Can You Get Specialist Furniture Shop Insurance?

Furniture shops come in a wide variety of sizes and styles. You could offer a haven for those who love luxury furniture and plush soft furnishings, or you could be a boutique shop that offers quirky shabby-chic or sleek, contemporary and minimalist styles.

No matter what market you cater to, your furniture shop will need protection with the right level of furniture shop insurance. Every furniture shop business is unique, so it can help you get a tailored policy to fit your needs.

While it may feel like insuring your stock is the most important step to protecting your furniture shop business, in truth, there is a lot more to consider, such as employer’s liability, product and public liability insurance. This guide will help you understand the risks you should protect your business against.

What is furniture shop insurance?

This type of insurance coverage helps protect the owner from the many risks faced when operating a retail shop that is open to the public. Comparing furniture shop insurance quotes with a dedicated business insurance provider such as Brisco Business Insurance makes good business sense.

Your shop and storage facilities will contain a lot of valuable stock and inventory. Most of your business capital will be tied up in your stock, so it makes sense to get coverage that includes furniture shop content’s insurance.

Even if you run a shop that sells previously owned furniture and homewares, it is worth taking out second-hand furniture shop insurance to cover yourself. Considering that most second-hand furniture is irreplaceable, mainly if you specialise in vintage and antique furniture that is no longer manufactured today, it can be almost impossible to replace your stock with like-for-like options.

While retail businesses face different risks depending on their niche, it is always prudent to take steps to ensure you are correctly insured. Furniture shop owners need to realise their business is more at risk of being entirely lost to a devastating fire or more affected by a severe flood than a retail shop that sells ceramics or kitchenware, for example.

If you employ staff in your furniture shop, then you will be required by law to take out employer’s liability insurance. This is the only statutory requirement for a shop when you hire staff, even if they are unpaid volunteers or work experience students.

Is furniture shop insurance different to normal business insurance?

All retail shops face daily risks to staff, customers and the general public. Furniture shops are no different in this case. A member of staff working in the shop or a customer browsing in-store could trip and fall over and sustain an injury from a rug, frayed carpet or piece of furniture on display, which could lead to an expensive compensation claim.

Furniture shop businesses also have a greater risk of fire emergencies. Although most modern furniture is made using flame-retardant materials, this only partially reduces the risk of a fire outbreak devastating your shop.

Furniture shops will contain much more flammable materials than retail shops operating in a different industry. They are also prone to extensive damage from flooding, which can render the entire stock unusable.

Essential furniture shop insurance elements should include the following:

• Business interruption insurance: This is designed to cover any lost income from a fire or flood closing your business down. It will help cover your monthly costs until you can reopen your shop.
• Computer equipment insurance: If you lose your business computer system in a fire or flood or through theft or accidental damage, this insurance will help replace lost or damaged computer equipment.
• Legal expenses insurance: Should you face legal action from a customer or a staff member, this insurance will help cover your expenses.

What furniture shop insurance should I include in my policy?

There are insurance elements that furniture shops should include in their policy, especially when employing staff in the shop and having face-to-face contact with customers and the general public.

These include:

• Buildings insurance
• Business interruption insurance
• Contents insurance
• Employers’ liability insurance
• Glass and shop-front insurance
• Goods in transit insurance
• Legal expenses insurance
• Loss of income insurance
• Product liability insurance
• Public liability insurance
• Stock insurance

It is essential to protect yourself with insurance coverage that not only helps you replace your stock should it get stolen or damaged by fire, flood, vandalism or accidental damage – but will also cover you if a member of staff or a customer has an accident and sustains an injury.

As a furniture shop that supplies products to the general public, you should protect yourself with public and product liability insurance and consider these essential for your business.

Owning a highly visible brick-and-mortar shop with large display windows also poses a risk of theft, vandalism and other unwanted criminal activity. This is why shop window or shop-front insurance is invaluable to help repair or replace broken glass and doors as soon as possible so you can reopen and start selling again quickly.

How can I compare furniture shop insurance quotes?

Protecting your furniture shop business with the right type of coverage is essential. This is why it makes sense to arrange your insurance with a professional business insurance provider, such as Brisco Business Insurance, rather than approach a domestic insurance provider specialising in creating homeowners’ policies.

It is easy to use our business insurance comparison service to find the most cost-effective, comprehensive coverage to meet your needs. Our team of highly experienced insurance brokers work with all leading UK insurance providers and can find you a much better deal than you could find yourself.

We can help you find essential insurance and extra covers more tailored to furniture shop owners and their needs. Using our specialised business insurance knowledge, you can feel confident that all the risks you face as a shop owner will be addressed with fine attention to detail.

Conclusion

Although it is essential to get the right furniture shop insurance in place to protect your business from risk, finding the best deal on your insurance coverage is important. You want to avoid under or overpaying on your insurance.

By comparing with Brisco Business Insurance, you can find the best price for all your insurance elements from the UK’s leading insurance providers. At Brisco Business, we believe in proactive risk management. Let us help you identify potential vulnerabilities and mitigate them with the right business insurance.

Maria Hickey

For more than 20 years, Maria has worked in the insurance sector and has extensive underwriting and customer service expertise. Maria is an experienced Senior Underwriter with a particular specialism for shop, office and surgery related insurance.

All articles by Maria Hickey