Page 384 - IC38 GENERAL INSURANCE

B. Shopkeeper‘s Insurance

Trading is an economic activity and every entrepreneur would want her / his
business venture to be profitable. Shops are sources of revenue for many in our
country. It not only provides income but is also an asset. The shop owner would
like to be free of all worries unrelated to trading that could hamper her / his
business. An unfortunate incident could severely affect business finances or
operations and lead to bankruptcy or closure. A shop owner is not a corporate
house that has large reserves of money to restart business. A single mishap may
lead to closure of her / his shop and could probably ruin her / his family. There
may be bank loans also to repay.

There is always the possibility that a member of the public suffers a personal
injury or damage to her / his property, caused by the shop owner‟s operations
and a court holds the shop owner liable to pay the damages. Such situations can
also ruin a shopkeeper. Therefore, it's very essential to secure this means of
livelihood.

Shopkeeper‘s Insurance policies are devised to cover many of such aspects
of commercial shop/retail business. There are policies that are customised to
cover specific interests of many types of shops such as antique shop,
barbershop, beauty parlour, bookstore, department store, dry cleaners, gift
shop, pharmacy, stationery shop, toy shop, apparel store etc.

1. What does shopkeeper‘s insurance cover?

The policy can be tailored to provide cover to protect the specific areas of
retail business. It usually covers damage to the shop structure and contents due
to fire, earthquake, flooding or malicious damage; and burglary. Shop insurance
can also include business interruption protection. This will cover any lost
income or additional expenditure in the event of an unexpected claim. The
coverage can be selected by the insured depending on her / his range of
activities.

The additional covers the insured can opt may vary from insurer to insurer and
can be verified from the respective websites of the non-life insurance
companies.

These could be:

i. Burglary and Housebreaking: Cover for housebreaking, theft, and
larceny of office content

ii. Machinery Breakdown: Cover for breakdown of electrical / mechanical
appliances

iii. Electronic Equipment and Appliances:
 Provides all-risk cover for electronic appliances
 Cover for loss of electronic installations

378