If your pub company insures the building and bills you for it, the Pubs Code gives you a price match. At least 21 days before it buys or renews the policy, it has to send you the full policy details, tell you whether it's charging you more than it pays, and tell you about any commission. If you find a cheaper policy that's suitable and comparable, it must either buy your policy or agree in writing that you don't pay the difference. Two in three tied tenants know they have this right. Far fewer use it.
It's regulation 46 of the Pubs Code, and it's the right nobody talks about in the groups. Rent gets the arguments, beer prices get the arguments, and the insurance line on the statement just gets paid. The PCA's own 2026 tenant survey found 67% of tied tenants familiar with the insurance price match, against 79% for rent proposals and 70% for the market rent only option. It's been the least understood right in the survey three years running.
Here's what the rule actually says, what the pub company has to send you, and how to get a quote it has to take seriously.
Who this applies to
The Pubs Code covers the big pub companies, the ones with 500 or more tied pubs in England and Wales. If you're a tied tenant or leaseholder of one of them and they insure the building and recharge you for it, regulation 46 applies to you. If your pubco is smaller, or you're in Scotland, it doesn't, and what you pay for insurance is whatever your lease says. You can still ask for the same information. You just can't make them give it.
If you insure the building yourself, which is common on a free-of-tie or a full repairing and insuring lease, this guide is about a right you don't need. Skip to the section on the insurance that's always yours.
What the pub company must tell you
Regulation 46 has two separate duties. One is about the charge. The other is about the policy, and it comes with a deadline.
| They must tell you | When | Where it is |
|---|---|---|
| Whether the insurance charge is more than the premium they pay for your pub, and by how much | Whenever they intend to charge you | Reg 46(2)(a) |
| Whether they, or any company in their group, get or expect commission or a rebate on the policy | Whenever they intend to charge you | Reg 46(2)(b) |
| Full details of the policy: the cover, the charges, and anything you'd have to pay towards a claim | At least 21 days before the policy starts, or before they buy it if that's earlier | Reg 46(3)(a) and (4) |
| Anything else you'd need to compare it with other suitable policies | Same 21 days | Reg 46(3)(b) |
That 21 days applies to every renewal, not just the first year. So the most useful thing you can do after reading this is find out when your pub company's policy renews and put a reminder in your diary six weeks before it. If the information hasn't turned up three weeks before, they're late, and you can say so.
The price match, word for word
If you tell the pub company you've found a suitable and comparable alternative policy, it has to consider it. If its own charge is higher than the charge would be under your policy, it has two choices: buy your policy, or agree in writing that you don't have to pay the difference. Those are the only two options in the regulation. "We've looked at it and we're keeping ours at the old price" isn't one of them.
The PCA's 2021 insurance survey is small, 51 tenants, but it's the only published result I can find. Sixteen had tried to price match, and 44% of those succeeded. In three cases the pub company bought the cheaper policy. In five it agreed the tenant didn't pay the difference. And in the year before Stonegate took over Ei Group, the PCA reported 33 Ei tenants had their buildings insurance recharge cut after challenging it. It works often enough to be worth an afternoon.
"Suitable and comparable" is not "like for like"
This is where most price matches die. The pub company says your quote isn't the same as its policy, so it doesn't count.
In March 2025 the PCA wrote to every regulated pub company about exactly that. Its words: pub companies "should not be considering whether a tenant's alternative policy is the same or better" than their own. The test in the law is suitable and comparable. It doesn't have to match line for line. The Code doesn't define the phrase any further, which is why the PCA suggests taking professional advice, and why a broker who knows pubs is worth more here than a comparison site.
It's worth reading your own pub company's insurance guide with that in mind. Star Pubs publishes one. As it reads on Star's website today, it says it will match "any like-for-like insurance quote", and lists what it wants: a contract certain quotation from an A-rated insurer, the full policy wording including extensions and exclusions, both on the insurer's headed paper, sent by the licensee directly, not a broker. To get started you email Star for your pub's reinstatement value and claims history. That's useful detail whichever pub company you're with, because it tells you what a quote needs to contain to be taken seriously. Just remember the legal test is the PCA's, not the wording in a pubco leaflet.
