Overview and key points
Find out how Partners& helped Scottish Highland museums secure improved insurance cover, addressing gaps in collections, listed building challenges and specialist cover to strengthen resilience and safeguard heritage for the future.
About the client
Museums & Heritage Highland is a network of museums and heritage sites across the Scottish Highlands. This forum exists for Scottish Highland museums to collaborate, share insights and access support that enables them to protect collections, buildings and visitor experiences for the communities they serve.
Challenge
Across the museum sector, financial pressure is increasing. Rising energy costs, the need to diversify activities and the responsibility of maintaining historic buildings are creating complex operational risks for independent museums, many of which rely heavily on volunteers, curators and local funding.
Through discovery discussions with a number of individual museums, Partners& identified significant gaps in existing insurance arrangements. Some museums had collections insured on a reinstatement basis rather than an agreed value basis, despite caring for historic works, artefacts and exhibits that could not simply be replaced like-for-like. Others had inadequate buildings cover, limited protection for listed properties, missing subsidence cover or uninsured vessels used for public activities.
For museums that had taken on buildings from councils or public bodies, the challenge was particularly acute. Grade A and B listed buildings, maritime assets and evolving visitor experiences all required a more specialist approach than standard commercial insurance could provide.
“Finding an insurance broker who really understands the needs of small, independent museums isn't easy, but Partners& have been a pleasure to work with.”
Support
Working with specialist partners and markets, including Virtu and Hiscox, Rory Durrant – Client Executive at Partners&, developed a more appropriate insurance solution for the museums. This included collections cover on an agreed value basis, support for listed buildings and business interruption, and access to cover for more complex museum activities and maritime exposures.
Our partnership-based approach helped the teams within each museum understand why the right cover matters, not simply looking at the lowest premium. In some cases, additional collections protection of up to £300,000 was provided alongside contents cover, and crucial gaps such as subsidence protection and uninsured buildings or vessels were addressed through a more tailored programme.
Perform
By looking beyond a like-for-like renewal, each museum was able to make more informed decisions about the risks they face and the protection needed to preserve heritage assets for the future. The result was a more resilient insurance programme designed around the realities of museum operations, rather than a standard commercial policy.
The programme has already supported a number of Highland museums, including Strathnaver Museum, Dunbeath Museum, Mallaig Museum, Nairn Museum and Tarbat Museum, with further heritage organisations also engaging with Partners&. Although the initial timeline was challenging, with several museums approaching close to renewal, the process has created a stronger foundation for earlier planning in future years.
Partners& is also exploring wider support through its ecosystem, including people and organisational support where museums are facing difficult decisions around staffing, volunteering and long-term sustainability.
“Partners& took the time to understand the different challenges each museum faced and helped us secure more appropriate cover, often at a lower cost. They dealt with some quite complex issues, from historic vessels carrying members of the public to ensuring buildings, collections and events had the right level of protection.
“What I particularly appreciated was their approach. They were friendly, approachable and proactive without ever feeling like they were trying to sell us something. The process was straightforward and managed with a light touch, while still being thorough - exactly what organisations with limited time and resources need. I would happily recommend Partners& to other
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