Furniture Store Insurance: Quotes From Only $5

Homepage > Business Insurance  >  Furniture Store Insurance: Quotes From Only $5

Your furniture store faces different vulnerabilities. You’re liable to pay for costs if a customer gets injured or sustains property damage due to the furniture you’re selling or an accident. 

Also, employees can sustain injuries because of lifting heavy weights, workplace accidents, getting hit by an object, etc. 

Finally, a fire can damage or destroy your furniture store and its inventory. As a result, hefty losses will force you to get a loan to start all over again. In the worst-case scenario, you can’t do anything but stop your furniture store’s operations. 

Get furniture store insurance to protect your furniture store against customer lawsuits, employee injuries, and business property damage. Read this guide to know what this is, how much it costs, the best companies, and more. 

Also read:

• Antique Shop Insurance: Business Insurance From $5

• Flea Market Insurance: Liability, Cost & Quotes from $11

• Retail Business Insurance: Insurance for Shops, Retailer & Stores

• Upholstery Insurance: Liability, Cost & Quotes From $11

• Craft Insurance: Handmade Product Insurance for Crafters - Quotes From $7

• E-Commerce Insurance: Ecommerce Business Insurance Quotes From $5

What is Furniture Store Insurance?

Furniture store insurance is a specialized protection that offers general liability, commercial auto, commercial property, workers' compensation, and other business insurance policies specially underwritten for the exposures of a furniture store business. Get this if you own a:

• Lifestyle furniture store 

• Traditional furniture store

• Office furniture store

• Branded furniture store

• Second-hand furniture store 

Furniture Store General Liability Insurance

General liability insurance covers costs if a third party holds your furniture store liable for his injuries or property damage. You use this insurance when:

• A furniture you’re selling falls and hits someone resulting in bodily injuries or property damage

• A customer trips on a furniture you’re selling and sustains bruises or drops their phone on the floor 

• Someone experiences a slip and fall accident and accuses your furniture of causing it by failing to keep the premises orderly

• A customer gets injured or sustains property damage while testing a piece of furniture 

Now let’s talk about what general liability insurance exactly does on behalf of your furniture store. Here’s a quick summary of the policy’s functions:

• General liability insurance will cover the medical treatment, funeral expenses, or compensation for pain and suffering of the person who files a claim for bodily injuries against your furniture store

• General liability insurance will refund the losses of the claimant if your furniture store damaged their property 

• Pay for legal defense costs such as attorney fees, court fees, administrative costs, investigatory fees, etc.

Your furniture store’s general liability insurance will provide $1 million-$2 million coverage for settlements and defense costs of each claim for bodily injury or property damage. But still, there are carriers that allow your business to get up to $5 million coverage from the policy. 

Coverage for all claims cannot exceed $2 million-$3 million in most cases. However, there are insurance companies that sell a furniture store general liability insurance having $5 million-$10 million aggregate. 

You make the most of general liability insurance if you include  the following additional coverages to its terms:

• Advertising injury coverage-If you add advertising injury coverage, general liability insurance can cover settlements and defense costs such as attorney fees, court fees, etc. if someone holds your furniture store liable for slander, libel, and copyright infringement

• Rented premises liability coverage-Rented premises liability coverage is helpful if you’re renting a space in a flea market or any other similar locations to sell the furniture of your shop. If the rented space becomes damaged, this additional coverage allows general liability insurance to cover the losses of the owner

• Rented/hired auto liability coverage-Non-owned/hired auto liability coverage is handy if your furniture store hires or borrows a vehicle to deliver furniture to clients or haul supplies. If the hired or borrowed vehicle causes an accident, rented premises liability coverage will indemnify the affected parties on your behalf 

The advertising injury coverage of general liability insurance for furniture stores has a $100,000-$250,000 per occurrence limit with a $500,000 aggregate. On the other hand, the per occurrence limit of rented premises liability coverage is $500,000-$2 million. Its aggregate limit is $2 million. 

Exclusions Of Your Furniture Store’s General Liability Insurance

General liability insurance doesn’t provide coverage if an employee, co-owner, partner, or any other entity directly connected to your furniture store’s operations files a claim for bodily injury or property damage. 

Negligence that results in financial or economic losses of the claimant isn’t covered too. However, general liability insurance will take care of negligence that inflicted injuries or property damage to customers or other concerned parties. 

Product Liability Insurance for Furniture Stores 

Customers can file a claim if they experience something undesirable due to the furniture you sold. Getting sued because of the product you’re selling can be very problematic. Here are some examples:

• A popular furniture store company from Sweden that operates in the USA settled for $46 million after a dresser sold to a customer tipped over and killed a 2-year-old child 

• Through a court judgment, a customer received a $250,000 compensation from a famous New York furniture chain that was proven to send customers used and defective furnishings 

Product liability insurance helps to cover costs if customers file a claim because the cabinet, tables, chairs, or any other product they bought from your furniture store inflicted bodily injuries or property damage by having:

• Design errors

• Labeling errors

• Manufacturing defects

Through product liability insurance, you can cover the defense costs and settlements for product liability claims. This policy has a $1 million-$2 million per occurrence limit with an aggregate of $2 million.

