Retail Insurance

If you are preparing to open a new retail shop, insurance is not on your mind. The excitement of ordering your inventory, buying and then arranging your displays, hiring staff, and more are weighing on your mind before your grand opening.

While this is understandable, take a deep breath and think about the risks you are taking with your business by not having a complete insurance package to insure you against losses due to fire, theft and more. Your business also needs protection for injuries a customer or member of the public claims your business’s negligence caused.

TYPES OF RETAIL SHOPS

According to the RetailWise Newsletter there are 68 kinds of retail shops in the United States as per the North American Industry Classification System.

The list is amazingly diverse and includes:

• New car dealers

• Grocery store

• Women’s clothing stores

• Tire Stores

• Jewelry shops

• Meat markets

• Luggage stores

• Convenience stores

• Full service restaurant

• Seventy-nine more categories

No matter what type of shop you run, each of the categories share some common retail insurance needs.

RETAIL INSURANCE PORTFOLIO

There are several kinds of retail insurance that every retailer needs.

Following are the most important:

WORKER’S COMPENSATION INSURANCE

In every state businesses with as little as one employee must buy Worker’s Compensation Insurance. It protects your business from financial responsibility in the event of a work-related injury or illness. Worker’s Comp pays all medical expenses including rehabilitative services. It also helps your employees by paying them for lost wages to the compensation claim.

GENERAL LIABILITY INSURANCE

This policy protects your basic liability incidents such as accidents. Imagine someone is walking of the sidewalk outside your store. He or she trips and falls on a cracked sidewalk and breaks an arm. Your General Liability Insurance protects you by paying for the medical care and any lost income or court judgments against you. It also protects businesses from unforeseen problems and hazards you never thought of. Often retail stores that suffer a catastrophe not covered by another policy may have the gap filled by their general liability insurance.

BUSINESS OWNER POLICY (BOP) FOR RETAIL SHOPS

This is critical insurance for your business’s survival. A business owners policy is the way to protect your business building and its contents. If your business needs to work from a temporary place, BOP will pay for the move and associated expenses.

Most retailers keep their valuable papers or electronic data in their site. If you suffer an incident that destroys the data, think of warranty paperwork for example, BOP will reimburse you and your customers for the loss. If your loss included your accounts receivable, BOP will cover that as well.

Other key features of BOP include employee dishonesty and slander and libel.

BUSINESS AUTO INSURANCE FOR RETAIL STORE

Commercial car insurance protects your company when car or trucks are on for company purposes. If a company car makes a delivery and is in a car crash this policy covers medical expenses and damage to vehicles. You can buy a comprehensive business auto insurance policy that pays for vandalism, theft, and other impact damages.
Talk with your insurance advisor well before you open the doors. If you are already established make sure you visit your insurance advisor for a check-up.