Printers Insurance

The printing industry’s array of hazards compels insurers to offer a broad breadth of covers as part of a printers’ insurance policy. Consider the following common covers as part of your printers’ insurance policy:

• Employers’ liability (EL)—In the United Kingdom, EL is compulsory if a business has an employee other than the owner. EL covers employers in the event of an employee’s work-related injury or illness, such as excessive exposure to toxic chemicals.
• Building and contents—Fire and explosion risks are high in the printing industry due to the trade’s reliance on combustible materials. If you own your business premises or are responsible for the building in the lease, you must ensure that you have adequate building cover. This means that the sum insured, or maximum amount payable by the insurer, should be enough to cover demolition work, site clearing, professional fees and building replacement in the event a catastrophe strikes and damages or destroys your building. Contents cover will insure what your building contains, such as machinery, equipment, stock, fixtures and fittings.
• Business interruption—Printers typically have a small margin of error for customers’ orders and are thus vulnerable to interruptions in normal daily production. If something goes wrong, all it takes is postponing production for one day to fall behind on an order and consequently lose business. Because timeliness is paramount, so is business interruption cover. Do not get caught with an idle printing firm—business interruption cover will ensure your presses keep moving, no matter what stands in their way.
• Equipment breakdown—Because printers are vulnerable to even the tiniest production interruptions, equipment breakdown is serious. Many presses require critical components from foreign countries, and replacement parts can take weeks or months to arrive. Equipment breakdown cover will ensure one broken machine does not cripple your entire business.
• Public and products liability—Some of the products your business prints are more dangerous than others. Metal or glass, for example, could cause your customers serious harm. Public liability protects you against third-party claims for bodily injuries, illness and loss or damage to material property while on your premises. Products liability covers your business in the event your products cause bodily injury or illness.
• Professional indemnity—In addition to tough deadlines, printers must also be precise. Anything less than meticulous attention to detail could result in costly errors and omissions. Even the omission of one seemingly negligible letter can have dramatic consequences. A tiny typo can spell disaster, especially if the material your firm is printing is sensitive, such as an instruction manual, pharmaceutical label or architectural plans. Professional indemnity safeguards your business so that one mistake does not sound its death knell.
• Legal expenses—Costs for defending your business in a legal proceeding, such as an employment dispute, can multiply as the case drags on. Legal expenses cover can help defray certain costs that may arise if you must bring or defend legal proceedings.
• Employee dishonesty—One act of employee dishonesty involving cash or valuables, such as theft, can torpedo your business. Defend your business against fraudulent employees with employee dishonesty cover.
• Additional covers—Printers’ insurance needs are variable depending on several factors, including printing method, printing material and premises. You may want to consider policy extensions to round out your cover, such as libel and slander, inching and crawling, money, bookbinders, loss of artwork and operator error.

Although the list of covers available to printers is lengthy, it is not infinite. The following hazards are typically excluded from the average printers’ insurance policy:

• Theft by principals
• Cyber risks such as hacking, viruses or the failure of external networks
• Damage caused solely by changes in water table level
• Radioactive contamination
• Pollution
• Terrorism
• War

This list is not exhaustive; it may be possible to obtain cover for these exclusions as part of a bespoke policy.