Commercial Property Insurance for Furniture Stores

Your furniture store’s building and its contents cost a lot. For a small furniture store, you’ll spend a lot on the building and the furniture pieces sold. Imagine how much you’ll lose if something undesirable happens to them.

Ensure your furniture store’s survival by getting commercial property insurance. Commercial property insurance will reimburse losses if your furniture store’s building is damaged or destroyed by:

• Fire

• Theft

• Vandalism

• Malicious mischief

• Sinkhole collapse

• Volcanic action

• Winds

• Hail

• Snow

• Sprinkler leakage

• Explosions

• Aircraft

• Vehicle

Additionally, contents coverage is included in the terms of the commercial property policy of furniture store insurance. This will recoup lost capital if the furniture to be sold, important documents, building generator, computer, and other valuable items become lost or damaged due to the above-mentioned perils.

So how much coverage can you get from commercial property insurance? The building coverage of commercial property insurance is $10,000-$25,000 but note that there are carriers that provide more than $1 million. Contents coverage, on the other hand, is $5,000-$20,000 but you can still find carriers willing to give more.

Exclusions OfCommercial Property Insurance

Commercial property insurance doesn’t protect your furniture store against business property damage caused by earthquakes, floods, war, terrorism, and mudslides. Get endorsements to have protection against these perils.

You can’t use commercial property insurance to recoup losses if an employee stole money, engaged in fraudulent refunds, or embezzled business funds. The same is true if an employee or any other entity intentionally caused the damage or loss of business property.

Note that commercial property insurance doesn’t cover the items of other businesses or individuals left in the custody of your furniture store. Also, it doesn’t cover installations outside and is not part of your furniture store’s building.

You must also remember that commercial property insurance doesn’t cover any property of your furniture store that got damaged or lost during transportation.

Furniture Store Business Owner’s Policy

Most insurance companies will offer a business owner’s policy if you plan to get commercial property and general liability insurance for your furniture store.

A business owner’s policy merges general liability and commercial property insurance and makes them cheaper than what you would’ve paid if you bought each as separate policies instead.

Understand that a business owner’s policy can’t only offer general liability and commercial property insurance all the time. You also get to include other policies in its terms such as workers' compensation, cyber liability, employer’s liability insurance, and more.

Workers Compensation Insurance for Furniture Stores

Workers compensation insurance covers the resulting expenses if an employee or several employees of your furniture store sustains a work-related injury. Buy workers compensation insurance because the employee or employees of your furniture store can sustain injuries by:

• Slipping and falling while moving around in the premises of your business

• Lifting heavy furniture a client bought

• Moving and organizing recently delivered furniture that must be kept in the storage area

• Experiencing an accident while showing a client how a particular furniture works and how it must be used

Workers' compensation insurance is also helpful because an employee can’t file a lawsuit to hold your business liable for his or her injuries.

As we said earlier, workers' compensation insurance covers expenses if an employee sustains injuries at work. So what particular costs does the policy take care of? Workers' compensation insurance pays for:

• Ambulance/emergency treatment-If an accident happens at work and an employee needs immediate medical attention, workers' compensation insurance will cover ambulance fees. It will also pay emergency room fees

• Hospitalization-Your furniture store can cover bills through workers compensation insurance if ever its employee needs to stay in the hospital for days, weeks, or months

• Medication-Workers compensation insurance will pay for the medicines your furniture store’s employee needs for a work-related injury to heal

• Rehabilitation-Workers compensation insurance covers rehabilitation costs if an employee of your furniture store experiences a temporary or permanent impairment due to a work-related injury

• Lost wages-Your furniture store can use workers' compensation insurance to cover the lost wages of an employee who can’t work due to a work-related injury or disease. In practice, the policy provides a weekly allowance equal to two-thirds or 67% of the average weekly wage

• Death benefits-If an employee dies, your furniture store can use workers' compensation insurance to cover funeral expenses. The policy also provides an allowance to dependents

Does Workers Compensation Insurance Cover Work-Related Diseases?

Workers' compensation insurance covers work-related diseases. But note that an employee must first provide sufficient proof.

Where To Get Workers Compensation Insurance for Your Furniture Store?

Workers' compensation insurance is available from any commercial insurance company that includes furniture stores in their underwriting appetite. If no insurance company is willing to sell the coverage to you, you can qualify for the risk pool managed by the state where your furniture store is located.

When Must Your Furniture Store Get Workers Compensation Insurance?

You must get workers' compensation insurance as soon as there are one or more full-time and part-time employees. Note that exceptions might apply depending on which state your business is located.

