Retail Business Insurance: Insurance for Shops, Retailer & Stores

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A lot of things can go wrong depending on what products a retail store is selling.

If flowers are sold, then the customer can display allergic reactions or even sustain rashes. Retail stores that specialize in antique furniture risk selling defective pieces that could endanger the customer. Those making money through construction supplies and hardware fear selling substandard products to customers. 

Retail insurance mitigates losses when lawsuits and other exposures happen. Avail this specialized coverage if you own a gift shop or any other retail business.  Inclusions are general liability insurance, workers' compensation insurance, commercial property insurance, etc. Learn in this discussion:

• The function and limits of each retailer insurance policies

• The cost of premiums

• The best companies for getting retail store insurance online 

Retail Liability Insurance

Limits Of General Liability Insurance for Retailers 

Customers can experience an accident while on the premises of your shop. And so, consider getting $500,000-$2 million general liability insurance. This retail business insurance will help you when:

• A customer is trying out a charger for a camera. The device is defective, and the battery of the customer’s camera got busted

• A customer slips and falls on a wet floor an employee has just mopped

• A vitrine crashes on a customer who was viewing the displays

• A customer gets injured while trying out an equipment sold in your store

General liability insurance, which is also included in convenience store insurance bundles,  helps you cover expenses if your business is liable for the injuries or property damage of customers. You can use this inclusion in retail store insurance to pay for these:

• Medical treatment of a customer injured while in the premises of your shop

• Reimbursement for the property of the customer that your shop allegedly damaged

• The amount of settlement the customer is demanding you hand over

• Attorney fees, court filing fees, investigation fees, and other defense costs

• Court judgments

Bodily injuries and property damage aren’t the only things that retail liability insurance covers. It will also take care of these exposures on your behalf:

• Claims for copyright infringement, slander, or libel filed by customers and other businesses 

• Indemnification to the landlord if the space you’re renting is damaged by fire

• Accidents caused by an automobile you borrowed or hired 

General liability insurance for shops and retailers can have floaters. Common ones are equipment coverage and customer property coverage.

Commercial Property Insurance for Retail Stores

Limits Of Commercial Property Insurance for Retail Stores 

Your retail shop insurance offers a commercial property policy. Use this to protect all the investments for a rented, leased, or owned building your retail business is using to display and store products. 

Commercial property insurance will reimburse losses and help you recover if the building of your retail business gets damaged or destroyed by:

• Fire

• Theft

• Vandalism

• Riot

• Civil commotion

• Malicious mischief

• Sinkhole collapse

• Volcanic action

• Lightning

• Impact

• Vehicle

• Aircraft

• Winds

• Snow 

• Hail

• Rain

• Sprinkler leakage

Your retail business’s commercial property insurance comes with shop stocks and contents coverage. 

Shop stock insurance will reimburse the total value of all products you’re about to sell or currently selling, which got lost or damaged.

On the other hand, shop contents insurance will recover your losses if something happens to business equipment such as computers, display racks, HVAC, and generators.

Your commercial property policy might come with shop front insurance coverage and provide exclusive protection for signage, glass panes, fences, and trees. 

Remember that this business insurance for retail store doesn’t grant protection against floods, mudslides, landslides, war, and molds. Try covering these perils by adding endorsements or floaters to commercial property insurance. 

Food Spoilage And Contamination Insurance

Retail businesses in the food industry, such as delis and grocery stores, can add a food spoilage and contamination endorsement to commercial property insurance.

Food spoilage and contamination endorsement helps out when cheese, milk, meat, vegetables, fruits, and other perishable goods gets spoiled or contaminated due to:

• Incorrect packaging

• Employee error

• Prolonged power outage

• Equipment breakdown

• Mishandling 

By having this endorsement, you receive a reimbursement equal to the total value of all perishable goods that got spoiled or contaminated. You also receive money for extra expenses such as:

• Product recalls

• Extra labor or overtime work

• Public relations

• Business interruption 

Inland Marine Insurance for Retail Stores

Do you deliver products to clients on your own or with the help of a courier? Retail property insurance isn’t enough because it doesn’t cover business property that gets lost or damaged during transit. 

