Contaminated Products Insurance – Protecting Your Brand and Business in the Event of a Recall

May 15, 2013

Environmental threats

The number of product recalls is increasing, which is no surprise considering the fact that product contamination has been front page news recently. This has meant that protecting your manufacturing, retail or distributing business against recalls of contaminated products is vital to preserve your brand image, and the financial losses associated with a product recall.

Case Study

Around 50,000 tonnes of meat products sold as beef which may contain horsemeat are being recalled.

Products such as frozen burgers, lasagne and spaghetti bolognaise sold by supermarkets including Tesco, Asda, Co-Op and Lidl have been recalled in order to conduct tests to try to determine to what extent, if any, horsemeat is contained in their products labelled as beef.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) says 5,430 tests have been carried out in the UK so far, with 44 tests showing the presence of horsemeat. These 44 positive results relate to 17 different products, including Findus beef lasagne, which yielded at least 15 positive results.

Your company works hard to build a positive brand image, however a badly managed recall can have a catastrophic effect on this image and ruin years of effort.

Product safety and contamination insurance helps protect against a wide variety of risks;

  • Accidental contamination
  • Accidental defect
  • Malicious product tamper
  • Reputational damage

Designed for a wide range of businesses that manufacture, sell or distribute products that are ingestible (food and drink), or topical (medicine, creams etc), this type of insurance provides both protection and assistance against the economic damage caused by a product contamination.

We’ve been busier than usual here at AE Insurance Brokers lately. As part of our ongoing commitment to staying current and effective, we recently underwent a brand refresh. While it looked like a cosmetic change - a new logo, a fresh colour palette and font - the process was actually a deep dive into who we are, how we serve our clients, and where the industry is heading.

And while we were looking in the mirror, something struck us: many businesses don’t look in theirs often enough.

When we talk to UK business owners one pattern emerges consistently. Companies grow, pivot, hire, launch new products, or expand into new territories. Yet their insurance policies often remain frozen in time, reflecting the version of the business that existed twelve months ago - or worse, five years ago.

Insurance is often treated as a compliance checkbox: a bill that needs paying, a certificate that needs sending. But if your business has changed, your risk profile has changed too, and when your policy doesn’t match your reality, you’re likely overpaying and potentially leaving dangerous gaps in your protection.

Related Posts

September 8, 2026

Growing Up: Why Your Insurance Needs to Evolve With Your Business

We’ve been busier than usual here at AE Insurance Brokers lately. As […]

August 19, 2026

What the Renters’ Rights Act Means for Your Portfolio

The landscape of the private rented sector (PRS) has shifted dramatically. Following […]

newspaper headline saying cyber attack

June 18, 2026

Commercial Cyber & Cyber Crime Insurance: A Critical Protection for UK Businesses

Cybercrime is no longer just an IT issue – it is one […]

0 Comments