Retail Business Insurance 

There are several types of business insurance you should consider for your shop or retail business. These include: 

Public liability insurance 

Public liability insurance is essential for anyone who has a business that involves contact with members of the public. It can cover you against claims that your business activity caused injury to a customer, client or supplier or that it resulted in damage to their property. This insurance can offer between $5 million and $20 million worth of coverage and is a compulsory element of most commercial property leases. 

What it covers:  

1. Third-party personal injury claims 
2. Damage to a third party’s property 
3. Legal fees to defend yourself 

Product liability insurance 

Product liability insurance can cover you against third-party claims that a product you sold was faulty or caused material loss, sickness, injury or death.  

This type of insurance is important for any retail outlet (including online retail businesses) because your business can be held responsible for any product you supply, even if you’ve just imported or bought the product from its original manufacturer. 

Cover starts from $250,000 and can often be bundled together with public liability and other forms of business insurance into a business insurance package. 

What it covers:  

1. Claims that a product you supplied caused sickness or injury 
2. Third-party damages claims 
3. Legal fees to defend yourself 

General business insurance 

General business insurance is also necessary to protect your shop fittings, stock and glass against any insured events that may affect your business. Business insurance can include many specific types of specialist insurance that are necessary for retailers, such as:  

1. contents and stock (which you can choose as an optional extra cost as part of a business assets insurance option) 
2. glass breakage – which is another add-on purchase which can offer protection in case of vandalism to your glass shop fittings or an accident or natural event which results in your glass shopfront being broken 
3. business interruption – which can protect you if an insured event causes you to shut your business and suffer financial loss 
4. building insurance – if you own your retail premises and suffer damage to the structure of the building 

What it covers: 

1. Fire, storms, water leakage 
2. theft, vandalism and collision incidents which cause damage to your business assets 
3. electronic and other portable equipment  

Cyber liability insurance 

Cyber liability insurance can protect your EFTPOS terminals and computer systems from many forms of cybercrime. It can also help you recover if your systems are hacked or sensitive customer information is stolen. 

What it covers 

1. Data breaches including theft of client information 
2. The cost of a forensic investigation into the cause of the breach 
3. Data recovery costs 
4. Cyber extortion and denial of service threats 
5. Crisis management costs 
6. Advertising and communicating with customers 
7. Legal costs including any fines and penalties imposed