How to get a quote they have to take seriously
- Find your renewal date. Ask your pub company in writing when the buildings policy renews. Diary six weeks before it.
- Ask for the numbers a broker needs. The reinstatement value (the cost to rebuild, which isn't the same as what the pub's worth), the claims history, the policy wording and the excess you'd pay on a claim. You're entitled to the cover, the charges and the excess under reg 46(3) anyway.
- Ask how your share is worked out. Most big pubcos insure the whole estate on one block policy, so your charge is a slice of a bigger premium. The PCA said back in 2020 it wanted to understand how those charges get attributed to each pub. Ask the same question. If the answer is vague, that's worth knowing.
- Give it to a broker you already use. The PCA's own suggestion: if a broker already does your public liability and employers' liability, use that relationship. A broker has little reason to chase a quote for a policy they'll never place unless you're already a client.
- Get it in before the renewal. The factsheet is clear that you have to tell the pub company about your alternative before it buys or renews. A quote that lands the week after is a quote for next year.
- Get the answer in writing. Either they buy yours, or they confirm in writing you won't pay the difference. Anything else, ask which of the two options in reg 46(6) they're choosing.
If they say no
Raise it with the pub company's Code Compliance Officer first. That's what the CCO is for, and the PCA says it often settles things without a referral. If it doesn't, you can refer it to the PCA for arbitration: you have to give the pub company notice of the breach, wait 21 days, and refer within four months of when you could first have referred. The fee is £200 and the steps are in how a PCA referral works. The Code also says a pub company can't treat you worse for using your rights (reg 50), and any lease term that penalises you for it can't be enforced (reg 57).
It's not a hypothetical. Star reported to the PCA in December 2022 that it hadn't been giving tenants the reg 46(2) information, because it insures its estate through a self-insurance arrangement owned by the Heineken group and took the view it couldn't say what each pub's premium was. The PCA concluded its review with Star revising its letters to explain how it calculates each pub's premium, and in October 2024 wrote to every pub company about it, self-insurers included. If your pubco self-insures, you're still owed the reg 46(2) answer.
What it's worth
I can't give you a typical figure. Nobody publishes what pub companies recharge for buildings insurance, and it swings with the size, age and rebuild cost of the building. So here's the shape of it with made-up round numbers, not anyone's real bill.
| Recharge | Suitable quote | Saving a year | A week | Pints of gross profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £2,000 | £1,800 | £200 | £3.85 | About 2 a week |
| £2,000 | £1,600 | £400 | £7.69 | About 3 a week |
| £3,000 | £2,200 | £800 | £15.38 | About 6 a week |
Pints worked at about £2.45 of gross profit on a £5.34 pint, the figure from my electricity cost per pint guide. None of these are life changing on their own. But it's money you get for an afternoon's paperwork once a year, it comes off a cost you can't otherwise touch, and for a pub on the BBPA's model, where the tenant is left about £371 a week, £15 a week is 4% of the take-home.
Before you sign: the insurance questions
On a new tied agreement or an assignment, the pub company has to tell you before you sign who insures the building, whether they'll recharge you, any minimum cover you have to buy yourself, and whether there's a tie making you buy insurance through them. That's Schedule 1 of the Code, and the full pre-entry list is in what the Pubs Code says before you sign. Put the insurance recharge into your business plan as a line of its own, not buried in "other costs". And if you ever go market rent only, an insurance tie is only reasonable if it's buildings insurance and nothing else. The MRO steps are in the MRO guide.
