Why do pet shops need insurance?
Customer accident
Your pet shop is visited by customers and animals searching for the perfect food, bed or toy. Although this creates a welcoming setting, it also makes accidents a possibility. For instance, the water bowls you fill for dogs could create a slip hazard if spillages aren’t cleaned or signposted. By adding public liability insurance to your pet shop policy, you’ll have financial help with certain claims against your business. These could relate to injuries to members of the public or damage to their property.
Employee illness
Being an employer comes with the responsibility of ensuring employee health and safety at work. A shop supervisor could develop a respiratory issue due to your cleaning or grooming products. An assistant may even pick up an injury carrying heavy bags of pet food. Employers’ liability insurance can step in to help with the cost of legal fees and resulting compensation if a pet shop employee develops a work-related ailment.
Stock damage
The storeroom of your pet shop contains bags of feed, treats for animals of all species, plus bedding and accessories. These items are all vital for your work preparing pets for their new homes. If storm damage causes flooding to your shop, this stock could be ruined. Tailoring your pet shop policy to add suitable property insurance can help with the cost of recovery from such an incident – including building repairs and stock replacements.
What insurance is available for pet shops?
Public liability insurance
Anyone can bring a claim against your business if they feel they’ve been injured, or that their property has been damaged, due to your work. An assistant might be restocking shelves with cat beds and leave a box in the aisle, causing a customer to trip and injure their ankle. Someone may even say that their mobile phone was knocked from the counter as a cashier scanned bird feed through the till. Running a pet shop involves interaction with members of the public – so public liability insurance can bring reassurance.
Employers’ liability insurance
For most businesses with staff in the UK, employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement (external link). This is a key consideration if you employ staff at your pet shop. Workplace health and safety can impact everyone from your part-time cashier to your full-time shift supervisor. A member of your team might claim they have developed RSI from repetitive work at the till, or that a shelf collapsed and caused a long-standing injury. This cover can help with the legal and compensation fees that arise from a claim.
Property insurance
Your business insurance needs may differ depending on whether you own your pet shop or rent the building. Commercial property insurance can help if there’s damage to the premises you own. If you rent, protecting the items you own may be more of a priority – that’s where business contents insurance can step in. We also have a product – office insurance – that combines cover for both the building and stock, fixtures and fittings.
Your pet shop policy can also be tailored to include cover for your business from both legal protection and cyber insurance for issues such as contractual disputes and cyber breaches.
Need to talk things through? Contact us to explore business insurance by phone or email.
Not sure what you need? Tell us more about your pet shop business. We want to hear what you do and the challenges you face.
Get a quoteInsurance for pet shops: FAQs
How much does pet shop insurance cost?
The amount and how much insurance you’ll need for your pet shop will depend on a few things, including the size of your business.
The overall cost could also be dependent on the types and number of business insurance products you add to your policy.
The limits you apply to your chosen covers also make a difference. For example, pet shops with spacious storerooms filled with stock might require a higher sum insured for business contents.
Read our FAQ guide to how much business insurance costs for more detail.
How quickly can I get insurance for my pet shop?
With Hiscox, it’s possible to get a quote for business insurance for your pet shop and buy a policy online in a matter of minutes. Once you’ve purchased your insurance, you’ll have immediate cover, and your documents should follow in an email, as long as no specific changes are required.
We also let you make unlimited changes to your policy if your pet shop’s circumstances change. For instance, you might become busier and have to expand your team – in this case, simply get in touch and we can work with you to adjust your cover accordingly.
What’s the difference between employers’ liability and public liability insurance?
Both employers’ liability and public liability insurance may be key types of cover for a pet shop to have – but there are differences between them.
These differences are based on who the claim is being made by. If someone from within your business files a claim, then employers’ liability insurance may help out. This would be relevant in cases where an employee says they’ve experienced a work-related illness or injury.
However, if you face action from someone outside your organisation – whether this is for an injury or damage to property– then public liability cover could help.
Read our FAQ guide on the differences between employers’ and public liability for further information.
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