Automatic Doors and Industrial Shutter Contractors Insurance
Automatic door and shutter contractors install and maintain powered pedestrian doors, roller shutters, sectional and high speed doors, fire shutters and loading bay equipment in shops, hospitals, warehouses and distribution centres. These are moving machines that operate around the public and workforce thousands of times a week.
When a powered door or shutter goes wrong, people can be struck, trapped or crushed. Safety standards such as BS EN 16005 for powered pedestrian doors and BS EN 12453 for industrial, commercial and garage doors and gates set out how the risks of impact and entrapment should be managed, and claims after an injury often examine whether the installation and its safety devices met them.
A large share of the work is maintenance and repair, often under planned maintenance contracts. That brings a different kind of exposure: the allegation that a fault should have been spotted at the last service, or that a door was left in an unsafe or insecure state when the engineer left.
We can help you arrange cover that reflects what you install, whether you automate existing doors, how much of your turnover is maintenance and whether you work on fire or security rated products. That typically means liability cover that handles injury from completed installations, professional indemnity where you design or certify, and cover for your own equipment and stock.
Common claims and risk exposures
The exposures that produce claims in this trade, rather than a generic list.
Entrapment and crush injuries
Closing edges, hinge sides and the gap between a moving leaf and a fixed structure can trap fingers, limbs or, in the worst cases, a person. Safety edges, sensors and force limitation exist to prevent it. If a safety device was missing, disabled or poorly adjusted, the installer or maintainer can be drawn into the claim.
Spring and counterbalance failure
Roller shutters and sectional doors rely on springs and counterbalance systems holding large amounts of stored energy. A broken spring or failed bracket can drop a heavy curtain onto a person or vehicle, and releasing or adjusting tension is a hazardous task for engineers themselves.
Fire shutters that do not close
Fire shutters and curtains are part of a building's compartmentation and must close when the alarm operates. If one fails because of a fault in installation, interface wiring or maintenance, fire and smoke can spread further than the building's design assumed, and the resulting loss can be large.
Leaving premises insecure
A shutter that cannot be closed or locked after a repair attempt leaves a shop or warehouse open overnight. If a burglary follows, the client may claim that the engineer left the premises insecure. Making safe and recording the condition of a door at the end of a visit matters for this reason.
Converting manual doors and gates
Adding a motor to an existing manual door or gate can make the installer responsible for the completed assembly as a machine, including assessing its risks, fitting appropriate safety measures and producing the necessary documentation and marking. Underwriters will ask whether you take on that role.
The cover we arrange
We arrange insurance around the work you carry out, the contracts you take and the sites you work on. The cover available will depend on the individual risk and the terms offered by insurers.
Public and products liability
Third party injury and property damage, during installation and after handover. Products liability is particularly relevant because most serious claims arise from a door already in service. Retail, healthcare and logistics clients commonly ask for £5m or £10m.
- Injury from doors and shutters in service
- Damage to vehicles, stock and premises
- Work carried out under maintenance contracts
- Limits typically £5m or £10m
Employers' liability
Employers' liability is a legal requirement once you employ people, and can be arranged where required, subject to the policy terms. Spring tensioning, working at height on shutter barrels and manual handling of heavy curtains are the main sources of injury.
- Legal requirement once you employ people
- Spring and tension related injuries
- Work at height on barrels and motors
- Labour only subcontractors
Professional indemnity
Relevant where you design door systems, carry out risk assessments for automation, specify safety devices or certify fire and security rated products. It responds to claims that the advice or design was negligent, which liability policies typically exclude.
- Risk assessment and design of automation
- Specification of safety devices
- Fire shutter interface design
- Claims made basis
Stock and goods in transit
Door sets, motors, control panels and shutter curtains are valuable and often held in a unit or carried in vans between jobs. Cover for stock at your premises and in transit protects items before they become part of an installation.
- Doors, motors and controls in stock
- Goods carried between jobs
- Theft from premises and vehicles
- Vehicle conditions apply overnight
Tools and access equipment
Engineers carry specialist tools for spring work, diagnostic equipment for controllers, and often MEWPs or towers for high level work. Hired in access equipment and hire charges are worth adding where you hire regularly.
- Spring winding and specialist tools
- Diagnostic and programming equipment
- Owned and hired access equipment
- Continuing hire charges
What an underwriter will ask
Having these to hand shortens the process considerably, and usually improves the terms.
