Fish and chip shop insurance

Public liability insurance for fish and chip shops

In case your fish and chip shop causes an injury, illness, or property damage.

What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• damage to someone’s property, caused by your fish and chip shop
• an injury or illness caused by your business activities or products
• accidental damage or injuries caused by your employees

For example:

• a customer gets food poisoning which is traced back to your shop, and raises a claim against you
• a delivery driver slips on your shop floor before you’ve cleaned down, injuring their lower back and hip

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 an employee gets sick or injured while working for you.

What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• an injury or illness that happens as a result of working for you (including temps and casual workers)

**Employers’ liability insurance is required by law if you have people working for you. Without it, you could be fined up to £2,500 a day for each employee.**

For example:

• an employee burns their arm on a pressure cooker in your kitchen, and raises a claim against you
• while cleaning behind a fridge, your employee scratches their hand and needs hospital treatment

Contents insurance

In case something happens to equipment like your shop’s tablet, or your furniture.

What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?

• accidental damage to your fixtures and fittings, or the equipment you use to run your fish and chip shop business
• theft, flood, and fire damage

For example:

• your work laptop is stolen from your back office while you’re serving
• a fire damages your fryer and display casing beyond repair, along with multiple items of kitchen equipment

Read more about business and office equipment insurance

Stock insurance

In case the ingredients and materials you use are lost, stolen, or damaged.

What’s typically covered by stock insurance?

• loss, damage, or theft of the essentials you keep in stock, like dry, fresh, and frozen ingredients

For example:

• there’s an overnight break-in at your shop, and your stock is damaged
• you order in dry stock for the next three months, which gets damaged by flooding in your store area

Read more about stock insurance

Legal expenses insurance

In case you’re faced with legal costs while running your fish and chip shop.

What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?

• legal costs that you’re responsible for, within your business
• property damage, nuisance, or trespass – specifically, the associated legal claims and compensation payouts
• tax and compliance disputes and investigations you need help with
• access to expert advice – including a tax advice phone line, confidential 24/7 legal phone line, and crisis PR support to help you protect your reputation as a popular fish and chip shop

For example:

• HMRC begin a randomised investigation into your tax history, and you need to cover the costs
• you need to pay for legal representation when an employee sues you for unfair dismissal

Read more about legal expenses insurance

Personal accident insurance

In case you or anyone you’ve covered has an accident, at work or elsewhere.

What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?

• accidental injury or death of anyone you’ve chosen to cover in your policy – whether this happens at work or elsewhere
• lost income, hospital bills, or other medical costs associated with the accident

For example:

• you slip on some water while carrying a crate of potatoes and injure your lower back
• your employee (who you’ve covered on the policy) breaks their leg while playing rugby, and needs eight weeks off work

Read more about personal accident insurance

Building insurance

In case something happens to your business or shop premises.

What’s typically covered by building insurance?

• the cost of repairing damage to the structure of your building (or rebuilding it from scratch)
• damage to fixtures and fittings
• damage to underground pipes and cables you’re responsible for

For example:

• you need to replace a non-supporting wall in your building, which has been damaged
• someone graffitis the front of your shop and you need to repair the damage ahead of the busy summer season

What you’ll need additional cover for

• tenants’ improvements – changes to the property’s structure which you’ve organised and paid for yourself, like partition walls or wooden flooring

Read more about buildings insurance

Which type of workers do I need insurance for?

Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ people.

If you have people working for you, including bona fide subcontractors (BFSC), labour-only subcontractors (LOSC), part-timers, or full-time staff, employers’ liability insurance is required by law.

Read on for our simplified guide to the difference between labour-only subcontractors and bona fide subcontractors.

Does chip shop insurance cover my work correctly?

Make sure you’re picking the right cover to protect you properly. It’s important to know that if you have another trade or job, you’ll need additional cover. For example, do you need to consider joinery insurance or builders insurance?

Do I need cover for other types of work?

If you provide other services, make sure you’re covered:

• Online retailer insurance
• Off licence insurance
• Coffee shop insurance
• Music shop insurance
• Pet shop insurance
• Fashion shop insurance
• Cycle shop insurance
• Shoe shop insurance

Other types of insurance

• Limited company insurance
• Self-employed insurance
• Freelance insurance
• Consultant insurance
• Contractors insurance
• Sole trader insurance

Which public liability cover limit should I choose?

Think about the maximum possible loss your business could face in the event of a claim, and make sure you take legal fees and damages into consideration. You can choose from three levels of coverage – £1 million, £2 million, or up to £5 million.