Why the Wrong Business Contents Insurance Can Lose You Your Business

Business Contents Insurance can mean many things to different people and it is imperative to ensure that what you want insured is included within the same definitions applied by the Insurers. It is therefore vital to ensure that you know what your Insurers definition of Business Contents is when arranging your Insurance and whether they separate out certain items, such as Computer and/or electronic equipment.

Getting it right and Insuring the items listed below is the only way of ensuring that your Business Contents Insurance does the job that you want it to do. To ensure that you arrange the correct cover you should calculate your sums insured on the following basis:

Stock of raw materials, work in progress, completed stock.
Value of customers goods on your premises
Value of Computer equipment on the premises at current “as new” prices.
Cost of additional work to the premises paid for by you such as internal partitioning, false ceilings, flooring, decorations, electrical, heating and air conditioning systems etc.
All Other contents, including plant, machinery, office equipment, shelving, racking, stationery etc. It should be noted that the sum insured should reflect the replacement in total at today’s as new prices and should include not only items owned by you but items leased, loaned or hired to you and for which you are legally responsible. You should make sure that you know the value of any of the equipment that you have not purchased but for which you have accepted responsibility under agreement, to ensure that they are included in the sums insured and fully covered.

It is important to remember to make specific mention of a sum insured for Tenants Betterments and Improvements as these items often need to be insured as a separate item as they are often not included under the “All other contents” definition by Insurers. Failure to Insure these items correctly may well take them outside of Insurance cover and as the cost to you the Insured, can often run into several thousand pounds especially if, for instance you have installed a mezzanine floor.

You must take time and give a lot of thought to calculating the sums insured as Policies including Business Contents Insurance will include an “Average Clause” which means that if you do not insure for the correct amount at risk, any claim will be reduced by the percrn tage of under insurance, regardless of the amount of the claim. Greenfield Insurance Services will assist you in calculating the correct sums insured.

For the majority of businesses, Business Contents Insurance can be included within a single policy so that cover for Public Liability, Products Liability, Employers Liability, Business Interruption, Goods in transit, Legal expenses can be covered under one package, with one renewal date and an overall premium for the whole package.

In order to ensure that your business is fully protected Greenfield Insurance Services will help you review your Business Contents Insurance so that you are correctly covered for the right amount and the right item. Contact us via our webform or call us on 01489 579808.