Is There Such a Thing as Cash Insurance For a Shop?

We know that physical brick-and-mortar shops face several risks, from fire and flood to burglary and vandalism, so protecting your retail shop business with the right shop insurance is crucial if you want to take the best care of your shop, your staff and your livelihood.

Shop owners often ask our team at Brisco Business Insurance if they can get loss of money insurance. With so many ways for customers to pay for their purchases these days, shop owners need to look at taking out insurance for loss of money by fraud, cash stolen during a burglary, and theft by employees.

No shop owner wants to be in a position where they need to make a claim. But the risks are very real, and taking out the right insurance coverage can protect your business and help you get back on your feet quickly should the worst happen.

This guide looks at the best way to ensure your shop, including money protection, so your business is prepared for any eventuality.

What is the best shop insurance coverage?

All shops face different challenges, so the best insurance cover for one shop on your street won’t necessarily be an ideal fit for your business. However, some shop insurance elements are perfect for retail shops employing staff and selling products directly to the public.

Generally, all brick-and-mortar retail shops will benefit from taking out the following business insurance:

• Employers’ liability insurance: If you employ staff to work in your shop, this insurance is a legal requirement. It covers the costs of employees claiming compensation for any illness or injuries they sustain on your premises or while working for your business. Because this insurance is a legal necessity, you risk facing hefty fines from HMRC if you don’t have it and employ staff of any type, including volunteers, seasonal workers and contractors. You could be fined £2,500 for every day you are not insured.
• Product liability insurance: This will protect against customers claiming compensation for harm caused by a faulty product you sell, regardless of whether you sell them or give them away for free, even if you don’t manufacture the product yourself. It is standard practice for shop insurance providers to offer product liability alongside public liability coverage as part of your policy.
• Public liability insurance: This is considered the core of your shop insurance as you will be coming into direct contact with your customers and members of the public that enter your shop premises. Public liability insurance can protect you against compensation claims for injury or damage caused to customers and shop visitors by your business.

While the above three insurance coverage is the most appropriate for a retail shop business, other shop insurance to consider adding to your policy include:

• Business contents and equipment insurance
• Business interruption insurance
• Business legal protection insurance
• Personal accident insurance
• Product liability insurance
• Shop premises (buildings) insurance
• Stock insurance

Stock insurance is also a wise choice, as most retail shop businesses will have a lot of their capital tied up in the stock they hold on their premises. Should it be lost to fire, flood or theft, it may be too expensive for most shop owners to replace it out of their own pockets.

Does business insurance cover cash?

Every shop insurance policy should be built around the needs of the business so that it will be unique to your shop and quite different to a policy protecting a shop across the street. Because your shop insurance will be made up of component parts, it usually includes an element that protects you from theft.

Shops can be busy environments bustling with customers, especially around the fourth quarter covering your seasonal sales. This can increase the risks of events occurring and the need for insurance protection for your premises.

Retail shops are a big target for burglars and criminal activity, especially at peak shopping times such as Christmas and the New Year. Burglars know that your shop will have a continuous flow of customers spending money in-store. Despite more people using debit and credit cards these days to pay for their purchases, tills overflowing with cash are still a big temptation for thieves.

Should your shop get broken into, your insurance will cover your losses, including any cash and goods stolen from your property. Remember that you can also be left out of pocket by the damage done to your shop during the burglary, such as broken windows or doors, damage to fixtures and fittings, your safe and tills etc., so you should ensure you have insurance to cover any necessary repairs and replacement of stolen stock.

Does business insurance cover against employee theft?

No matter how carefully you vet your shop staff when you take them on, employee theft can be an issue for many shop owners. Your employees may have easy access to all areas of your shop and plenty of time to steal cash or goods while working on the premises.

Sometimes it can take a while to notice things going missing, and it won’t be until you do a thorough stock check that you see something wrong with your stock numbers. Other times you may notice your till receipts don’t balance with the cash they contain. You may even experience an incident when a staff member steals a large amount of money from your safe.

In any of these cases, it can feel reassuring to know your business is protected with insurance against theft, whether from a burglary or theft by your own staff.

Does business insurance cover against burglary?

There is a higher risk of shops being targeted by burglars that want to do a quick smash-and-grab to make off with as much cash and valuable goods from your shop as they can carry. This is why taking out the right type and level of shop insurance is essential if you want to recuperate your losses and get your shop open and back in business as quickly as possible.

If this is your first shop business venture, it can be easy to accept the cheapest shop insurance deal you are offered, but the actual value of your insurance protection is hidden in the small print. Most shop insurance providers will include coverage against burglary in your policy, but you need to ensure that the amount of insurance protection will cover your costs.

Many retail shops accept electronic and cash payments for their goods, but some shops attract cash payments more than others, such as corner shops, convenience stores and grocers, for example. If you run the type of shop where a lot of your customers prefer to pay in cash, it will be sensible to take out extra insurance to cover your cash losses, as these will be almost impossible to recover compared to electronic sale losses.

Conclusion

Depending on the type of shop you own, you will need a unique set of insurance elements to build your policy. While it may be tempting to snap up a bargain, ready-made shop insurance package, on closer examination, you may discover it only covers some of your individual needs.

This is why working with our experienced team of business insurance brokers at Brisco Business Insurance makes so much sense. We can help build a perfect shop insurance policy to meet your needs and ensure you never over or underestimate your protection.

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