Sweet shop insurance

Public liability insurance

In case your business and products cause an injury or property damage.

What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• injuring someone else while you’re working, or afterwards as a result of your work
• damaging someone else’s property while working, or afterwards because of your work
• injury or damage caused by your employee (remember, if you employ people, you must have employers’ liability insurance – it’s a legal requirement)

For example:

• someone trips over a bag on the floor in your premises, causing them to break their ankle
• you leave a trailing cable outside your premises, causing someone to trip and injure their back

**If you do employ anyone, you’re usually required by law to have employers’ liability insurance too.**

Read more about public liability insurance

Employers’ liability insurance

In case anyone gets ill or injured while working at your sweet shop.

What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• an injury to someone you employ, including contractors and temps, that happens as a result of working for you
• a member of staff (including casual workers) falling ill due to your business

**Employers’ liability insurance is usually required by law if you employ anyone – including part-time staff, temporary workers, and in most cases, volunteers. Without it, you could be fined up to £2,500 for every day you don’t have cover in place. A main exemption is unincorporated family businesses where all your employees are family members.**

For example:

• one of your employees falls down some stairs in your business premises, and makes a claim against you for chronic shoulder pain
• a temporary employee traps their hand in a door at your premises, causing several fractures
• a member of staff trips on a ledge on their way to a meeting, injuring their hip

Buildings insurance

In case something happens to your business premises.

What’s typically covered by business building insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• the cost of structural repair (or rebuilding from scratch) following damage to your building
• damage to fixtures and fittings
• underground pipes and cables that you’re responsible for

For example:

• someone vandalises your shop with graffiti, which you need removing ASAP
• your shop’s non-slip rubber flooring gets damaged during a refurb and needs replacing
• a non-supporting wall in your building has been damaged and needs replacing

Read more about business buildings insurance

Contents insurance

In case something happens to your fixtures, fittings, or operational equipment.

What’s typically covered by business contents insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• accidental damage or destruction caused by flood, fire, theft, or vandalism
• cover for your contents, up to the insurance level you’ve selected

For example:

• your bespoke wooden display units and decorative items are damaged by flooding, and need restoring or replacing
• a fire causes serious damage to your premises, and you need to replace all your office furniture
• someone breaks into your business premises and steals the office printer

Read more about business contents insurance

Stock insurance

In case something happens to your products and consumables.

What’s typically covered by stock insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• loss of stock, and theft or malicious damage to your stock
• damage or destruction to stock caused by fire or flood
• the essentials you keep as stock – the items you need to sell to operate

For example :

• flooding in your storage unit destroys your stock
• you make a big Christmas packaging order that’s stolen while you’re speaking with a supplier
• someone drives into your shop, smashing the windows and destroying a week’s worth of stock

Read more about stock insurance

Business interruption insurance

In case something is stolen or damaged and you lose income.

What’s typically covered by business interruption insurance?

• you can’t trade because of stock, contents, or building damage

For example:

• your inventory is damaged and you lose income because you’re unable to sell
• your work laptop is stolen or damaged and you can’t run your business

Read more about business interruption insurance

Business legal insurance

In case you’re hit with legal expenses connected to your business.

What’s typically covered by business legal insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• VAT disputes
• theft of your company’s identity illegally
• compensation under data protection legislation

For example:

• HMRC is investigating your VAT affairs, triggered by seemingly incorrect figures on your return
• a fraudster steals your company’s bank details and buys goods to set up a new line of credit with banks or retailers
• a client is claiming you didn’t process their data in accordance with GDPR, and is seeking compensation

Read more about business legal insurance

Personal accident insurance

In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at work or away from work.

What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?

• compensation if you or an employee are injured in an accident, including weekly payments if you or they are unable to work for two weeks or more
• virtual Medical Care service with unlimited 24/7 access to medical advice, consultations, referrals and prescriptions
• 24/7 access to myStrength emotional health support app

You can buy this cover for:

• yourself
• your employees

For example:

• imagine one of your employees breaks their leg in an accident and is out of work for six weeks. Personal accident insurance would provide £300 for the broken leg diagnosis. After the employee’s second week off, you’d receive four weekly payments to assist with costs during their absence. You could use the money as you wish – whether for loss of earnings, hiring a temporary replacement, or compensating the injured employee.

What’s not covered?

• issues caused by sickness, illness, or disease
• conditions that develop over time without a direct connection to an accident
• mental illness, even if triggered by an accident
• self-inflicted injuries
• accidents that occur under the influence of drugs or misuse of medication
• deliberate exposure to danger, except when attempting to save a life
• injuries caused by taking part in a professional or semi-professional sport

Read more about personal accident insurance