What Is Retail Insurance and What Does It Cover?

The day has come when your dreams stop being a dream and become a reality. You lease or purchase that brick building in your local community or office space in a professional building.

You may have spent weeks decorating, displaying your stock, counting your inventory, and installing the latest in technology, allowing you to serve your customers, both in-person and online.

Then your worst nightmare happens. Your point-of-sale terminal is hacked, your display windows are vandalized, or your inventory gets damaged in a flood due to a burst pipe.

Retail insurance is designed to protect your dreams from going up in smoke—literally and figuratively. This insurance is made up of different policies that are designed to cover you and protect your customers from a wide range of scenarios. By understanding your business needs, you can ensure you have the right coverage to meet them.

Commercial General Liability (CGL) Insurance

This is the basic level of coverage needed if your business operates from a physical location, such as a store or a warehouse, and anywhere open to the public and you have employees working with you.

CGL coverage protects you if something happens and there is a chance of third-party bodily injury. This means that anyone entering your premises is protected.

Should there be an incident and any property located on your premises become damaged, you can feel better knowing that this is also covered. CGL insurance will cover medical and legal fees, even if you lose the lawsuit made against you.

Product Liability Insurance Coverage

The product you are selling is a labour of love. It is something you have spent years designing and perfecting. The last thing you need is for something to happen and for your product to be subject to a lawsuit.

You can take all the necessary precautions in the design and production process. However, when left in the hands of the consumer, anything can happen. This is just part of the risk when you hand your product over to someone else.

This additional layer of insurance will protect you in the event of allegations of third-party bodily injury or possible property damage caused by your product.

While the bigger things seem insured, don’t forget about the smaller factors associated with your product. These can also be called into question in the event of a claim.

Thus, product liability insurance also covers incorrect labelling, insufficient health and safety information, as well as other design, marketing, or manufacturing defects that may have occurred during production.

Commercial Property Insurance

You will need property insurance for your home, protecting you and your family from break-ins, fire, and flooding. Commercial property insurance is essentially the same but geared towards your business location instead.

Your business location and all of its contents, such as your point-of-sale terminals, computers, inventory, and stock, will be covered if they suffer any damage from things classified as insured risks.

These risks are defined as, but not limited to:

• Fire: This can be a result of an electrical fault in the wiring in the building or an arson attack.
• Flooding: A burst pipe in the ceiling or flooding due to heavy rains and poor ground maintenance.
• Theft: Any stock taken or broken during a break-in is covered.
• Vandalism: Graffiti is something that affects many businesses at some point. Even broken windows and doors are covered.

While CGL insures the people inside the building, commercial property insurance covers the building itself.

Cyber Liability Insurance

Many businesses now operate online in one capacity or another. Unfortunately, this is now exposing them to increasing cyber risks that need protection.

It doesn’t matter if you only use a terminal in your store to process a customer’s credit card or take payments via a website; the customer’s card information and your banking information must be protected.

In the event that you become a victim of a cyber attack, cyber liability insurance will cover legal fees, notification fees, restoration costs, and so much more.

Additional Coverage Options

Retail insurance is not limited to the choices above. There are many different options that you can add to your policy to ensure complete coverage, including the following:

• Business interruption coverage: Looks after you should you not be able to work for a few days due to fire, flood, or other events that prevent you from opening.
• Commercial auto insurance: Supports your company vehicles and named drivers.
• Comprehensive crime coverage: This is for businesses in areas with a higher crime rate.

These are just a few options available, and your insurance team can discuss your particular needs.

For a personal service insurance company in Oshawa, W.B. White Insurance is your expert in the insurance business, with over 50 years of experience to help guide you through the many intricacies that can become overwhelming.

Don’t Leave It to Hindsight

Retail insurance is designed to protect you and your passion, so don’t let it be the one thing you forget about when you prepare to open your doors to the public.

Customers add a level of risk that most businesses are just not prepared for. And this is common. At the end of the day, you don’t want to end up in a situation where you don’t have the right coverage.

At W.B. White Insurance, our different policies will help you meet all your coverage needs. You can call our friendly and professional team at 1-877-420-4572 or contact us here.