Grocery stores more than almost any under business model have to be constantly managing their products. If something is damaged, spoiled, or even recalled it is your duty to get those items quickly off the shelves, and every item has a date at which it must be cycled out. A busy grocery store can process thousands of customers a day with cart loads ranging from one to over a hundred items. Management and staff work quickly and courteously to keep the store safe, clean, and pleasant to shop in even during the busy after work and weekend hours. When you’re working this hard to offer high quality service, you want your insurance working just as hard to keep your business safe. The key to a good insurance policy is completeness, you need every reasonable possibility covered. From product lawsuits to your store becoming a crime scene, there’s an insurance for that. Know what you need and make sure your grocery store is fully insured.
Prepare for Your Products
The items filling your shelves are the center of your business, what you deal with most often, and where your profits come from. Because of this, they are also the most likely source of insurance based problems. There are several ways to cover your items, and you’ll want all of them.
- Product Value and Replacement Coverage – for both theft and damages
- Food and Perishable Spoilage Coverage
- Product Liability – protects you from lawsuits relating to products you’ve sold
- Liquor Liability – protects from damage caused by intoxication
Business As Usual
When it comes to insuring standard business practices, most agencies are prepared with a comprehensive package that covers employees, customers, financial exchanges, and fraud protection. While the local and state laws may have a small influence on what you need, here are the basics:
- General Liability
- Workers Compensation
- Employment Practices Liability
- Employee Dishonesty
- Advertising Injury
Protect Your Building and Grounds
As with all businesses, you will need to take your physical assets into account and protect them from damage caused by nature, accidents, or criminal violence. Make sure to have all natural risks in your area covered, and consider including earthquake insurance if you live in an active area. Here’s what to consider:
- Building and Equipment – covers repairs and replacements
- Parking Lot, Signs, and Grounds
- Natural Damage -wind, hail, water, flood, earthquake, and tornadoes where applicable.
- Accidents and Vandalism
- Internal Property -The shelves, counters, equipment, fixtures, and any products not already covered
- Computer System -all computers, cash registers, and security equipment, and their data.
Cover Loses Due to Closures
There are several good reasons why you might have to temporarily close your store, or be unable to run a business properly. Some circumstances, like utility failures, can even destroy your cold and frozen inventory. It’s important to be prepared for these possibilities and be insured against both the actual damage, and the loss of profits incurred by the downtime.
- Utility Interruption
- Criminal / Legal Closures – If your store becomes a crime scene or something more dramatic
- Injury or Accident
Umbrella Insurance
Insurance policies are made for identified risks to your business, which means that unusual or extreme cases may not be covered by reasonable prediction and policy. If you’re worried about rare but possible events that aren’t covered by your policy, you can always get umbrella insurance. This method covers the “everything else” that is always created with an inclusive list.
If you run a grocery store or are thinking about opening one, the right insurance coverage will protect your finances and can even turn a disaster into a renovation opportunity. Study what is available and don’t be shy about cracking open your current policy to see if you’re fully covered.
At Axelrod Insurance Services, we work with you to help determine the right amount of coverage for you, and can guide you toward other policies you might need. You’ll breathe a sigh of relief knowing that your business (and, by extension, you and your family) is protected from a variety of unfortunate surprises. Contact us for a consultation with one of our insurance experts.