Have you seen an empty commercial property to let and thought about opening the shop you’ve always dreamed of? Perhaps it’s a florist, bakery, jewellers or men’s fashion shop; whatever it is you can guarantee you will need some kind of insurance.
When you start to look at insurance it can feel overwhelming, there’s so much to consider like buildings insurance, contents insurance, public liability, employer’s liability… the list goes on. You will need a comprehensive insurance policy, but where do you start to be 100% reassured that everything is covered?
First you need to be aware what insurances are available and just what they cover, then you will know if it is something you need, for example if you aren’t planning on employing someone then there’s no point in taking out employer’s liability insurance!
Public Liability Insurance
You’ve no doubt heard the words “where there’s blame there’s a claim”, well this is the insurance that covers you for accidents on your premises whether they be a customer, supplier or someone passing by your shop front. If your floor was wet and someone slipped and injured themselves, this is the insurance which would cover any claim.
Product Liability Insurance
This should be part of your public liability insurance, but it is worth drawing attention to, so you can consider it and ensure it is. You want to make sure that if a product you sell breaks and injures someone or causes damage to property you are covered for any claim. In some cases, the manufacturer will be liable but it’s not a risk worth taking.
Employer’s Liability Insurance
If you are planning to employ staff, you will definitely need employer’s liability insurance. This insurance will cover you for any claim made against you by a member of staff, this could be accidental injury, work related illness and possibly employment tribunal claims. If employing someone who is not a family member it is a legal requirement to have employer’s liability insurance.
Buildings Insurance
If you are renting a shop your landlord should cover the buildings insurance but do make sure this is clear and check with your landlord. If you own the shop you will need buildings insurance to ensure you are covered should there be any damage to the building, this would include things like fire and flooding.
Contents/stock insurance
You will need insurance for your stock, so if it is destroyed in any way, for example by fire, you can claim for its stock value. You will also need to consider contents insurance for your fixtures and fittings and any decorative items within your shop.
Online seller’s insurance
Many people will also sell online and if this is something you plan to do you will need to ensure that your insurance also covers stock listed for sale. You may store stock at a different premises that you intend to sell online and so you will need to check carefully just what is covered.
As you can see buying insurance for a shop is not straightforward, we have listed just a few of the areas which need to be considered but there are much finer details personalised to your business that will need to be gone through.
If you would like to discuss a new business insurance, or renewal of an existing one then please do get in touch. Call us on 01392 797733 or email sales@exe-insurance.co.uk
