EPOS system breakdown cover in the UK

Last updated: 11 April 2026

Most pub landlords assume their EPOS system is covered by a general “insurance” agreement—until their till breaks on a Friday night and they realise breakdown cover and support are completely different things. EPOS system breakdown cover in the UK typically costs between £15–£40 per month per terminal, and it only covers hardware failure, not software issues, network problems, or user error. If you’re running a busy pub, a single day without a functioning till can cost you more than a year of premiums. This guide covers exactly what breakdown cover includes, what it doesn’t, when it’s worth buying, and how to avoid paying for protection you don’t need.

What EPOS Breakdown Cover Actually Covers

Breakdown cover is straightforward in theory: your EPOS supplier or a third-party insurer agrees to fix or replace your hardware if it fails. In practice, the details matter enormously.

Most breakdown cover agreements include:

• Repair or replacement of the till terminal (the physical device)
• Repair or replacement of card readers, scanners, and peripherals
• Labour costs for an engineer visit
• Parts and components (within the policy terms)
• A loaner device while yours is being repaired (sometimes, but not always)

The critical word here is hardware. EPOS breakdown cover is designed to protect against physical failures—a screen that stops working, a hard drive that crashes, a card reader that fails to connect. It does not protect against the things that actually cause most pub till downtime: your broadband going down, a software update that breaks the system, or a staff member spilling a drink on the terminal.

When I was setting up the EPOS system at Teal Farm Pub in Washington, Tyne & Wear, we had two breakdowns in the first six months. One was a legitimate hardware failure—a card reader that stopped responding. That was covered. The other was a network outage caused by our ISP, not the till. That was not covered, and we lost three hours of trading because we had no backup till system in place.

How Much Does EPOS Breakdown Cover Cost?

Pricing varies significantly depending on the supplier, the type of hardware, and the level of support you choose.

Standard breakdown cover tiers typically look like this:

• Basic tier (£15–£25/month per terminal): 5–7 working day response time, parts only, no guarantee of a loaner device
• Mid-tier (£25–£35/month per terminal): Next working day response, engineer callout included, loaner device available
• Premium tier (£35–£50+/month per terminal): Same-day response (depending on location), on-site engineer, guaranteed loaner, priority support

These prices are per terminal. If you’re running three bar tills and a kitchen screen, that’s £45–£150 per month in breakdown cover costs before you’ve sold a single pint. Over a year, you’re looking at £540–£1,800 in premiums for a mid-sized pub.

Some EPOS suppliers bundle breakdown cover into their monthly software subscription at no extra cost. Others sell it separately. A few suppliers don’t offer it at all and expect you to source support independently or accept the risk of downtime.

When evaluating the cost of renting versus buying your EPOS system, always factor in whether breakdown cover is included or charged separately. This changes the true monthly cost significantly.

When Breakdown Cover Is Worth the Money

This is where real-world pub experience matters. Breakdown cover makes financial sense when the cost of downtime exceeds the cost of premiums.

Breakdown cover is worth buying if:

• You’re a wet-led pub with high turnover during specific trading windows (Fridays and Saturdays)
• You don’t have a backup till system and can’t operate without EPOS
• You’re open six or seven days a week and rely on EPOS for stock management
• You have a single EPOS terminal (losing it means you can’t trade at all)
• Your hardware is older than three years (failure risk increases with age)

During a Saturday night at Teal Farm Pub, we typically serve 150–200 customers across a four-hour period. If our till goes down and we don’t have a backup, we’re looking at manual card processing, no real-time stock updates, and a complete inability to track which staff member made which sale. That’s not just lost revenue—that’s a security and compliance nightmare. In that scenario, even paying £40/month for breakdown cover is cheap insurance.

Breakdown cover is probably not worth buying if:

• You’re a quiet pub (fewer than 50 covers per day) with low till dependency
• You have a second till system or can operate on card-only with manual tracking
• Your EPOS hardware is brand new (within the first 12 months, hardware failure is rare)
• Your supplier offers a two-year warranty covering accidental damage
• You can afford to replace a terminal out of pocket (£800–£2,000 for a modern system)

The real cost of EPOS systems is not the monthly software fee but the lost trading time and manual staff work required when something breaks. If you can tolerate 24–48 hours without EPOS, breakdown cover becomes optional. If you can’t, it’s essential.

Use our pub profit margin calculator to work out exactly how much a single day of downtime costs your business, then compare that figure to your annual breakdown cover premiums.

