Shop insurance

A shop insurance package policy is specifically tailored for the needs of a retail business. The main elements that it should cover are your contents and stock, business interruption, money, combined liability cover for employers, product and public liability as well as glass. We can include cover for the building if you own them.

If you run a retail business from a commercial property, you’ll want a retail insurance policy tailored to your exact requirements.

This is for shops and other businesses whose stock values fluctuate at different times of the year. For example, a school uniform retailer will have more stock in August/September, whereas other businesses such as toy and gift shops would increase their stocks prior to and over Christmas. The policy will normally include a 25 to 30% seasonal increase in stock over Easter, bank holidays and 30 days prior to Christmas. We can tailor the months to meet your needs.

This cover allows your ‘sums insured’ to be increased by an agreed percentage for your busy times of the year, helping to keep your costs down. Make sure you let our team know if you'd like to add this cover.

‘Loss of license’ insurance can cover reduction in value of your business due to loss of your wines and spirits licence at the premises. This cover is not included as standard so please ask the team for full details.

Glass cover is normally included on a shop policy as standard. However, you may need to include the shopfront if your lease makes your responsible for damage caused to it. If you have a unique window display or a particularly large proportion of glass on your shop front, speak to the team to make sure it’s covered correctly.

Yes, ATMs both inside and built into the walls of your shop can be covered on this policy. Do remember that you must make the team aware of this to ensure you are adequately covered as this can increase the risks of theft and break-in.

We can provide cover for stock sold online and any exports you make to outside of the UK. It is very important that you let the team know when running through your details to ensure they provide you with the correct policy for your needs. In addition to products liability, you will also need to consider if goods in transit insurance is needed for deliveries.

To help you spread the cost of your premiums, we offer a quick and easy direct debit scheme for spreading payment over ten months. Please visit our dedicated Direct Debit page to find out more.

Shop insurance is primarily focused on retail businesses that are run from a commercial property. If you have a pub, hotel, restaurant or own a commercial property which you rent out to other businesses you may well want a policy more specified to your risk.

A specialist insurer will be able to understand the specific risks of your business depending on the type of retail shop you run and will be able to create a tailored policy to suit your business needs.

Commercial property package policies are made up of various types of insurance cover which are designed to cover the standard risks for a particular industry. For example, a shop insurance package may offer glass cover for the shop window or seasonal adjustment cover for months when stock levels are likely to be higher. Package policies can be a cost-effective way of getting cover designed to suit the needs of your business.

Watch 'What are Package Insurance Policies? - Shop Insurance Guides' on YouTube

Manual work away exclusion - A shop is defined as a business based from a specific commercial premises – your shop. A policy is usually designed to cover you for the business you do there and sometimes extended to cover you for collection and delivery outside this property.

However, take for example a kitchen show room. Kitchens are sold from the shop but some of the profit and business may come from installation on the customer’s property. The manual work away exclusion states that this type of business needs extra cover, simply because it faces a different type of risk. If the balance tips towards the external work, you may even be advised to switch to a ‘commercial combined’ insurance policy which might be better suited your business model. An experienced adviser can talk through this with you and explain the benefits of both.

Accident damage - This cover allows you to claim for damages not caused by any other features such as fire, theft, flood etc. This doesn’t always come as standard so if you want accidental cover to be included in your policy make sure you let your adviser know early on to help them source you the best policy. As with any insurance feature there will be some exclusions. Make sure you read your policy documents thoroughly to understand what you are responsible for and what your insurance company is responsible for. 

Theft by violence/forced entry - This is an optional cover that protects against theft and break-ins via a forced entry. Insurers generally won’t cover you for a theft that occurs through an unlocked door and will stipulate what security measures you need to have in place before you can be covered. This will extend to public entrances, back doors, windows, out buildings, delivery hatches and service entrances. Make sure you are aware of what the security requirements are for your policy.

Commercial kitchens/serving food - If you do a high level of cooking and have a frying range, this could add a few stipulations to your policy, or maybe make you ineligible entirely. This is due to the increased fire risk a frying range is deemed to add. It is key that this is highlighted and covered adequately so if you have any uncertainty its best to check with one of our advisers.