Business insurance for online retailers Business insurance for online retailers

The more you sell online, the more moving parts that can go wrong. Protect your team, products, equipment, customers and more with cover that's tailored to your needs.

Be quote confident. We'll beat the price of any like-for-like quote. T&Cs apply.

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Why buy insurance for your ecommerce business?

As an online retailer, your day-to-day business will likely involve lots of areas of potential risk, from procuring stock and handling warehouse logistics to fulfiling deliveries and ensuring product quality and customer safety.

Buying ecommerce insurance for your business offers advanced protection for your online operations as well as your team, your products and your equipment, plus your liability to clients and suppliers.

• Tailored cover to suit your specific needs

• Dropshipping businesses can be covered

• No itemised product list required, as long as you don't sell anything from our excluded items list

• Protection for your stock, equipment and profit

• Change your cover with no fees

• Instant access to policy documents

• Cover for businesses using third-party logistics (3PL)

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 does an online retailer need?

Public and product liability insurance

A must-have for businesses that sell physical products online (or at an occasional pop-up), public and product liability insurance protects you from third-party claims (for instance by a customer, a supplier or a member of the public) of accidental injury or property damage as a result of your business activities or the products you sell.

You can choose from a limit of either £2 million or £5 million for your combined public and product liability cover.

Cyber insurance

Cyber and data security should be the primary concern of online and e-commerce businesses. Sensitive customer data makes e-commerce businesses one of the main targets for cyber attacks.

Our cyber insurance is a truly innovative product designed with digital businesses in mind. Your cyber cover also includes media liability (which protects content that you publish online) and an award-winning breach response package (with legal, PR and IT forensic support) for no additional fee.

Employers' liability insurance

Employers' liability (EL) cover is a legal requirement for most UK companies that employ people, even if you only employ temporary, contractors or part-time staff. It includes protection for teams who work from home or travel for business anywhere in the world and covers your liability in the event that an employee makes a claim against the business.

With Superscript, you'll benefit from £10 million of employers' liability cover for up to 25 employees.

Business interruption cover

This will reimburse your profits lost for up to 18 months following damage to your premises, up to a limit of £2.25 million.

It will also reimburse up to £25,000 of lost profits in the case of interruption caused by damage to a UK supplier or third-party logistics provider’s premises.

Electronic and portable equipment cover

If your e-commerce business relies on equipment to get the job done, such as laptops, phones and tablets or a camera for photographing your latest products, electronic and portable equipment cover can protect these items from damage, loss or theft. You can enjoy a limit of up to £10,000 of cover with a limit of £2,500 for a single item.

Buildings, contents and stock cover

This cover protects property either owned by, or leased to, you at your business premises. You'll be covered for damage to the building or the loss or damage of the contents and stock inside, up to the following limits:

  • Buildings – £750,000
  • Fixtures and fittings – £50,000
  • Contents – £100,000
  • Stock – £75,000

You can choose whether to get cover for your stock at either your own premises or at a third-party logistics (3PL) warehouse, or both.

Goods in transit cover

While your transactions may take place online, you will of course still be delivering your products to customers, which involves transporting your goods in vehicles. If you include stock cover in your policy, then your insurance will include cover of up to £5,000 for your products whilst in transit in your own vehicles.

We also offer an additional cover for your products whilst out for delivery with a UK postal or courier service.

Accident and sickness cover

Accident and sickness insurance comes in three parts to cover workers aged between 16-69.

Firstly, it’s designed to provide financial support for up to 50 weeks if you or an employee goes on long-term sick leave. It can also provide financial assistance for up to 180 nights if you, or an employee, were hospitalised.

And finally, a lump sum benefit of up to £50,000 can be paid out if you or an employee suffers a serious injury or up to £25,000 in the unfortunate event that an insured person dies.

Cover for a pop-up shop

While the majority of your sales will take place online, you may periodically set up a temporary physical pop-up retail shop for your brand. Your insurance can include up to £5,000 of cover for your property at a pop-up shop (for up to 90 days) as well as £5,000 of cover for your property at an exhibition or trade fair.

To be covered, your pop-up shop needs to be in a rented shop unit that is built of standard construction, and not a shed or market stall.

The £5,000 limit covers both your stock and contents at the pop-up shop or exhibition stall.

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.

Cover for third-party logistics fulfilment

Many online retail businesses are opting to store their stock and fulfil their orders via third-party logistics (3PL) companies.

Superscript's ecommerce insurance is designed to cover you whether you store your own products or use a 3PL warehouse, such as Fulfilable, Farfill, JLI Fulfilment, 3P Logistics, Bezos.ai and more.

