Stock and contents
Inventory, shelving, coolers and point-of-sale equipment.
Business Insurance
Convenience store insurance for long hours.
Cash on site, long trading hours, alcohol and tobacco behind the counter, and refrigeration running constantly. Each of those is a separate underwriting question.
Convenience stores carry a distinctive combination of exposures: they hold cash, they trade late, they sell age-restricted products, and they depend on refrigeration that runs continuously. Carriers underwrite the class carefully, and the difference between a well-placed policy and a cheap one usually shows up in the crime and spoilage sections.
Crime cover is not one thing
Money and securities cover handles cash taken in a robbery or burglary, on the premises and in transit to the bank. Employee dishonesty is a separate insuring agreement covering theft by staff. Neither is automatically included at a useful limit on a basic package.
Both matter here more than in most retail. Ask what the sub-limits actually are rather than assuming the headline policy limit applies, because the defaults are frequently low.
Alcohol, tobacco and age-restricted sales
Packaged alcohol sales bring the liquor exclusion into play just as they do for a bar, and off-premises liquor liability is the answer. Tobacco and vape sales raise their own underwriting questions, particularly around age verification procedures.
Documented age-verification training is worth having. It reduces the likelihood of a violation and it is the kind of control underwriters credit when pricing the risk.
What it covers
The parts of a convenience store insurance policy
Money and securities
Cash on premises and in transit, plus employee dishonesty cover.
Liquor liability
Off-premises cover for packaged alcohol sales, excluded from general liability.
Equipment breakdown
Refrigeration and freezer failure, which runs constantly in this trade.
General liability
Customer injury, slips and third-party claims on the premises.
Business interruption
Lost trade while closed, including spoilage of refrigerated stock.
Working with us
What we do differently
We are an independent agency, so we place your convenience store insurance across several carriers rather than fitting you to one company's product. That means a genuine comparison, and someone to call who is not a call centre.
- Check money and employee dishonesty sub-limits rather than assuming the policy limit
- Arrange off-premises liquor liability if you sell packaged alcohol
- Add spoilage alongside equipment breakdown for the coolers
- Document age-verification training — underwriters credit it
Common questions
Convenience Store Insurance, answered
Is cash in the register covered?
Under money and securities cover, yes, but usually with a sub-limit well below the policy limit. Check the figure and raise it if the store routinely holds more than that between banking runs.
Do I need liquor liability to sell beer?
Yes. The liquor exclusion in general liability applies to packaged sales as well as on-premises service. Off-premises liquor liability is the cover for a store selling beer and wine.
What happens if a freezer fails overnight?
Equipment breakdown covers the mechanical failure and spoilage cover pays for the stock lost. Standard property cover alone will pay for neither, which is a common and expensive gap.
Is employee theft covered?
Only under an employee dishonesty insuring agreement, which is separate from money and securities cover. Both are usually available on the same crime form.
Does trading late at night affect my premium?
Yes. Hours of operation, cash handling procedures, camera coverage and location all feed into how the crime exposure is rated. Good controls are worth documenting when we approach carriers.
Related cover
Often arranged alongside this
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Read moreRetail Store Insurance
Stock on the shelves, customers on the floor, and a lease that dictates what you have to carry. Retail insurance is mostly about getting the values right.
Read moreLiquor Liability Insurance
If your business sells, serves or furnishes alcohol, your general liability policy specifically excludes what follows. Liquor liability is the policy that fills it.
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