- The products you work on: pedestrian doors, roller shutters, sectional, high speed, fire shutters, dock levellers
- Turnover split between new installation, maintenance and reactive repair
- Whether you automate existing manual doors or gates
- The standards you work to and any DHF membership or training
- Whether you install or maintain fire shutters or fire curtains
- Sectors served, including hospitals, schools, retail and distribution
- How engineers record safety device checks and make safe at the end of a visit
- What your maintenance contracts say about liability and response times
- Five years of claims, particularly injury from doors in service
What affects the cost of your insurance?
The main factors insurers consider when assessing the premium.
Maintenance versus installation
A firm with a large planned maintenance book is exposed to claims about doors it did not install but last serviced. That shapes the products liability and contractual exposure, so the split is worth giving accurately.
Product types
Powered pedestrian doors in shops, heavy industrial shutters and fire shutters each carry different injury and loss potential. Work on fire and security rated products tends to attract more scrutiny.
Sectors served
Hospitals, schools and busy retail sites put vulnerable people and large footfall next to moving doors, which affects how the liability exposure is rated.
Training and records
Recognised training, membership of a trade association such as DHF and clear service records showing safety device checks all help, because in an injury claim the records are often the main evidence.
Conditions and exclusions to consider
Terms vary between insurers, so treat these as the questions to ask rather than a description of any one policy.
Contractual liability beyond the law
Maintenance contracts sometimes include indemnities or guaranteed response times that go further than your legal liability. Policies typically cover what you would be liable for at law, so obligations accepted beyond that may not be insured.
Design and advice under liability cover
Liability policies generally exclude claims arising from design, specification or advice given for a fee. If your engineers risk assess automation projects or specify safety devices, that exposure belongs under professional indemnity.
Repairing your own work
Replacing a motor you fitted incorrectly or rehanging a shutter that was installed badly is a rectification cost. The injury or damage it causes is what the liability cover is for.
Theft following insecure premises
Some wordings limit or exclude claims for theft from premises left insecure by your work, treating it as a financial or consequential loss. If you service shutters on retail and storage premises, check how your policy deals with that scenario.
Common questions
What insurance do automatic door installers need?
Typically public and products liability at £5m or £10m, with products liability particularly important because most serious injuries involve doors already in use. Employers' liability is a legal requirement once you employ people and can be arranged where required, subject to the policy terms. Stock, transit and tools cover protect your equipment, and professional indemnity is worth considering if you design, risk assess or certify installations.
Am I liable for a door I service but did not install?
You can be. If an injury happens and the claim alleges that a fault should have been identified or a safety device was not working at your last visit, the maintainer may share or carry the liability. Clear service records showing what was tested, what was found and what was recommended to the client are a strong defence, particularly where you advised on work the client declined.
Does my insurance cover fire shutter work?
Often yes, but it should be declared specifically. Fire shutters and curtains form part of a building's fire strategy, and a failure to close can contribute to a large loss. Underwriters will want to know whether you design the alarm interface, whether you install certificated products and how testing is recorded. Where you take design responsibility, professional indemnity becomes relevant.
What happens if I automate an existing manual gate or door?
Powering an existing manual door or gate can make you responsible for the whole assembly as a machine, which brings duties around risk assessment, safety measures and documentation. Insurers will ask whether you do this work and how you assess the existing structure. It is an area where a short note to your broker about your process is worth more than assuming standard cover applies.
Is a burglary covered if a shutter could not be locked after our visit?
It depends on the wording and the circumstances. Some policies treat theft following insecure premises as an excluded consequential loss, while others may respond where your negligence caused the insecurity. The practical protection is a clear make safe procedure: if a shutter cannot be secured, tell the client in writing before leaving so they can arrange security.
How do I get a quote from True Risk Solutions?
Call 01304 262880 and speak to a broker, or email info@truerisksolutions.co.uk with what you do, what you need cover for and a phone number with the best time to call, and a broker will call you back. We need a phone number to quote, because the cover and the price depend on questions that are quicker to answer on a call than by email.
Speak to a specialist who understands your industry
Tell us about your business and the work you undertake, and we will come back to you with cover options built around it. Call 01304 262880, or email us with a phone number and the best time to call and a broker will ring you back.