Cover for dropshipping businesses

Many dropshipping online retail businesses find it hard to get adequate insurance cover because they do not hold their inventory themselves.

Superscript's innovative insurance product allows dropshipping firms to be covered, even if the products they sell are shipped directly to customers from around the world, rather than a UK warehouse.

You'll just need to be able to either inspect a sample of 5% of your products or maintain rights of recourse against a UK or EU-based manufacturer or wholesaler.

Find out more

Product delivery cover

With Superscript's ecommerce business insurance, you will get up to £5,000 cover for your products when out for delivery in your business' own vehicles.

Plus, you can add on up to £5,000 cover for your products when they are out for delivery with a postal service or courier such as Royal Mail, DHL, Evri, Yodel, Parcelforce, DPD and others.

What products can't be insured?

Unfortunately Superscript can't offer you cover if you sell any of the following items:

  • Live animals
  • Any products that need to be medically prescribed
  • Products that don’t meet health or safety requirements in the United Kingdom
  • Any product that's sale is subject to legal age restrictions in the United Kingdom
  • Products you know to be faulty or unsafe
  • Second-hand electrical goods
  • Vehicles, aircraft or watercraft (or components of them)

Online retailer insurance claims examples

The types of claims that could affect an e-commerce business are different for every type online retailer, but here are a few examples of claims where the business could be liable.

Damaged stock

A major delivery of stock you ordered is damaged in transit, causing downtime in your trading while you wait for replacements. Business interruption insurance can cover the loss of profit up to £2.25 million.

Stolen laptop

A burglar breaks into your warehouse at night through the locked door and steals a laptop from your office and a portion of your stock. Your contents and stock cover would pay to replace what was taken.

An allergic reaction

A customer suffers an allergic reaction to a product of yours and needs medical attention. Product liability insurance would cover the legal and compensation costs involved, even if you did not manufacture the product.

Cyber attack

You suffer a denial of service cyber attack, causing website down time, interrupting your business. Your cyber cover pays a website recovery service provider’s costs while your business interruption insurance would cover your profits lost as a result of the system outage.

The examples above are indicative and, as with all insurance policies, some terms, conditions and exclusions apply. You can see all the details in your full policy documents.

Personalised insurance for Amazon sellers

Are you one of the 85,000+ businesses selling on Amazon Marketplace in the UK each year?

In 2021 alone, UK SMEs sold more than 950 million items on Amazon, from beauty and clothing, to toys and healthcare products.

Superscript's customisable online retailer insurance can cover the risks associated with selling on Amazon, including meeting Amazon's minimum insurance requirements for selling to customers in the USA.

Source: UK Amazon SME Impact Report 2022

What our expert says

Jake Hales, Portfolio Underwriter

Historically there hasn’t been a specific insurance product that is tailored to the needs of an online retailer and these risks have been placed under a commercial combined or shop policy, neither of which are really suitable.

Read more

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How do insurance claims work?

The below is a good guide to the process and timescales you can expect when you need to make a claim under your policy.

If you’re ever unsure whether you can or should claim, it’s best to get in touch and we can let you know.

1

Notify us of the claim

Contact us by email at claims@gosuperscript.com, by 24/7 freephone on 0800 772 3059 or by logging in to your customer portal.

Ideally this should be done as soon as possible and within 30 days of you becoming aware of anything which you think may be covered by your insurance.

A good indicator of whether or not to let us know is if there’s an issue which may require a payment to be made on your behalf.

2

We'll get on the case

We’ll acknowledge your claim within 24 hours, and sometimes in as little as 30 minutes! This means you’ll receive email confirmation of your Superscript claims reference and contact information should you need to speak to us.

We will then reach out to you within 48 hours to request any extra information we need to progress your claim.

We’ll keep you updated on the next steps as the claim progresses.

3

A decision is made

We’ll let you know if your claim is successful or not. At Superscript, if your claim isn’t covered, we will always try to point you in the right direction and support you as best we can in getting back to normal.

Read about the most common reasons claims aren't paid.

If your claim is successful, once we have all the documents we need, we will aim to settle claims such as accidental damage, theft and lost equipment within 5 working days.

Online retailer insurance FAQs

What is online retailer cover?

Online retailer insurance is designed to protect businesses that sell products online or have an e-commerce platform from claims that could cause them financial loss. There are a few types of cover that are relevant for online retailers, including product liability, business interruption and cyber insurance.

