Why insure a business other than an office?
A business often depends on premises accessible to the public, stock, a window, technical installations, a cash register, suppliers and a reputation. The risk is not limited to replacing equipment: if the point of sale closes for several weeks, rents, salaries, fixed charges and loss of turnover continue.
Swiss insurers such as Allianz, Zurich, AXA and Baloise offer modular solutions combining property insurance, business interruption, civil liability, glass breakage, theft, transport, cyber and social security coverage. The challenge is to choose useful modules without paying for irrelevant guarantees.
Basic protections to provide
- Inventory and merchandise: furniture, cash register, IT, shelving, machines, tools, stock and third party property entrusted.
- Fire and natural events: fire, lightning, explosion, storm, hail, flood or other risks defined in the contract.
- Water damage: pipe rupture, leak, damage to installations or stock depending on conditions.
- Theft and break-in: burglary, robbery, lock changing costs, monetary values and security measures.
- Broken glass: window, door, glass arrangement or sanitary installations.
- Consequential costs: clearance, evacuation, reconstitution of documents, temporary premises or emergency measures.
The often decisive guarantee: operating loss
After a material claim, replacing stock is not always enough. If your store, salon, workshop or restaurant has to close, the operating loss can cover the drop in turnover, fixed costs and additional costs necessary to restart. The duration of compensation, the excess in days and the method of calculating turnover or gross profit must be defined carefully.
Civil liability and customers
Business civil liability covers third party claims when your activity causes bodily injury or property damage. Example: a customer falls in your store, a product sold causes damage, an installation injures someone or an employee damages property belonging to a third party. It also allows the company to be defended against unjustified claims.
Modern risks to remember
- Cyber: blocked checkout, ransomware, customer data leak, paralyzed online store or payment fraud.
- Transportation : merchandise damaged, stolen or lost during delivery or transfer.
- Technique: breakdown of machinery, refrigeration installation, computer system or essential equipment.
- Legal protection: dispute with lessor, supplier, customer, employee, authority or service provider.
- Staff : compulsory LAA accident insurance, loss of salary, sickness and welfare depending on the number of employees.
What Finwise checks with you
We start with your reality: type of business, stock value, seasonality, dependence on suppliers, commercial lease, hours, number of employees, turnover, security measures, means of payment and level of digitalization. Only then do we compare insurers and adapt the sums insured, deductibles, exclusions and modules.
Our support
Finwise helps you avoid blind spots: underinsurance of stock, too short operating loss, cyber exclusions, lack of transport coverage or poor coordination between liability, property, LAA and legal protection. You get a clear solution, designed to maintain your activity after a hard blow.