Shop insurance
Bakeries, check. Pharmacies, check. Florists, cobblers and mad hatters? You bet. We'll insure your shop, your employees, clumsy customers... even your data. Online store? Yep, we cover that too.
Be quote confident. We'll beat the price of any like-for-like quote. T&Cs apply.
Shop insurance quote
Why buy shop insurance?
Each shop or retail business requires different insurance – a flower shop isn't likely to have the same risks as a pharmacy.
To make sure you're covered for the risks most associated with your store, you might want to consider business insurance that you can alter to your requirements. That's why we offer customisable cover, which allows you to tailor your protection and only pay for what you need.
10% of shop and retail businesses paid £12.95 a month or less for their insurance between January and March 2023.
Some features of our retail and shop insurance include:
- Choose from £2m or £5m public and product liability cover
- Additional covers such as terrorism and theft by an employee
- Hassle-free claims and UK-based customer support
- Adjust your policy any time, without fees
Be quote confident
We're big on fairness. So if you find a lower price for a comparable quote, we won't just match it – we'll go one better and beat it.
So even better than apples to apples, apples to better apples. We're talking Galas to Braeburns.
As you'd expect, T&Cs apply.
What insurance do shops need?
While every shop is different, there are some covers that make sense for a lot of businesses. Here are some you may want to consider.
Public and product liability insurance
From slippery floors to products causing damage, if a member of the public accidentally injures themself or has their property damaged as a result of your business or the products that you sell, you could be liable.
Some features of our product and public liability cover include:
- You can buy our public and product liability cover on its own, which is handy if you don't need any other kind of cover
- £2m or £5m to cover costs for accidental injury to the public or damage to their property
- Compensation for court attendance
- £100k data protection cover
Employers' liability insurance
Are you hiring a team for your retail space? If you hire anyone, regardless of if they're full-time, part-time or temporary, employers' liability insurance is a legal requirement in the UK.
If an employee suffers an accidental injury or damage to their property and they made a claim against you, this type of cover could protect you and your business.
What's included:
- £5m or £10m of cover for claims made by employees for accidental injury or property damage as a result of working for you
- Compensation for court attendance
- Cover for injury to working partners
Buildings, contents and stock cover
As a shop owner, your retail space and the things in it are precious. This type of cover protects your building, its contents and your stock from damage and theft.
What's included:
- Buildings cover up to £750,000, contents cover up to £100,000 and stock cover up to £100,000
- Cover for portable equipment up to £10,000, with a single item limit of £2,500
- Cover for certain accidental damage to your building or buildings, including floods
- Cover for accidental damage to cables and underground pipes
- Cover for debris removal as a result of accidental damage
- Cover for tracing the source of leaking to underground pipes
- Cover for buildings fees including architects, consultants and legal
- Cover for theft or damage to contents, landlord's fixtures and fittings, interior decorations and employees' belongings up to £1,000 per employee
- Cover for stocks and materials including work in progress and customers goods that are in your care
Commercial legal protection
Sometimes, legal affairs like tax enquiries or disputes are unavoidable. If this happens and you don't have an in-house legal team, it can really help to have professional support and expertise. This type of cover provides the advice and counselling services necessary to cover commercial legal affairs.
Online retail cover
If you run an online shop alongside your physical retail space, there's no need to add this as another business activity. Our shop insurance includes additional e-commerce insurance for retailers who sell items online at no additional cost. However, we're unable to cover shops that sell items in the US and Canada.
Once you've completed a quote, you'll be able to view a summary of cover. Please always refer to your policy documents for full details around exclusions, terms and limits of your customised cover. Read our guide to understanding your policy documents.
Additional covers
On top of these options, we also offer a bunch of other covers to boost your policy and give you the perfect protection for your business.
Business interruption
Cover for lost income due to physical damage to your property such as a flood.
Shop front
Cover if your shop front is damaged, including the glass.
Terrorism
Cover if there is interruption to your business caused by terrorism.
Theft by an employee
Cover for theft of stock or contents, including money, by employees.
Deterioration of stock
Cover if your frozen or chilled stock deteriorates in the event of power failure.
Goods in transit
Cover if your stock is damaged or stolen while in transit.
We can insure almost 200 types of retail businesses
From coffee houses to chemists, garden centres to grocers, we can provide customised cover to a wide range of shops, hospitality and retail businesses.
While we insure many different types, here are a few popular shops that we cover:
- Cafes
- Bakeries
- Beauty salons
- Pharmacies
- Newsagents
- Florists
- Clothing shops
To check if we cover your shop or retail business, simply click 'Start your quote'.
What's not included?