The types of claims covered include accidental injury or property damage to a member of the public, theft or damage of stock or business equipment such as phones or laptops, as well as downtime or fines due to data breaches.

Do I need business insurance for my online retail business?

Most business insurance isn't legally required. The only exception to this is employers' liability, which is legally required for almost every business that has employees.

In addition, many businesses choose to buy covers as a duty of care and to protect their business. This can include product and public liability, business equipment and business interruption to protect their online retail company from potential claims that could arise.

How much does online retailer insurance cost?

The cost of your premium will vary depending on several factors, including the type of cover you want, the level of cover selected and your location.

What is covered by public liability for online retailers?

Your public liability insurance will cover your liability for paying legal and compensation costs in the event of a claim made against your online retailer business by a member of the public (including customers) if they are injured – or their property damaged – by your business's activities.

Your online retailer insurance from Superscript includes both public liability and product liability cover, meaning that you're also covered if a member of the public is injured – or their property damage – by the products you sell, even if you did not manufacture them yourself.

Can I insure a dropshipping business?

Yes, Superscript's revolutionary online retailer insurance product can cover you for running a dropshipping business. In order to be covered as a dropshipping business you will need to:

  • Physically inspect a sample of at least 5% of the stock of all the items listed for sale on at regular intervals and keep records of this.

And/or

  • Maintain rights of recourse against a UK or EU-based manufacturer or wholesaler for all products you sell in relation to faults and safety issues.

Are there any products that cannot be insured as an online retailer?

Unfortunately Superscript are not able to offer you cover if you sell any of the following items:

  • Live animals
  • Medical devices or pharmaceuticals, or any products that need to be medically prescribed
  • Products that don’t meet health or safety requirements in the United Kingdom or that cannot otherwise legally be sold in the United Kingdom
  • Any product that's sale is subject to legal age restrictions in the United Kingdom (including but not limited to e-cigarettes/liquids, fireworks, knives, axes, crossbows, weapons, solvents, butane)
  • Products you know to be faulty or unsafe or you know are subject to a product recall or safety notice
  • Second-hand electrical goods
  • Vehicles, aircraft or watercraft (or components of them)

Will my products be covered while in transit?

Yes, you will automatically get up to £5,000 worth of cover for goods in transit in your business' own vehicles. you can also opt for an additional cover for up to £5,000 for products whilst out for delivery with a UK postal or courier service.

Does my insurance cover selling products to customers in the USA?

Under the terms of Superscript's online retailer insurance, you can have up to 25% of your turnover coming from sales to the USA and Canada and still be covered. However, a higher excess of £2,500 applies to claims related to business in North America.

Can I be covered for selling via an online marketplace?

In short, yes. Our online retail insurance can cover you for selling via an online platform like Amazon, eBay, Esty, Shopify or many others. We can even ensure you are covered above and beyond Amazon's minimum insurance requirements.

Will I be covered for running an offline pop-up shop?

Yes, your online retailer policy includes £5,000 of cover for property at a pop-up shop (for up to 90 days) as well as £5,000 of cover for your property at an exhibition or trade fair.

To be covered, your pop-up shop needs to be in a rented shop unit that is built of standard construction, and not a shed or market stall.

The £5,000 limit covers both your stock and contents at the pop-up shop or exhibition stall.

Can I increase the cover for my stock at busy times of the year?

Yes, because of the seasonal differences in the amount of stock you may need to hold, we automatically increase the amount of stock covered by 30% for November and December in the run-up to Christmas, as well as for 14 days before and after bank holidays.

Will my chilled or frozen stock be covered in the event of a power cut?

Yes, we include £2,000 of stock deterioration cover in the event of an unexpected power outage.

What does "rights of recourse against a UK or EU-based manufacturer or wholesaler" mean?

If you are a dropshipping business, then in order to be covered you'll be asked to agree that you can:

"Maintain rights of recourse against a UK or EU-based manufacturer or wholesaler for all products you sell in relation to faults and safety issues".

By “maintaining rights of recourse”, we mean:

(1) the supplier of your products is either UK or EU-based; and

(2) in your contract with them, you have not waived your right to enforce common law liabilities and responsibilities through the UK or European court system.

If you cannot agree with this statement, then you can still be covered for dropshipping as long as you physically inspect a "sample of at least 5% of the stock of all the items listed for sale on at regular intervals and keep records of this (inspection)".

The content on this page was updated on 14/12/2022 and applies to policies first purchased on or after this date. If you have an existing policy bought prior to this date, please see your policy documents for specific details of your cover.

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