Retail Store Insurance in Halifax
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Insurance for Retail Stores in Halifax
You’ve realized your dream and opened your own store. You’re always working and interacting with the public, which exposes you to many different types of risks.
You need to protect your investment with the right retail store insurance package.
What Insurance Does a Small Business Need?
Here are 5 essential types of insurance for your Halifax small business:
1. Commercial general liability (CGL) insurance: If you are operating a small business, this type of insurance coverage is essential. It can be a risk not to have CGL (business liability) insurance.
What if a customer gets injured at your business or her property gets stolen? Without commercial general liability insurance, you would be responsible for paying any liability costs out of your own pocket.
You’ll also hear CGL insurance called “slip and fall” insurance.
It’s recommended that you have at least $1 million in CGL coverage, but more is often recommended depending on the size of your business and what it sells or the service it offers.
2. Commercial property insurance: Commercial property insurance keeps your business protected from property losses, such as theft, fire, or vandalism. You can also add earthquake insurance, sewer backup or flood coverage extensions to protect your small or medium-sized business.
Property you may need to insure would be:
- Buildings and other structures
- Computers
- Equipment, supplies, furniture
- Documents such as payroll and accounts receivable
3. Product liability insurance: It protects your small business against claims that allege third-party property damage or bodily injury caused by a product you manufacture, distribute, or sell.
Product liability insurance protects your business from design, manufacturing, or marketing defects, such as incorrect labelling and safety warnings.
4. Professional Liability Insurance: If you offer your customers advice or provide services, such as those offered by a consultant, contractor, accountant, you’ll need professional liability insurance. This type of insurance helps cover you in the case of allegations of professional negligence, failure to deliver a service as promised, or a mistake that causes financial harm to a customer.
It’s also called errors and omissions (E&O) insurance.
5. Cyber liability insurance: Small and medium-sized businesses are increasingly the targets of cyberattacks. Do you store client information digitally and take online payments? If so, your business’s computer system could be hacked by cyberthieves.
Without cyber insurance, you will have to pay out of your pocket for the cost of restoring your system. You may also be liable for damages to third parties whose information was stolen and you may have to pay for notification expenses to inform customers affected by a breach. Better safe than sorry when it comes to cyber insurance.
Are there other insurance coverages that protect small businesses?
Insurance can seem like an extra expense, but when the unexpected happens it is there to protect your business. Can you afford not to have business insurance?
Are there other insurance coverages that protect small businesses?
Business interruption insurance: If there is an insured loss at your business that’s severe enough to prevent it from being opened, the expenses associated with getting your business running again will be covered.
This type of policy usually covers vandalism, fire, wind, flooding, and other risks (make sure to understand what your policy covers).
Business interruption insurance will help compensate you for lost income and expenses that you will need to continue paying even while you are unable to work. It can mean the difference between closing and not reopening your Halifax business.
Commercial auto insurance: Your business needs commercial auto coverage as part of your business insurance package. Personal car policies will not cover your drivers or your business.
What is business interruption insurance?
Business interruption insurance helps recover lost business income and ongoing business expenses while your Halifax small business is temporarily closed.
This type of insurance usually can’t be purchased as a standalone policy. Business interruption insurance is included under your commercial property insurance, or as an add-on to your business insurance policy.
What does business interruption insurance cover?
There are a number of losses that can force your Halifax small business to shut down. Some examples are:
- Damage to your equipment from fire or vandalism
- A major reduction in revenue due to a client/supplier facing losses of their own
- A disruption in your supply chain
Business interruption insurance can help with these expenses:
- Payroll
- Rent
- Utilities
- Property taxes
- Alarm monitoring
- Relocation of your business
What is commercial property insurance?
Commercial property insurance helps provide your Halifax business with financial coverage for physical loss or damage to your building, property, and contents.
Commercial property insurance can also be called business property insurance or commercial building insurance.
Commercial property insurance can help cover repair or replacement costs if your Halifax business’s property is damaged or destroyed due to a covered loss, such fire, theft, storms including wind and hail, or vandalism.
Commercial Property insurance helps cover the cost of repairing or rebuilding your Halifax business.
Commercial property insurance typically covers:
- Your premises, including signage and other physical structures such as a fence
- Equipment
- Machinery
- Computer systems
- Hardware
- Inventory/Stock
What’s not included:
- Equipment wear-and-tear
- An unexplained loss
- Deliberate damage to your business
- Theft at a vacant location (more than 30 days)
- Cash/securities
Did you know? Cyberattacks are a growing threat for businesses. Cyber liability insurance protects your business.
Third-party cyber liability insurance provides coverage for businesses that are responsible for a customer’s online security. If a customer sues your business due to a cybersecurity breach, third-party cyber liability insurance can pay for your business's legal expenses.
Cyber insurance can also cover the costs to notify affected parties, crisis management expenses such as public relations expenses to manage the damage to your business’s reputation and forensic investigations expenses to cover the costs of hiring a breach response firm.
Need your Certificate of Insurance (COI) fast?
Some projects may require you to provide a certificate of insurance (COI). A certificate of insurance is issued by an insurance broker or company, and it shows that you have business
insurance. It is a summary or snapshot of your insurance policy, and it contains all the most important details, helping protect against third-party risk. Customers, businesses, or
independent contractors could ask to see proof of insurance before they agree to work with you. If the work you do has a high risk of loss or damage, you should have a certificate of
insurance.
When you get your insurance coverage through us, we will send you the certificate of insurance right away, so you can focus on what you do best.
Insurance for Retail Stores
You’ve realized your dream and opened your own store. You’re always working and interacting with the public, which exposes you to many different types of risks.
You need to protect your investment with the right retail store insurance package.
Ask your Western business insurance expert about what type of retail insurance package you need for your Nova Scotia clothing store, bookstore, hardware store, beauty salon, craft store, sporting goods store, florist shop, drug store, among many other retail businesses.
Vendor Insurance
If you sell food or products at farmers’ markets, craft fairs or other events, you need vendor insurance.
Vendor insurance protects you and what you sell.
Vendor insurance protects you against risks that can come with selling products, produce, handcrafted items, and food at events such as farmers’ markets, craft and food fairs, and trade shows. It allows you to focus on your customers knowing that you are protected.
This type of insurance provides coverage for claims and lawsuits that can result from your participation as a vendor at a farmer’s market, food or craft fair, trade show or exhibition. This could include claims made against you based on foodborne illnesses, injuries, or property damage.
Insurance for Pharmacies
As a pharmacy or drugstore owner, you dispense and monitor prescriptions and provide over-the-counter (OTC) medications. There can be dosage or prescription preparation errors that can result in lawsuits. Do you have enough insurance to protect you and your pharmacy?
A pharmacy insurance package protects your business against negligence and bodily injury lawsuits and other claims.