Commercial Insurance for Grocery Stores

At a glance, operating a grocery store may seem easy. You provide necessities that everyone needs and, as a result, your business gets a steady customer base nearly anywhere you set up shop.
Yet, once you delve deeper into operations, grocery stores turn into a high-risk business. Specifically:

• Many stores have a large amount of square footage that needs to be monitored and maintained
• You own a high amount of perishable inventory
• You deal with both equipment and customer data
• There’s always foot traffic
• Your staff handles cash frequently throughout the day.

When you take these risk factors into consideration for insurance purposes, your company has to contend with potential spoilage, injuries on your property, theft and property damage.
However, many business owners don’t factor insurance premiums into their expenses until they’re faced with a lawsuit or lost inventory due to malfunctioning cooling equipment. To make sure you’re prepared for all of these common instances, which policies should you have?
Property Insurance – Even if you don’t own the actual building, property insurance can cover the cost of equipment and other contents in the event a natural disaster wreaks havoc, your cooling system fails or a large-scale theft occurs.
Boiler and Machinery Insurance – In some instances, you might want to supplement your property insurance policy with this form of coverage, which applies to any large-scale, heavy-duty equipment you may use.
Spoilage Insurance – If your store’s food goes bad, it can cost you thousands, if not millions, of dollars. To replace the damaged, unusable merchandise, be sure to have this form of coverage on hand.
General and Product Liability – Whether you get these separately or as part of a business owner’s policy, their combined coverage protects you against claims of negligence, injuries on your premises, property losses, libel and defective products.
Liquor Liability Insurance – Connecticut is one of the many states where you can carry liquor in your grocery store. As a result, you can be responsible for any liquor-related incidents and for selling alcohol to minors.
Commercial Auto Insurance – Does your supermarket or specialty store offer catering or delivery services? If your employees use a company vehicle on the job, make sure you’re covered with a commercial auto policy in the event of an accident.
Workers’ Compensation – Most states require this policy by law and because slips, falls and other on-the-job injuries can happen in a supermarket and its warehouse, have this policy to cover their medical expenses and time away from work.
Business Income Insurance – Alone or as part of a BOP, this policy covers any lost income due to suspended operations, including instances of weather and equipment breakdowns.
Flood and Earthquake Coverage – Certain areas are at greater risk for these disasters than others. But, what would you do if a natural disaster damaged your facility and merchandise? Rather than find yourself out of business, recover afterward with assistance from one or both policies.
Do you operate a grocery store in Connecticut? To make sure your business has enough coverage, work with Ion Insurance to adjust or add a policy. For more information, give us a call at 203.439.2815.