Your retail insurance policy will offer inland marine insurance. Inland marine insurance will reimburse the value of products or business equipment that get lost or damaged during transit. This is useful when:

• The courier gets involved in an accident and loses a product you sold to a client

• Thieves steal the equipment you asked a courier to deliver

• The equipment or product gets lost mysteriously during transportation

• The courier is negligent and loses the product or equipment during transit

Workers Compensation Insurance for Retailers 

Retail is one hectic business. Workers are constantly moving around to sort things out, restock, and tend to customers. And so, workplace accidents are very common. Avoid shouldering the costs by adding a workers compensation policy to your general store insurance for retailers. 

Workers compensation insurance is mandated by law. It kicks in when an employee of your retail business sustains a work-related injury or disease. You use this to pay for these expenses:

• Private EMT service fees, first aid treatment, surgeries, therapies, and other medical expenses

• Room, food, nursing, laboratory, X-ray, and other hospital bills

• Prescription medicines

• Rehabilitation and retraining

• Lost wages

• Funeral expenses and allowance to dependents 

You must know that independent contractors, interns, or volunteers aren’t automatically covered by workers compensation insurance. The policy only applies if you name such workers as additional insureds. 

Employer’s Liability Insurance for Retail Stores 

Limits Of Employer’s Liability Insurance for Retail Stores 

You can add employer’s liability insurance to workers compensation insurance. It’s also possible for a workers comp policy to automatically offer this coverage. 

Employer’s liability insurance will cover defense costs and settlements if an employee, who sustained an occupational disease or injury, sues your retail business for negligence. 

Commercial Auto Insurance for Retail Stores

 Limits Of Commercial Auto Insurance for Retail Stores

Does your retail store own and use a cargo van for delivering goods to clients and haul products from manufacturers or wholesalers? If this is the case, consider getting commercial auto insurance. 

Commercial auto insurance provides protection while your commercial vehicle is running on the road. This inclusion in commercial retail insurance does the following:

• Cover the cost of medical treatment and reimburse the financial losses of the victims if your cargo van caused an accident

• Help you pay for parts repair or replacement expenses if your cargo van sustained damage because of weather, fire, theft, vandalism, collision, and other covered perils 

• Reimburse expenses if you need to hire a vehicle while your retail store’s cargo van is being repaired

• If the cargo van got involved in an accident caused by an underinsured/underinsured car; cover the medical treatment of the driver and passengers

Online Retailer Insurance

Online retailer insurance is a specialized protection package for businesses selling goods in Etsy, Amazon, and other online marketplaces. 

Also called online shop insurance, policies included in this tailored insurance plan are general liability, commercial property, cyber liability, and workers' compensation insurance. 

The cyber liability policy of online store insurance takes care of costs if client credit card numbers and other sensitive information gets leaked due to a cyber attack, employee error, and cyber security issue. 

As for the general liability policy, it will automatically provide product liability and public liability insurance for online retailers. 

Public liability insurance allows a general liability policy to cover the bodily injuries or property damage of third parties. 

On the other hand, product liability insurance for online retailers allows you to enjoy coverage against bodily injuries or property damage caused by products sold. 

Retail Store Insurance Cost

Expect to pay $29 per month or $348 per year if your retail store has 5 employees and generates $500,000-$750,000 annual revenue. Note that this is just a retail store insurance cost estimate. Your actual rates will vary depending on the type of goods sold, business history, claims history, number of employees, and location.

You can enjoy a cheaper retail store insurance cost by paying higher deductibles, bundling two or more insurance policies, getting commercial auto discounts, or paying premiums for the whole year.

Get a further idea of the retail insurance cost by taking a look at this second table showing the rates of the recommended carriers: