Food production and cold storage facilities face the highest scrutiny from composite panel underwriters. A verified assessment can transform coverage conditions - and in many cases materially reduce premiums.
Back to Knowledge BaseThe UK composite panel insurance market has tightened sharply over the past five years, and no sector has felt that more acutely than food production and cold storage. The combination of factors is well understood by underwriters: thick PIR or PUR foam cores required for thermal performance, large unbroken floor areas with limited compartmentation, high-value refrigeration equipment, and business interruption values that can run to tens of millions of pounds per incident.
Self-certification of panel type is often no longer accepted. Insurers now routinely require independent verified evidence before offering or renewing cover on food and cold storage sites. Without it, the options narrow quickly – restricted cover, punitive premiums, or no cover at all.
The specific evidence requirements vary by insurer and broker, but the common thread is independent verification. An insurer asking for “confirmation of panel type” is not satisfied by a facilities manager’s recollection or a contractor’s installation certificate from twenty years ago.
What carries weight with underwriters is a report from an independent specialist that identifies panel types by manufacturer and classification, provides EN13501 reaction-to-fire classifications and LPS approval status where applicable, records the condition of panels and any deterioration, assesses fire compartmentation boundaries and any breaches, and includes photographic evidence throughout.
A Panel Check report is structured precisely to meet these requirements. It provides the evidence base that allows underwriters to make informed coverage decisions – which in practice means lower premiums, removal of coverage restrictions and greater certainty at renewal.
A Panel Check assessment can have a direct and material impact on insurance costs in three ways.
First, by establishing that panels are approved types, it removes the uncertainty premium that underwriters apply to unknown-panel buildings. Second, by identifying any issues – damaged panels, compartmentation breaches, exposed core – it allows those issues to be addressed before renewal, demonstrating proactive risk management. Third, by providing a documented evidence base, it gives brokers the material to negotiate effectively on the client’s behalf.
The cost of a Panel Check assessment can be recovered many times over in the first year’s premium saving for a mid-size food or cold storage facility.
Managing composite panel insurance risk effectively starts with three pieces of information: the types of panels present on your site, their construction and installation details, and their current condition. Without all three, neither you nor your insurer can make fully informed decisions about risk and coverage.
Panel Check can establish all three through a structured assessment programme. For buildings where records are incomplete or absent – which is the majority of existing food and cold storage sites – we carry out a full identification survey, produce accurate site drawings and deliver a report that gives you and your insurer the complete picture.
For food production and cold storage facilities, buildings cover is rarely the primary insurance concern. The primary concern is business interruption cover – the protection against loss of income during the period when a fire has made the facility unusable.
Business interruption values for food factories can reach tens of millions of pounds. For cold stores, where the loss of the stored product is added to the income loss, the figures are higher still. And for facilities that serve as key nodes in a food supply chain, the contractual consequences of a fire – penalties for failure to supply, loss of customer contracts – can exceed the direct insurance settlement.
Underwriters who are uncertain about panel type in a food or cold storage building will often apply a business interruption sub-limit – capping BI cover at a fraction of the full exposure – rather than declining cover entirely. This leaves the building owner with a significant uninsured gap that only becomes apparent at the point of a claim.
A Panel Check assessment that establishes approved panel types and adequate compartmentation allows underwriters to offer full BI cover without sub-limits. This is the highest-value outcome of the assessment process for most food and cold storage clients – and the one most often overlooked in conversations focused purely on buildings premium.
Regular reassessment is equally important. The insurance position of a food or cold storage facility is not static. Buildings change – new cold rooms are installed, processing areas are modified, compartment walls are altered. Each change has the potential to affect the panel risk profile and the adequacy of the insurance position. Panel Check recommends a reassessment programme aligned with the building’s change cycle and the insurer’s renewal requirements – typically every three to five years, with a review following any significant works.
To ensure your building meets commercial underwriting requirements, explore our insurer risk and loss prevention audits.