In spite of a quiet year for warehouse liability claims, insurance agents and underwriters remain cautious of covering liability for temperature-controlled warehouses, according to head of liability at Leppard Underwriting, Andrea Minnaar. “Temperature-controlled facilities are complex and we have seen a lot of claims in the past, particularly within the fruit and other perishable markets,” Minnaar told FTW. These warehouses were essential in the storage of life-saving medicines, and constant maintenance was needed to ensure they were operating to full capacity and in working order for coverage to beapproved, she said. “Whether you have safety protocols in place in case of an emergency, or a back-up system in case of power outages, and how often you check if the temperature gauges are working are the issues that must be taken into consideration,” she said. The company will however assist clients as long as they meet certain criteria. “For instance, on one of my current policies the client asked to remove the temperature-controlled exclusion, provided they met the satisfactory requirements,” she said. Minnaar emphasised that the most important type of coverage for any warehouse was material damage cover under a commercial policy which protects the warehouseman or bailee against any physical loss or damage to property while goods are stored in the warehouse.“But nothing is concrete and warehousemen should have air-tight contracts, contract out of liability, and purchase as much cover as they can afford. Often you find that to just defend a claim the limit of indemnity will already be exhausted,” she added. “With liability nothing is cast in stone, there are lot of grey areas.”