While we'd like to cover everything, there are some exclusions to our shop insurance. These include:
- Cover for businesses that allow the consumption of alcohol on site
- Cover for general wear and tear to stock and contents
- Cover for businesses that have large deep fat friers (over 3 litre capacity)
- Shops with particularly high-value items
- Shops that sell safety critical items, such as car parts
Is your shop exclusively an online store?
If your retail business operates entirely online and not from a physical shop, you may need cover that's a little different.
That's why we've put together an online retailer insurance product to cover the unique risks associated with online selling.
Shop insurance claims
Shop insurance can cover a range of different accidents and risks. Here are a few examples of claims scenarios and the different types of cover they relate to.
Slippery floors
A customer in your shop slips on a wet floor and injures themself, even though you put a sign down. Without public liability cover, you could face legal and compensation costs.
Unsafe equipment
The coffee machine that the barista in your cafe uses hasn't been checked properly and injures them. If a claim is made against you, employers' liability should cover this.
Stolen stock
A robber breaks into your shop and steals a bunch of your stock, including some of your employees' personal belongings. Contents and stock cover should cover this.
Flooded shop
Your shop suffers from a flood. You can't open and your stock is ruined. Contents and stock cover can cover the shop damage, while business interruption would cover the lost income while you can't trade.
How do claims work?
You make a claim
Log in to your online account and go to the ‘Make a claim’ section. There, you can make a claim directly – there's no need to call us.
We'll ask you for some details about your claim, including a crime reference number (if applicable), the date of loss or claim made against you, type of claim and its detailed description.
You can also attach any relevant supporting documentation like proof of loss, proof of purchase, a letter of demand or a statement of claim.
We'll get on the case
Once submitted, your claim will be assessed.
If the claim is large, we may need more information from you. Or, if it's small, our team may be able to settle it within a couple of days (or hours, in some cases).
Either way, we'll keep you regularly updated and you'll be able to see the status of your claim on our customer portal.
Your claim is settled
After it's been assessed, we'll let you know if your claim has been successful or not.
If items have been lost, stolen or damaged, we might arrange for the items to be replaced or make a payment to you.
If you’re liable for something we will assist you with legal support.
Boost your cover with goods in gransit insurance
Cover products, stock and materials while they're in transit.
Resources for retailers
From start-up costs to cyber threats, we've got guides to help you run your business.
Shop insurance FAQs
How much does shop insurance cost?
For basic product and public liability insurance, our cover starts at £12.95 a months including insurance premium tax (IPT).
10% of shop and retail businesses paid £12.95 a month or less for their insurance between January and March 2023.
I already have insurance, is it easy to switch?
To switch to us from another insurer you'll need to let your current insurer know that you're leaving them and start a policy with us.
When building your quote with Superscript, you can set a day that you want your policy to start, so you're never without business insurance.
Is building and contents insurance tax deductible?
Yes – in the UK, building and contents insurance is an allowable expense, which means you can deduct this cost from your taxable profit.
How much cover do I need?
When working out how much cover you need, it's worth calculating how much it would be to cover the costs associated with various claims and choose the level of insurance that would cover this.
The associated costs will be different for various claims and could include legal fees, compensation, repairing or replacing items and rebuilding property, which also includes builders' fees, materials, surveryors' fees and debris removal.
What excess will I pay on shop insurance?
An excess is the amount paid to the insurer when a claim is made.
Here are some excess rates that you may have to pay when making a claim on your shop insurance:
- Damage caused by flood, subsidence, ground heave or landslip – £1,500
- Damage to glass, shop front or frozen or chilled stock – £100
- Damage to third party property – £250
- All other damage – £250
Can I also get cover for my online shop?
Yes, we also cover online retailers. There's no need to select multiple business activities when building a quote – when selecting your shop type in our quote builder, you'll also be covered to sell things online as long as you are selling the same products as the activity alludes to. However, we're unable to cover shops that sell items in the US and Canada.
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Authorised by the FCA
The FCA supervises UK financial services firms to protect consumers. We are directly authorised and regulated by the FCA and our Firm Reference Number is 656459. These details can be confirmed on the Financial Services Register at www.fca.org.uk or by calling the FCA on 0845 606 1234.
A-rated financial strength
Our insurance products are underwritten by Standard & Poor’s A-rated financial strength or higher. This means the underwriter has been independently assessed by the world’s leading credit rating provider and found to have a strong capacity to meet financial commitments (pay claims).
Protected by the FSCS
If you are a business with an annual turnover under £1m, charity with an annual income under £1m, or trust with net assets under £1m, then you will be entitled to compensation from the FSCS in the unlikely event we cannot meet our obligations. Full details and further information on the scheme are available at www.fscs.org.uk.