What Does Fish And Chip Shop Insurance Cover?

Fish and chip shop insurance will look very different from clothes shop insurance, for example, because of the risks of food poisoning, burns from deep fat fryers and slips and falls from spilt oil on the floor.

This is why fish and chip shop business owners should be careful when taking out insurance because there are many ready-made insurance packages created for shops on offer. However, most won’t address the specific risks for your type of business. It is far better to build your insurance policy around the needs of your business, which is what Brisco Business Insurance can help you to do.

What does fish and chip shop insurance cover?

Chip shop insurance is made up of different elements of coverage that address the many risks that this type of business face on a daily basis. Like most brick-and-mortar shop businesses, you will need some standard coverage that is useful for a shop environment, such as buildings and contents insurance, public liability and employer’s liability insurance.

However, you also need to protect your stock from loss or damage, which is of critical importance for a food outlet selling freshly cooked food. Should you suffer an industrial fridge or freezer breakdown and your stock gets ruined as a result, you need the right insurance in place to cover your losses and enable you to restock quickly with the safe knowledge that you won’t be left out of pocket.

Here is a quick breakdown of the different insurance elements your fish and chip shop will benefit from:

• Public liability insurance: This protects against third-party incidents, such as a customer having an accident on your property and claiming compensation for their injuries. This cover will also help cover claims made for damage to personal property such as clothing, shoes and accessories.
• Employer’s liability insurance: This insurance is a legal requirement for any business owner that employs staff. You will need this insurance coverage if you hire staff to work in your fish and chip shop, even part-time staff or temporary, seasonal staff. Failure to do will result in hefty fines from HMRC for every day your business goes uninsured.
• Contents insurance: Fish and chip shops need equipment and furnishings to operate correctly, such as deep fat fryers, counters, worktops, heated cabinets and storage cupboards. Your insurance will cover the costs of repairs and replacements due to fire damage or damage caused by break-ins and thefts.
• Stock insurance: A fish and chip shop’s stock is particularly vulnerable because you must keep your fish at optimal temperatures within clean and safe storage environments. Food hygiene regulations must be met at all times, and you won’t be able to use sub-optimal stock from a broken down or malfunctioning freezer. Your stock insurance will cover the costs of replacing your inventory should your fridge or freezer break down, and your stock spoils.
• Product liability insurance: If a customer claims compensation for food poisoning or damage caused by the products you sell, product liability covers you. This will include things besides fish and chips that you sell from your shop, such as drinks and snack items made by other manufacturers.
• Business interruption insurance: Should your fish and chip shop experience a fire, or your premises gets flooded or suffers storm damage, you will need to close your business while you clean up, repair and rebuild your business. This insurance cover will help you continue to pay all the unavoidable monthly bills you will still be responsible for until you get your shop reopened again.

Do you need specialist fish and chip shop insurance?

While it may be tempting to buy a ready-made shop insurance package for speed and convenience, it will pay you to spend some time reading the small print of any business insurance quote before accepting it.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to shop insurance, and what will be a perfect fit for a neighbouring shop that sells car stereos and accessories won’t be an ideal fit for your fish and chip shop. Your shop will be a fast-paced customer-facing environment compared to your neighbour, and your staff will be working with hot oils, boiling liquids and hot surfaces, which puts them at more risk than shop staff selling car accessories.

Building the right insurance for fish and chip shops is all about meeting your needs and giving you and your staff great peace of mind. This is why it makes sense to work with a business insurance company such as Brisco Business Insurance, which has years of experience building policies with the most appropriate coverage.

How do you compare fish and chip shop insurance quotes?

You should always be wary of cheap chip shop insurance that looks too good to be true. In most cases, the low price will be achieved by offering low-level coverage that will probably not meet your needs should the worst happen.

Many chip shop owners believe that shop insurance is all the same, so they can miss some important clauses or terms and conditions in the small print that could leave them underinsured or even not covered for certain things when they make a claim.

By far, the best way to find a perfect fit for your chip shop insurance needs is to work with Brisco Business Insurance. You can use our website’s free ‘Compare Quotes’ tool to quickly compare competitively priced quotes from the UK’s leading insurance providers.

If you need any help with comparing quotes or are unsure what insurance coverage your fish and chip shop needs, our friendly team is here to help! Do not hesitate to contact us for our free advice and assistance. No matter whether this is your first chip shop business or you are expanding your company by opening a shop in a new location, we can help you find the perfect coverage to meet your needs.

Conclusion

Ensuring that you have the right level and type of insurance for your fish and chip shop can make all the difference between covering your costs should you need to make a claim and falling short of covering your losses.

The last thing you want to do is pay for repairs, refurbishments, rebuilds, or stock replacements out of your own pocket when you could have covered this with the proper insurance. As a result, working with a professional insurance broker like Brisco allows you to get expert advice when comparing quotes for business insurance and ensure that your insurance meets your needs.

Stephanie Lowndes

Stephanie is a digital marketing masters graduate with extensive customer service experience gained in the retail and hospitality sectors. Stephanie is currently a marketing executive at Brisco Business.

All articles by Stephanie Lowndes