The Right Furniture Store Insurance For You
If you are lucky enough to be one of Canada’s over 3,000 furniture store owners, you have a business in a thriving industry with sales of over $1 billion annually. Furniture stores in Canada sell all kinds of combinations of new and used furniture and may combine their offerings with accessories like window coverings, lighting fixtures and floor coverings to just name a few. Some sell appliances and even offer installation services, but common to all furniture stores is that their inventory and business is constantly changing.
No matter where your furniture store falls on the spectrum of goods and services, you need the right insurance to cover your business against a variety of common business exposures/risks.
Why does your furniture store need insurance?
Firstly, all stores that are open to the public need liability insurance to protect against the commonplace hazards associated with welcoming the public into your establishment like slip, trips and falls . These may include slip and fall incidents, as well as hazards related to the outdoor area of your business such as parking lots and entryways.
You also need to protect your business from other sometimes serious risks that may range from fire, weather-related incidents that could damage your property and/or employee error resulting in property damage.
Consider the following potential claims scenarios:
- A kitchen display in your showroom that includes an upper shelf comes apart and falls, hitting a customer in the head. The customer files a lawsuit against your store, seeking damages for medical expenses, loss wages, pain and suffering etc.
- Your employee is delivering a piece of furniture to a customer’s home and accidentally damages an outdoor structure while backing up the truck. You have to pay to have it replaced.
- A storm causes your showroom to become flooded, damaging a significant amount of inventory.
- A pipe bursts above your showroom on a Sunday after the store is closed and water flows and damages property until it’s discovered on Monday morning.
The best coverage for your business
In terms of coverage for your furniture store, you should consider the following types of insurance:
Commercial General Liability will cover the possible bodily harm and property damage that could happen related to your business’ operations. This type of insurance would cover damage payments as well as costs related to lawsuits and medical bills for bodily injury or property damage caused while operating your business.
Property Insurance – protect your physical assets and business income against losses due to significant weather events, vandalism and fire with this coverage.
Small Business Auto Insurance – if you or your staff use company vehicles for deliveries, pick up, service etc. related to your business, you should consider auto insurance.
Cyber Insurance – this coverage protects your online assets from possible malicious or technological harm.
Umbrella Insurance Coverage – this type of insurance comes into play when your other liability coverage is exhausted. It is important to have to guard against potentially catastrophic liability events.
Employee Theft Insurance – while no business owner wants to think about their employees stealing from them, it unfortunately happens too regularly to ignore.