The insurance that's always yours
The pub company's policy covers its building. It doesn't cover your business. Star's guide is a good example of the split. Its block policy covers the fabric of the building and the landlord's fixtures, including the bar counter and back bar, with a £250 excess for the licensee on most claims. Its business interruption cover only pays the rent owed to Star, for up to 18 months. Everything else is on you.
Star lists what it expects licensees to buy themselves: public and products liability, employers' liability with at least £5 million cover (also the legal minimum), plate glass, contents including stock, your own business interruption, and loss of licence cover. Your agreement may differ, so read yours. Two things I'd check today. Is your stock insured for what's in the cellar in December, not an average week? And does your business interruption cover your own lost profit, not just the rent? A burst pipe through the bar ceiling on a Friday is the example in Star's own guide: the pubco fixes the ceiling and the bar, you claim for the tables, the stock and the freezer full of food. What a stock claim needs is in documenting a stock loss insurance claim.
Common questions
Can a tied tenant challenge the pub company's insurance charge?
Yes, if the pub company is covered by the Pubs Code. Under regulation 46, if you find a cheaper policy that is suitable and comparable, the pub company must either buy your policy or agree in writing that you don't pay the difference.
When does the pub company have to send insurance details?
At least 21 days before the policy takes effect, or 21 days before it buys the policy if that is earlier. That applies to every renewal, and the details must include the cover, the charges and any excess you would pay on a claim.
Does my alternative insurance quote have to be like for like?
No. The legal test is suitable and comparable. The Pubs Code Adjudicator told pub companies in March 2025 they should not be judging whether a tenant's policy is the same as or better than their own.
Does the pub company have to tell me if it makes money on my insurance?
Yes. It must tell you whether the charge is more than the premium it pays for your pub, and by how much, and whether it or a group company receives or expects any commission or rebate on the policy.
What insurance does a tied tenant still need to buy?
Usually public and products liability, employers' liability of at least £5 million, your own contents and stock, your own business interruption and often loss of licence cover. The pub company's policy covers its building, not your business, so check your agreement.
Sources
- Insurance duties, 21 days, price match: The Pubs Code etc. Regulations 2016, regulation 46, legislation.gov.uk.
- Timing, "suitable comparable" undefined, pre-entry and assignment information, MRO insurance tie, CCO, 21-day notice and four-month referral window, regs 50 and 57: Pubs Code Adjudicator, Insurance factsheet.
- 67% familiar with the insurance price match (56% in 2024, 68% in 2025), 79% rent proposal, 70% MRO, 1,201 tenants interviewed January to March 2026: PCA, Tied Tenants Survey 2026 (PDF, Ipsos).
- "Should not be considering whether a tenant's alternative policy is the same or better", October 2024 letter on self-insurance: PCA, The PCA has written to all pub owning businesses about the price match right, March 2025.
- Star's reported reg 46(2) breach, self-insurance arrangement owned by the Heineken group, revised letters: PCA, The PCA has concluded its review of Star's reported breaches.
- 51 tenants, 16 tried, 44% succeeded, 3 bought and 5 waived: PCA, The PCA insurance survey results are in, 3 August 2021 (since withdrawn from gov.uk, still published).
- 33 Ei Group tenants had recharges reduced, per-pub attribution, using your existing broker: Fiona Dickie, then Pubs Code Adjudicator, in the Morning Advertiser, Tied tenants are not yet fully accessing insurance price match rights, 21 December 2020.
- "Like-for-like" wording, contract certain from an A-rated insurer, headed paper, reinstatement value and claims history, £250 licensee excess, business interruption limited to rent payable to Star for 18 months, licensee's own insurance list, burst pipe example: Star Pubs, Guide to Insurance Responsibilities (PDF), checked 23 October 2026.
- £5 million minimum employers' liability cover: GOV.UK, Employers' liability insurance.
- £2.45 gross profit on a £5.34 pint and £371 a week on the BBPA model: my linked guides, which carry their own sources. The savings table is illustrative arithmetic, not real recharges.