Consequences Of Not Getting Workers Compensation Insurance

The failure to get workers' compensation insurance is punishable, except if your furniture shop is located in Texas. Fines and penalties differ from state to state. Here are some examples:

• If your furniture store is in Rhode Island and it doesn’t have workers' compensation insurance, authorities will impose a $1,000 fine for each day of non-compliance. You, as the owner, will also face a felony charge punishable by 2-year imprisonment and a $10,000 fine

• The State Board of Workers Compensation in Georgia will administer a $500-$5,000 fine for each instance of your furniture store’s noncompliance to get workers' compensation insurance

• Your furniture store will lose a lot if it operates in Utah without workers' compensation insurance. First off, authorities will impose a $1,000 fine. If the violation is severe, your furniture store can be barred from doing business in the state. Finally, you will lose your right to exclusive remedy as an employer

• In Idaho, your furniture store will face a $2 fine per uninsured employee or a $25 fine for each day of non-compliance. Authorities won’t file criminal charges against you

• If your furniture store is guilty of not getting workers' compensation insurance for employees, Colorado authorities will impose a $500 fine for being uninsured. Criminal charges don’t apply

Exclusions Of Your Furniture Store’s Workers Compensation Insurance

Workers' compensation insurance doesn’t cover interns and volunteers working for your furniture store.

Also, in case an employee files a lawsuit against your business, workers' compensation insurance can’t cover settlements and legal defense costs.

Cyber Liability Insurance for Furniture Stores

Furniture shop insurance will offer a cyber liability policy if your furniture store collects and handles the sensitive data of customers. In a real-life scenario, this is useful if your business is operating a website or using electronic billing devices/platforms.

You use cyber liability insurance to cover the following costs if the sensitive data of customers is breached due to a cyberattack, employee error, or cybersecurity issues:

• Public relations (cost for informing affected parties of the breach)

• Defense costs

• Settlements

• Professional services (cost for containing the breach)

• Business interruption (only applicable if your business losses income because it needs to close while containing the breach)

So how much money can you get from cyber liability insurance?

The policy has a $1 million-$2 million per occurrence limit with an aggregate of $2 million-$3 million. But since cyber liability lawsuits are costly, some carriers underwrite cyber liability insurance with a per occurrence limit of $5 million-$10 million.

Furniture Store Commercial Auto Insurance

You can include a commercial auto policy in your furniture shop insurance if your business owns a vehicle used to deliver furnishings to customers and stocks to partners.

Commercial auto insurance provides coverage if your furniture store’s vehicle sustains damage and inflicts injuries or property damage to third parties. It will also help if the driver and passengers of your furniture store’s vehicle got injured in an accident.

Insurance companies include the following coverages in the commercial auto insurance for furniture stores:

• Auto liability coverage-The auto liability coverage of commercial auto insurance will pay the medical treatments, funeral, or property damage of the victims in case your furniture store’s commercial vehicle causes an accident. It will also cover attorney fees, administrative costs, judgments, court fees, and other legal defense expenses

• Physical damage coverage-Physical damage coverage helps you cover the maintenance of your furniture store’s commercial vehicle if ever it gets damaged. Carriers give you the liberty to get this as a collision or comprehensive policy. Collision physical damage coverage will cover costs if your vehicle got damaged in a crash. In comparison, comprehensive physical damage coverage will take care of expenses if your furniture store’s vehicle sustained damage due to theft, fire, vandalism, and other covered perils

• Rental reimbursement coverage-Suppose you need to rent because the commercial vehicle of your furniture store is being fixed, rental reimbursement coverage will refund your expenditures

• Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage-Your commercial vehicle can get involved in an accident caused by another driver. If the driver can’t indemnify, uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage will cover medical treatments and reimbursements for property damage instead

• Medical payments coverage-Medical payments coverage provides funds for the medical treatment or funeral of the passenger and driver regardless if your commercial vehicle caused the accident or not

• Personal injury protection-Personal injury protection works similarly to medical payments coverage. However, it doesn’t only cover medical treatment and funeral costs but also lost wages, retraining, after-hospital visits, and more

Exclusions Of Your Furniture Store’s Commercial Auto Insurance

Auto liability coverage can’t indemnify affected parties if your furniture store’s commercial vehicle caused an accident by being involved in criminal activities.

Physical damage coverage doesn’t cover aftermarket parts. Also, damage due to rollovers is excluded from the terms of the policy.

Furniture Shop Insurance Cost

Furniture shop insurance doesn’t have a universal cost because so much of the price is dependent on many factors. On average, expect to pay $45.05 per month or $540.62 per year for a $1 million general liability insurance. 

Now, you may be wondering exactly what factors go into determining how much your insurance carrier will charge you for coverage. The first thing to account for is your history of running a furniture business. If your business has a history of accidents or making claims, then your premium will be higher.

Another factor is how long you’ve been selling furniture. Insurance companies will be more likely to trust you if you’ve been selling furniture for a longer time. If your business is a new one, carriers may be a little hesitant about giving you a better rate.

Insurers will also look at the size of your business to figure out how much they should be charging you for coverage. A larger business will have to pay more for their furniture shop insurance because they have more customers coming through their doors and increasing the risk their insurer has to deal with.