Bike Shop Insurance VS Shop Insurance.
Most general insurers have their version of a shop policy – their ready-made solution available to all their brokers – designed to suit the common needs of our nation of shopkeepers. However, as you’ll be all too aware, bike shops have an identity of their own that doesn’t comfortably align with the rest of the high street.
The most important question to ask yourself is, does our insurer clearly understand everything that we do?
Have they clearly stated that your business has a workshop where you are regularly servicing and repairing customers’ pricey bikes? Do they know about those social rides, those proficiency lessons, those maintenance classes, that bike fitting service, those demonstration bikes, that charity event you supported?
If you’re insured or considering insuring your bike shop on one of these products on the face of it the insurance may look fairly comprehensive, but there will be exclusions lurking in the policy wording that could bite hard.
Designing a specialist product for bike shops has given us the freedom to think about the extra risks you face on a regular basis – we have added these on to our product to provide support where standard shop policies would start to unravel.
Where could a standard shop policy run out of puff?
Damage to customers’ bikes in your care
You may swoon at some of the top-end bikes brought into your workshop – you’ll never take for granted the trust customers are placing in you when they bring their pride and joy in for a service. However, with all the care in the world, accidents happen. Shop policies typically contain exclusions for any damage suffered to items undergoing service or repair, and also any public liability for damage to goods in your custody – the upshot being that you’d have to make everything right with the customer without any support from your insurer.
The grab and go theft
The rising cost of high-spec bikes means that it can only take a moment for a thief to well and truly ruin your week, taking off with thousands of pounds worth of stock. Typical shop policies contain a violent entry/exit requirement – if an opportunistic chancer walks through an unlocked door and relieves you of your highest value bike you’ll have to write it off as bad luck.
Demo/Hire service costing you dearly
Most shops work on the simple basis that the customer pays for the goods they walk out with, they now own that item. We know how important it can be to a bike shop to offer demo bikes to customers to test them out, or offer a bike hire service as an additional revenue stream. At odds with how shop insurance policies are written you are allowing customers to take your bikes off the premises – if these don’t come back to you in the condition they left in, or if they don’t come back to you at all, it could be a painful lesson.
The closure of the nearby trail centre
A significant portion of your business may come from the traffic generated by the location of your shop – a great example is if you have a trail centre in the vicinity. What happens if the trail centre suffers a fire and is closed for the season? That could have a significant impact on your trading performance. A loss of attraction business interruption extension can protect against this lost income, but not all off-the-shelf policies include this extension, and where it is included the limit may fall short of your actual loss.
Mechanical work away from the premises
We appreciate that most of your repairs will be conducted in your workshop, but a small proportion may be undertaken away from the shop – you may be supporting a local cycling event by providing mechanical support. Standard shop policies don’t all allow for liability arising from works completed away from your premises – your good deed to support the local community could leave you facing an uninsured liability claim if a rider hits the tarmac.
