Insurance for Bridal Shops
You’re selling the perfect wedding dress to the bride for her big day. What could go wrong? Your bridal store needs customized business insurance to protect it from any risks it could face.
A future bride could slip and fall in your wedding shop and sue you for her injuries. Customers or staff could steal merchandise. Cyberthieves could hack your computer system, or a storm could damage your store. Bridal store insurance will protect you against unexpected events such as lawsuits, theft, and severe weather.
Western Financial Group, a 100% Canadian company, can help you navigate your car, home, boat, and business insurance during this period of economic uncertainty.
What is bridal store insurance?
Bridal store insurance protects wedding and bridesmaid dress businesses from property damage, liability claims, and financial losses due to unexpected and unforeseen events. It's a type of retail insurance that is customized to address the specific commercial insurance needs of a bridal shop.
Why is liability insurance coverage so important for a bridal shop?
Liability insurance coverage protects your bridal shop from the financial risks associated with accidents, injuries, property damage, and lawsuits that can occur.
Without any or enough business liability insurance coverage, a lawsuit or accident could potentially ruin your bridal store financially. Lawsuits and settlements are expensive to pay out of your own pocket.
What liability insurance coverages are needed for a bridal business?
Commercial general liability (CGL) insurance
Commercial general liability insurance protects your retail wedding shop against claims of third-party bodily injury or property damage occurring on your premises or as a result of your business operations. CGL covers incidents such as third-party slips and falls (usually a customer) and third-party (customer) property damage.
Without CGL insurance, you will be responsible for paying all the costs related to third-party (customers, suppliers, members of the public injuries) or damage to their property.
If you were sued, CGL insurance would help cover the legal costs to defend the claim against your retail bridal shop in court, as well as costs to cover damages to compensate third parties whether you win or lose your case.
What does commercial general liability insurance help cover?
- Injury to a third party who is not your employee
- Damage to someone’s property
- Damage to rented property
- Medical bills if someone is injured
- Legal costs and settlement costs of liability lawsuits filed against you
- Liability lawsuits related to slander and libel
Product liability insurance
Product liability insurance is coverage for defective or malfunctioning products. For example, a future bride could go home with a wedding dress that still has pins in it. This type of insurance can cover you if a customer claims that a dress malfunctioned after they left the shop.
Product liability insurance covers:
- Design defects: There’s something wrong with the product’s design.
- Manufacturing defects: Something went wrong during manufacturing.
- Marketing missteps: A mistake in marketing materials, such as improper labels.
- Insufficient warnings: The product doesn’t include sufficient warning/information about potential harm.
Professional liability insurance
Professional liability insurance is also called errors and omissions (E&O) insurance. This type of insurance helps cover lawsuit costs resulting from incidents such as failure to deliver a service (finished wedding dress) by an agreed date.
Cyber liability insurance
Does your bridal shop take debit and credit payments? Cyber liability insurance will help protect your bridal store if its computer system is hacked by cyberthieves.
Depending on the size of the data breach and the information that was stolen, the customers who are affected can hold you liable and sue you for damages. That’s when cyber insurance can protect you financially.
Did you know that Western Financial Group has an Independent Retail Insurance Program that offers commercial insurance coverage options specific to independent retailers' needs. We work with your store location to provide an insurance program that provides superior coverage and manages your risk.
What other types of insurance do bridal stores need?
Commercial property insurance
Commercial property insurance is also called business contents insurance. Commercial property insurance protects the building/location your bridal store is in. It also provides coverage for your inventory and stock, equipment, furniture, computers, and other electronics if damaged or destroyed by fire, severe weather such as hail and wind, vandalism, or theft.
How does commercial property insurance cover theft? Theft of stock is generally covered under the coverage for stock section in a commercial property insurance policy, protecting your bridal store business from financial loss due to theft of inventory.
Business interruption insurance
Business interruption insurance helps support your bridal store when it can’t operate due to a covered loss. You’ll be responsible for bills such as repairs, rent, and payroll even if your business is forced to close temporarily.
Some examples of losses that can force your business to shut down:
- Your business is damaged by fire or vandalism
- A disruption in your supply change
- Damage to a neighboring business prevents your business from operating
- Helps with expenses such as payroll, rent, utilities, property taxes and relocation of your business.
Business interruption insurance is typically purchased as an add-on or endorsement to a standard commercial property insurance policy, rather than a standalone policy.
Crime insurance
Customers and staff may the opportunity to steal from your bridal store. Crime insurance helps protect you against certain types of losses that are not covered by a standard commercial property policy, such as: employee theft, credit, debit or automated teller, counterfeit money, or loss of money at your store.
Business insurance add-ons that your bridal shop should consider:
Overland flood insurance
Overland flood insurance provides protection for loss or damage related to water entering a property from a sudden accumulation of water. This usually results from heavy rain, spring run-off, or overflow from lakes or rivers. If you don’t have this add-on, you may not be covered and you would end up paying out of pocket to restore your water-damaged bridal store.
Sewer backup coverage
Sewer backup coverage helps protect your bridal store against water damage from sewer backups. Note that sewer backup insurance does not cover every type of water damage insurance claim.
In Canada, most standard commercial property insurance policies do not automatically cover sewer backup and overland flooding.
To sum it all up
Bridal store insurance protects your investment in your business. It gives you peace of mind and financial protection from lawsuits and property damage to your store.
5 FAQs about retail insurance
What are the most common insurance claims made by retail businesses?
The most common claims usually involve bodily injury (e.g., customer slips and falls), customer property damage, theft, and product liability if a product sold causes harm.
How much does retail insurance cost?
The cost of retail insurance depends on the goods and service sold, location, annual revenues, number of employees, deductible amounts, security measures, and any past claims.
How can I save on my retail insurance?
Raising your deductible, which is the amount you pay out of pocket before insurance kicks in, can lower your retail insurance premium. You should only choose a deductible you can afford in case of a claim. Bundling multiple coverages, such as property, liability, business interruption insurances, with the same insurer may result in discounts. Stay claims free. Shop around and review your business insurance annually. Be sure to ask about any discounts you may not know about.
How can increasing deductibles lower my retail insurance costs?
Increasing deductibles can lower your retail insurance costs because it shifts more financial responsibility to you if you make a claim. This reduces the risk for the insurer and leads to lower premium payments for your business.
Why do some Canadian retailers get little or no business insurance?
Some Canadian retailers get little or no insurance because retail insurance is not a legal requirement in Canada. This means business owners are not legally obligated carry coverage such as general liability or property insurance, allowing them to minimize expenses if they perceive their risks as low. Small businesses or struggling businesses often find the price of business insurance just too high.
