Your bridal shop provides a bride and her wedding party with gowns, tuxedos and accessories. The main item bridal shops carry and customize are wedding dresses, though many of them also sell other items like tuxedos, bridesmaid dresses, photo albums, flower arrangements, veils, jewelry, tiaras, gloves, shoes, and undergarments. Bridal shop insurance is important on many different levels. You are exposed to a variety of risks as the proprietor of a bridal shop, including legal liabilities relating to accidents that could occur in your shop along with customers receiving the wrong custom alterations which could lead to loss or damage on their part. These and other risks should be protected by obtaining business insurance for your bridal shop.
Types of Bridal Shop Insurance
To better protect your bridal shop, you could consider certain insurance policies. The following types of bridal shop insurance coverages will protect each risk you are exposed to.
Bridal Shop General Liability Insurance
Bridal shops need a variety of business insurance policies for complete protection, with general liability being at the forefront. General liability includes products liability, completed operations, and premises liability. If a customer is trying on a wedding gown and trips on the train in your store, you may be liable for the medical costs resulting in their injury. Products liability covers any damage or injury caused by the products you sell. Completed operations is important because it includes coverage for damage caused by services you provide, such as alterations.
Bridal Shop Property Insurance
Your bridal shop is filled with highly expensive wedding gowns and other items. Unfortunately many of the items you sell are flammable which increases your risk of fire greatly. To protect your building and contents from fire and other unexpected events like flood, extreme weather, and natural disasters, you should have property insurance. If there is a fire or other event, the insurance policy helps cover items lost and make necessary repairs.
Bridal Shop Commercial Auto Insurance
Your bridal shop undoubtedly uses a company vehicle for different business trips, such as picking up material or supplies for alterations or dropping off a custom-made veil to a bride on her wedding day. These and other errands should be covered by a business auto insurance policy. Business auto may include protection for accidents, such as the cost of repairing your or other vehicles involved in the accident or bodily injury, along with vandalism or theft of the vehicle.
Bridal Shop Workers’ Compensation
In a bridal shop, every employee should be covered by worker’s compensation insurance. Worker’s comp will cover workers for any type of business-related injury or illness. Your employee no doubt handle alterations that require the use of needles, scissors, and sewing machines. This increases their risk of injury. If an employee is injured on-the-job, worker’s comp helps pay for medical care and any lost income.
Crime insurance will protect your bridal shop from a host of crimes including employee dishonest acts, theft, shoplifting, and vandalism. Although you may be protecting your shop with surveillance cameras and an alarm system, you are still at risk for shoplifting of small items like tiaras or jewelry. Crime insurance can offer you benefits if shoplifting was to occur.
These bridal shop insurance policies cover events that can’t be prevented and many of which cause significant loss of business assets and reputation. Each of them is important for a completely protected business.