What’s NOT Covered (And Why This Matters)

This is where most pub landlords get surprised. Read your breakdown cover agreement carefully, because the exclusions list is where the real gaps appear.

EPOS breakdown cover typically does NOT cover:

• Network failures, broadband outages, or WiFi problems
• Software bugs, platform crashes, or update failures
• Damage caused by user error (spilling a drink, dropping the terminal, power surges)
• Data recovery if your system fails without backup
• Loss of sales or trading revenue caused by downtime
• Third-party peripherals not sold by your EPOS supplier (a printer, a scale, an external scanner)
• Cosmetic damage, scratches, or screen cracks (unless you’ve paid for accidental damage cover specifically)
• Problems caused by unpaid software licenses or expired subscriptions

The most common reason a pub till stops functioning is not hardware failure—it’s an internet outage. If your broadband goes down, your EPOS system is useless, and no breakdown cover will help. This is why the best defence against till downtime is not insurance but redundancy: a backup till, a mobile card reader, and a clear procedure for what staff do when the system fails.

At Teal Farm Pub, we learned early that we needed to invest in pub IT solutions that included backup connectivity—a second broadband line on a different network—rather than relying solely on breakdown cover. That single investment has saved us more downtime than any insurance policy ever could.

Alternatives to Traditional Breakdown Cover

You don’t have to buy breakdown cover as an add-on. There are other ways to protect yourself against EPOS failure.

Self-insurance (pay for repairs as they happen): If you’re a small pub with low till dependency and good cash flow, you might choose to skip breakdown cover entirely and pay for repairs out of pocket when they’re needed. This works if you can afford a £1,500 repair bill without it derailing your business. Most pub landlords cannot.

Equipment warranty (usually included at purchase): When you buy EPOS hardware, it typically comes with a 12–36 month manufacturer’s warranty covering defects. This is free but limited—it only covers manufacturing faults, not wear and tear or damage.

Accidental damage cover: Some insurers offer business equipment cover that includes EPOS systems. This is often cheaper than vendor-supplied breakdown cover and may cover more scenarios (including accidental damage). Get a quote from your business insurance broker.

Upgrade to cloud-based EPOS: Cloud EPOS systems (like those offered through pub management software platforms) are hosted on servers, not physical terminals in your pub. If your terminal fails, you can swap it for a new one quickly and sync all your data automatically. This reduces downtime significantly and often includes vendor support as standard.

Backup till system: A second, older till system kept offline but ready to activate is the most reliable defence against EPOS failure. It costs £500–£1,000 but eliminates downtime entirely. For busy pubs, this beats breakdown cover financially.

Tied Pubs and Pubco Requirements

If you’re a tied pub tenant, your pubco likely has strict requirements about which EPOS systems you can use and where you can source support.

Most major pubcos (Marston’s, Greene King, Wetherspoon, Stonegate) have approved EPOS supplier lists. You’re often required to use their preferred system, and you cannot add third-party breakdown cover without permission—doing so may void your warranty or breach your tenancy agreement.

Before you sign any breakdown cover agreement, check your pubco’s EPOS contract. Some tied pubs have clause that state:

• The pubco provides all EPOS support (and you cannot purchase outside support)
• Any third-party interference with EPOS voids the warranty
• The pubco pays for all repairs (meaning breakdown cover is unnecessary and forbidden)
• You must use the pubco’s nominated engineer, regardless of cost or response time

If your pubco forbids third-party breakdown cover, negotiate this in your tenancy agreement before you sign. Some pubcos will allow you to purchase cover if you’re willing to pay a slightly higher rent in return for self-sufficiency on IT support.

The Difference Between Breakdown Cover and Technical Support

These are not the same thing, and confusion here costs pub landlords real money.

Breakdown cover = insurance that pays for physical hardware repair or replacement when something breaks.

Technical support = a helpline or engineer service that fixes software problems, network issues, or setup questions. This might be free, or it might be charged per incident.

You can have breakdown cover without 24/7 technical support (you’re covered for repairs but won’t get quick help if something goes wrong). You can have excellent technical support without breakdown cover (they’ll help you fix it, but you pay labour costs). The best EPOS agreements include both.

When managing 17 staff across FOH and kitchen at Teal Farm Pub, we found that responsive technical support mattered more than breakdown cover. We had far more incidents where staff needed help using the system correctly than we had hardware failures. A single phone call to a responsive support team at 6 PM on a Saturday saved us far more downtime than a promise of a repair engineer visit.

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