The Business Insurance Bureau

Commercial Property

"On the morning after the fire, no one gives a toss about how much you paid for your premium"

What is Commercial Property Insurance?

Commercial Property Insurance protects the property that you own and operate your business from (e.g. your office building, shop or home). This kind of insurance protects you against disruption and unexpected damage to the business if something happens to the property. The most common types of damage that fall under this kind of insurance are accidental and criminal damage.

If you rent your workspace then you’ll need to purchase business contents insurance, but are not required to purchase commercial property insurance as this should be covered by your landlord. It’s highly recommended that you get contents cover for your business whether you own the property or not – see our business contents insurance page for more information. 

fire

What's Covered?

Rebuild Cost

This is pretty much what it says on the tin, the cost of rebuilding your property or for repairing partial damage. It is paramount you are insured for the full rebuild value to make sure you can properly rebuild in the instance that the building(s) is/are destroyed. If you are uncertain of your rebuild cost there are plenty of calculators on the internet that can help you get an accurate cost. 

Buildings insurance

Buildings insurance covers the cost of repairing or rebuilding your business premises if  damaged or destroyed.

Contents insurance

Contents insurance covers the cost of replacing your business’s stock, equipment and fixtures and fittings if it is damaged or stolen.

Business Interruption

This also known as Loss of Profit or Consequential Loss Cover and is pivotal to the future of a business if serious physical damage occurs. It is an important feature of your future and should be carefully thought about and
planned.

The cover is concerned with paying for the consequences of a material damage loss and enables the insured to recover loss of gross profit due to reduction in turnover and reasonable additional expenditure incurred in
minimising a reduction in turnover. Different forms of cover are available, depending upon the nature of the business – Gross Profit is most suitable for most industrial and manufacturing businesses, but others, where the business is not dependent on a fixed site are possibly better suited to Increased Cost of Working – the inconvenience factor of temporary disruption.

The length of the indemnity period – possibly longer than one year and making provision for key staff to be paid during interruption and auditors fees in preparation of a claim, all need to be taken into account.

Frequently Asked Questions

We offer commercial property insurance to a variety of different types of businesses who own property that they use for business purposes. This could be anything from a small newsagents to a franchise of hot food establishments. 

Property Insurance policies may cover different perils, but generally, covered events include loss or damage caused by fire, theft, vandalism, and windstorms.

Your client’s Property Insurance premium depends on many factors, such as the quality of their building’s construction, the type of business they run, the tenants they share the space with, and their risk management measures.

If you are taking out contents insurance you should insure stock against its cost price, not its sale price. If there are times when you have more stock on your premises than usual, for example in the run-up to Christmas, you should make sure your insurance covers this.

General wear and tear over the years is not covered by a commercial property insurance policy. Age related issues cannot be insured, it is only in the instance of accidental or criminal damage that a claim can be made. 

Defective workmanship is also not covered by this policy. If you hire a plumber to do work on a bathroom in your property and things go wrong, the claim has to be made against the plumber, not your own insurances. It’s sensible to always check that tradesmen have the correct insurances in place before hiring them. 

Bob the broker

Additional Covers

Related covers

Engineering

"Eh...there's been a power outage..."

Marine Cargo

"Half way up the Arabian sea and the container ship breaks in two..."

Cyber & Commercial

"A ransom email, no access to anything and my clients need help...now what?"

Let's make it cheaper, by doing it right

Don't take our word for it!

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Making the small print...BIG

A Fair Presentation of the Risk
At the heart of insurance contracts is an obvious truth: you have an enormous advantage over the insurer. You know all about your business, its history, processes, people and management, but the insurer knows nothing – other than what you tell them.

Your Duties
You have a statutory duty to make a fair presentation of the risk. You must tell the insurer:
• Every material circumstance which you know or ought to know and/or
• Sufficient information that would cause the insurer to make further enquiries, if neccessary, to review those material circumstances

Your Knowledge
• You are deemed to have the knowledge of the company’s senior management.
• You are deemed to have the knowledge of the person arranging the insurance (who is deemed to be a senior manager under statute).
• Anything that can be discovered by a reasonable search.

A failure to make a fair presentation of the risk gives the insurer various remedies, depending upon the nature of the failure, from avoiding the contract and not paying claims to modifying the basis of settlement.

Examples of Misrepresentation
It is often easier to demonstrate the consequences of risk presentation failure by example rather than theory. Here are some real life examples of typically forgotten or unrevealed material facts which later caused huge problems and repudiated claims:

Bob the broker

Fire

Theft

Water

Liability

Motor

General

A reprocessing plant did not reveal a series of small fires during their insurance year.

Following repeated false alarms, a retailer didn’t reveal that Police Response had been withdrawn.

A restaurant omitted to reveal repeated minor floods from an upstairs nightclub.

A construction company didn’t reveal potential employee claims recorded in their accident book.

A company failed to reveal written warnings to an employee over repeated dangerous driving.

A company failed to reveal that it had been ‘struck off’ by Companies House and was trading as a new legal entity under a different designation.

Compiling the Risk Presentation: an ongoing process

The compilation of risk information for presentation to an insurer might be thought to be simply contained in a proposal or risk presentation form, however, such forms are not exhaustive and cannot take account of circumstances which change beyond their
compilation. Moreover, merely referring insurers to your website or dumping data is not making a fair presentation of the risk. ’Fairness’ is a subjective test but it would certainly involve simplicity, clarity and relevant selection.

Ongoing communication is vital, because the duty to disclose material circumstances is ongoing throughout the insurance year and at renewal of the insurances.

It’s important…

It is not possible to overstate the importance of researched, adequate risk presentation – there have been countless legal disputes, repudiated claims, ruined businesses and lives arising from the simple failure to reveal all the facts to an insurer. A failure to present risk adequately is a bigger risk than the risk you present.

It doesn’t matter that the failure is innocent, something overlooked, forgotten or discounted as unimportant – it might be important to the insurer, in which case it must be revealed.

Should there be anything not yet disclosed, or that you are unsure would influence your insurers about this insurance tell your broker/insurer immediately. 

Let's make it cheaper, by doing it right

Not ready to quote? Have a nosey at our cheery leaflets...

Recent feedback on our Extra Mile Claims Service for COVID-19

A life saver.

Aldo Gizzi

Panini's, Waterloo St, Glasgow

Fantastic service, a real steady hand through a very stressful time.

Karen Robertson

George Anderson and Son, Fruit Market

Team were absolutely awesome went over and above. Very supportive. 

David Burnett

The Caledonia Bar, Perth

It has ensured we were able to open up with no staff being laid off. 

David Hastings

Spitaki and Mail Boxes Etc Edinburgh

The claim was well handled and resulted in an adequate payment. Many thanks to Bob Hannah for getting the right policy set up

Norman Ferguson

Norman Ferguson Marketing

It was a great help to my business.

Franco Palombo

Palombos of Balloch

It meant we could stay afloat and prepare for reopening. 

Andrew Still

Elena's Restaurant

Who are The Business Insurance Bureau?​

The Business Insurance Bureau is a niche specialist underwriter and commercial insurance broker, defying conventional categorisation, comprising of a small number of gifted individuals forming a collective intellectual giant.

We have developed our own unique range of quality insurance products, which has given the business a competitive advantage in several areas. Being in control of the entire process, from enquiry to policy issue, has allowed our business to deliver service levels hitherto unimaginable in this sector, or indeed for a business of its physical size.

We insure a spectacularly diverse clientele, similarly exclusive and excellent in their field, who rely on The Business Insurance Bureau to protect their assets, minimise their liabilities and secure their future.

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