Door supervision is one of the hardest trades in the UK to insure well – and one where a generic policy is most likely to fail at exactly the moment you need it. The job involves physical intervention, ejections, restraint and detaining people, and many standard public liability wordings exclude injury arising from deliberate acts. A door supervisor policy has to be written for the work. This guide covers what SIA-licensed door staff and security firms actually need, what it costs, and how the main providers compare.
What insurance do you need as a door supervisor?
Public liability – with the right wording. The core cover, protecting you if a third party is injured or their property damaged in connection with your work. The critical detail for door work: standard PL policies typically respond to accidents, while door supervision claims often arise from intentional physical contact – restraining or removing someone who then alleges assault or injury. A proper security-industry policy extends to injury arising from deliberate acts in the course of your duties, plus wrongful arrest/detention allegations. If a policy doesn't mention these, it isn't a door supervisor policy. Limits of £1m–£5m are available; venues, councils and event organisers commonly require £5m, and government-linked contracts often £10m employers' liability alongside.
Employers' liability – legally required. The moment you engage anyone – full-time, part-time, a temp for New Year's Eve, or labour-only subcontractors – EL is compulsory, with fines of up to £2,500 per day per uninsured employee. Note the labour-only vs bona fide subcontractor distinction: labour-only subcontractors (working under your direction, your equipment) count as employees for EL purposes; genuinely independent firms with their own insurance don't.
Professional indemnity. Covers claims of negligent advice or service failures – increasingly required by clients of security companies (risk assessments, security planning). £1m–£2m is the common range on specialist schemes.
Inefficacy / contractual liability. A speciality of the security sector: cover for failing to provide the contracted service – including loss of or damage to the property being guarded, and injury arising from deliberate acts. Citynet's long-running security scheme includes this; generic policies exclude it.
Also consider: personal accident cover (a physical job with real injury risk and no sick pay if you're self-employed), legal expenses (defence of allegations is the most common door-supervision claim scenario), and equipment cover for radios and body-worn video.
Licensing context. You must hold an SIA Door Supervisor licence to work; insurers will expect it, and clients will check it on the SIA register. (The licence itself currently costs £136 for three years, per February 2026 industry guidance – the fee has changed over the years, so check the SIA's site.) Insurance is not part of the licence, but venues and agencies will rarely engage uninsured self-employed door staff.
How much does door supervisor insurance cost?
Two very different markets hide under one label:
- Self-employed individual door supervisors: Simply Business advertises public liability for door supervisors from £12.19/month (it insures around 2,600 of them); its historical "from" floor has been as low as £6.79/month, so budget roughly £75–£250/year depending on limit, hours and history.
- Security companies supplying door staff: this is a surveyed, minimum-premium market. Camberford, a specialist underwriting agency whose scheme has run for over 30 years, sets minimum premiums of £1,500 + IPT for door supervision (versus £500 for manned guarding) – door work is rated three times harder than static guarding. Company premiums scale with wage roll, venue types (late-night licensed premises rate hardest), and claims record.
Price drivers: number of staff/subcontractors, venue mix (nightclubs vs corporate events), required limits (£5m PL / £10m EL for public-sector work), whether you need inefficacy and PI, and claims history – in this trade, even successfully defended allegations affect rating.
Comparison of door supervisor insurance providers
| Provider | Type | Best for | Notable features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simply Business | Broker/comparison | Self-employed individuals | PL £1m/£2m/£5m from £12.19/mo; quick online quotes across a panel; EL add-on; flags the LOSC/BFSC distinction clearly |
| Just Quote Me | Specialist broker | Firms and event security | Automatic £5m public/products liability and £10m employers' liability – contract-ready for council and government work; bespoke to door, stewarding and event management |
| Citynet | Specialist broker (Lloyd's) | Established door supervision companies | Long-running combined liability scheme underwritten by Coversecure/XL Catlin; includes inefficacy/contractual liability and deliberate-acts cover; PI at £1m or £2m |
| Camberford | Underwriting agency (via brokers) | Mid-size and larger security firms | 30+ year specialist scheme; rates all locations and venue types; minimum premium £1,500 + IPT for door supervision |
| QuoteRack | Comparison/introducer | Benchmarking | Routes SIA-licensed businesses and individuals to specialist security insurers |
Which route suits whom? A self-employed door supervisor picking up shifts: Simply Business (or a similar online panel) for fast, cheap PL – but read the wording for deliberate-acts and wrongful-arrest cover before buying on price. A small firm supplying door staff to venues: Just Quote Me or Citynet, whose limits and extensions match what venue and council contracts actually demand. A larger company: ask your broker to approach Camberford's scheme alongside Citynet's and compare wordings, not just premiums.
What customers say: review data
- Simply Business: 4.2/5 on Trustpilot (~7,300 reviews across all trades) – easy purchase, mixed renewal experiences.
- Just Quote Me, Citynet, QuoteRack: small consumer review footprints, which is normal for commercial specialist brokers; judge them on sector references, scheme longevity (Citynet's scheme is 10+ years old, Camberford's 30+) and underwriter strength (XL Catlin is part of AXA XL).
- No meaningful Trustpilot/Feefo/Google review base exists for Camberford since it doesn't sell to the public.
This is a niche where review-site data is structurally thin; the better diligence questions are "does the wording cover deliberate acts, wrongful arrest and inefficacy?" and "has this scheme paid claims in this sector for years?"
Independent expert ratings
Which? and Fairer Finance do not rate security or door supervisor insurance – no independent consumer scores exist for this niche. The proxies that matter: Lloyd's/major-insurer backing (XL Catlin via Citynet's scheme), scheme longevity, and whether the policy was written for the security industry rather than adapted from general liability.
Key takeaway
In door supervision, the wording is the product. The cheapest PL policy that excludes deliberate acts is worth nothing on the first contested ejection. Individuals: buy specialist PL with wrongful-arrest cover, and add personal accident – you are your income. Firms: get EL right including labour-only subcontractors, carry £5m/£10m if you ever want public-sector or large-venue contracts, and insist on inefficacy cover. And keep every incident report – in this trade, documentation is half your defence.
Sources
- simplybusiness.co.uk/business-insurance/door-supervisors-insurance/ and /security-guard-insurance/
- justquoteme.co.uk/security-insurance/
- citynet.co.uk/schemes/security-liability-scheme/
- camberford.com/products/manned-guard-door-supervisors-insurance/
- quoterack.co.uk/business-insurance/door-supervisors-security-guard-insurance/
- securitycompaniesaround.co.uk/article/security-guard-costs-uk (February 2026, SIA licence fee)
- uk.trustpilot.com (provider pages, June 2026)