other regulators are the Care Inspectorate in Scotland, Care Inspectorate Wales and the RQIA in Northern Ireland. Running an unregistered care service is also an offence in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Fire risk assessment

The responsible person for the premises must carry out a fire risk assessment and review it regularly (GOV.UK). Different rules apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The government also publishes a fire safety guide for residential care premises.

Hot water, windows and bed rails

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidance covers hazards insurers may ask about:

• Water hotter than 44°C can create a scalding risk for vulnerable residents (HSE, updated November 2024)
• Where there is a fall risk, windows large enough to fall through should open no more than 100 mm. Restrictors should need a special tool or key to release (HSE, updated January 2026)
• Poorly fitting bed rails have caused deaths through entrapment (HSE, updated June 2026)

How much does care home insurance cost?

There is no set price, as each insurer prices your home on its own details. Insurers may look at:

• The number of beds, and whether residents need residential, nursing or dementia care
• The building’s rebuild cost, age and construction, including flat roofs
• Flood risk and crime rates where the home is
• Your claims history and how many staff you employ
• Your latest inspection report, if the insurer asks for it
• Security, fire alarms and sprinklers
• The excess, the amount you pay towards each claim

Worked example: two different care homes

Take two illustrative homes, not real quotes. Home A is a 30-bed residential home in a converted Victorian house over three floors. Home B is a 60-bed purpose-built nursing home.

For Home A, an insurer may focus on the older construction, wiring, roof and upstairs window restrictors. Residents need personal care, not nursing, so treatment risk may be lower.

Home B has a larger building and twice as many beds. Its nurses give treatment, which brings in medical malpractice cover, and its larger team may affect employers’ liability.

Neither home is automatically cheaper to insure.

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Is insurance a legal requirement for a care home?

Partly. Employers’ liability insurance is compulsory once you employ staff, in Great Britain (GOV.UK) and Northern Ireland (nibusinessinfo.co.uk). It must cover at least £5 million and come from an authorised insurer. No single care home policy is required by law.

In Great Britain, you can be fined £2,500 for every day you are not properly insured. You must also display the certificate and show it to inspectors, or risk a £1,000 fine (GOV.UK, checked October 2026).

The close-family exemption is unlikely to fit a staffed care home. Registration with your care regulator is the other legal duty.

Does the policy cover abuse allegations?

It can, but check the wording. Abuse cover is designed to respond to allegations that a resident was abused or neglected. Depending on the policy, it can pay defence costs and compensation.

Some insurers include it within public liability, while others make it a separate section with its own limit.

You might also need

Minibus insurance can cover a vehicle used to take residents out. Our employers’ liability insurance page covers claims from staff.

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Compare cover for your care home with Quotezone. Complete one short form and UK providers may contact you with quotes.

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