DUAL UK expands social care appetite with enhanced package for children’s homes and Special Educational Needs Schools

5 May 2026 – DUAL UK today announces its enhanced Social Care proposition providing flexible and comprehensive cover tailored to the operational and regulatory requirements of children’s homes and Special Education Needs (SEN) schools.

This care specific package-based cover brings property, business interruption and casualty together in one package, delivering joined-up protection for clients. It has been tailor built for this specialist industry to help with the current challenges businesses face and is supported by A rated capacity.

The offering has been designed to support both new and established providers with clearly defined Abuse cover alongside Medical Malpractice and Professional Indemnity, integrated with Public and Employers’ Liability cover. It also includes Property Damage and Business Interruption.

The expanded offering is driven by an experienced underwriting team within DUAL’s Social Care portfolio, and reflects the business’s continued focus on providing specialist, well-defined cover for complex care risks.

The market has seen significant growth in recent years, driven by rising demand for children’s homes and increasing pressure across the care system as the population ages. This growth reflects both an increase in the number of children entering care and the increasingly complex needs many of them present. In March 2025, Ofsted reported a 15% rise in children’s homes of all types, taking the total to 4,010. Ongoing pressure on the fostering sector, alongside a lack of suitable local placements, has also prompted local authorities and providers to expand residential provision. As a result, new children’s homes are typically smaller and more specialist, designed to deliver stable, high quality care closer to children’s local communities.

Catherine Dixon, Chief Underwriting Officer, DUAL UK said: “DUAL is particularly well placed to innovate in specialist areas such as social care, driven by a close, day to day understanding of our markets. James Ramira, who heads up our Social Care team has over 20 years experience in this sector and it’s that expert insight that enables us to respond to shifting demands and develop products that are both practical and genuinely responsive to our customers’ needs.

“This expansion of our Social Care offering also reflects our ability to work collaboratively with our carrier partners to deploy capacity responsibly and support these vital services to children and young people.”

James Ramira, Managing Director of Social Care, DUAL UK, said: “Children’s homes and SEN schools operate under intense regulatory and safeguarding pressure, and this enhanced proposition has been built specifically for environments where protection, regulatory scrutiny and continuity of care are critical.

“By bringing a number of strands of insurance together, we’re removing gaps and providing real reassurance for providers and brokers that the right protection is in place. It’s a joined up solution for a complex, highly regulated sector, underwritten by a specialist team that understands the practical challenges these settings face.”