One policy for a business that trades from premises. Buildings, stock, equipment, business interruption and liability brought together on a single schedule, placed with insurers who understand the trade.
Three steps. Tell us what the business does and what it needs to protect, and we approach the markets that write your trade properly.
What you do, the premises, what needs covering (buildings, stock, tools, liability, vehicles, goods in transit), years trading, turnover and claims history. Online or a call, your choice.
Your named broker takes the details to commercial insurers and specialist schemes that write your trade, and comes back with terms that fit the risk rather than a generic package.
Documents emailed, payment arranged. Sums insured reviewed at renewal, mid-term changes handled by the same broker as the business grows.
A commercial combined policy is built from sections. The core is the property you trade from and the things inside it, plus the income that stops if they are damaged. Liability sits alongside so the business is covered for people as well as property.
The structure if you own it, plus fixtures, fittings, machinery, plant, computers and furniture, insured on a reinstatement basis against fire, flood, storm, theft, escape of water and the other insured perils.
e.g. A joinery workshop rebuilt after an electrical fire, with the machinery replaced as new.
Stock at cost, set at the highest level you hold, with seasonal increases built in. Deterioration of chilled or frozen stock can be added where refrigeration failure is the risk.
e.g. A wholesaler loses a warehouse of stock to flood, paid at cost price.
The gross profit lost while the premises are repaired, plus the increased cost of working to keep trading, over an indemnity period agreed at quote. Often the section that keeps the business alive.
e.g. A manufacturer out of production for six months after a fire, with lost profit and temporary premises paid.
Injury or damage to third parties at your premises or caused by the goods you make or sell, and the statutory cover for your employees. Written as sections of the same policy.
e.g. A customer injured by a falling display, or a product fault that damages a customer’s property.
The trades we most commonly place commercial combined cover for. Each gets a tailored conversation rather than a one-size package.
Manufacturers and engineering
Workshops and factories with machinery, stock and staff.
Wholesalers and distributors
High stock values, warehousing and a trade counter.
Shops and retail units
Stock, glass, fittings and customer liability.
Tailored coverGarages and motor repairers
Usually placed as motor trade combined cover instead.
Tailored coverWarehousing and storage
Own goods and customers’ goods held on site.
Food and drink producers
Production premises, chilled stock and product liability.
Builders’ merchants and trade counters
Yards, heavy stock and public footfall.
Offices holding equipment
Practices and studios with high-value kit on site.
If the main exposure is vehicles on the road, fleet insurance is the right policy. If it is work carried out at customers’ premises, public and employers’ liability on its own may be enough. If you own the premises and let them to someone else, see the landlord section. Commercial combined is for the business that trades from the building.
Commercial combined premium reflects the value at risk and how well it is protected. A few choices on your side change what you pay and, more importantly, what a claim pays out.
Get the sums insured right
Too low and average cuts every claim; too high and you pay for headroom you cannot claim. Rebuild cost, replacement-as-new and stock at cost, reviewed annually.
Protect the premises
Intruder alarms, fire detection, sprinklers where appropriate and stock held off the floor all earn credit and, in some trades, are a condition of cover.
Show the risk is managed
Electrical inspection certificates, PAT testing, waste management and a documented health and safety routine reassure underwriters.
Keep the indemnity period honest
Twelve months sounds long until a rebuild overruns. Matching the period to a realistic recovery protects the business without paying for more than it needs.
A commercial combined policy is modular. The list below shows the sections most insurers will add on, and what usually falls outside the cover by default.
Money
Cash on the premises, in transit and in a safe, with limits by location.
Goods in transit
Your goods while being delivered in your own vehicles.
Legal expenses
Employment disputes, contract disputes and tax investigations.
Deterioration of stock
Chilled and frozen stock lost to refrigeration failure.
Terrorism
Available as a separate section where the location warrants it.
Book debts
Outstanding customer balances you cannot recover because records are destroyed.
Motor vehicles
Vehicles used on the road need fleet or motor trade cover.
Work away from the premises (beyond stated limits)
Contracting at customers’ sites may need separate liability or contract works cover.
Unoccupied premises (beyond 30 days)
Most policies restrict cover once premises stand empty; tell us about any void.
Wear, tear and gradual deterioration
Maintenance and ageing are not insured events.
Professional indemnity
Advice and design liability is a separate policy.
Tell us what the business does, where it trades from and what needs protecting. We place commercial combined insurance with markets that write your trade properly, and review the sums insured before each renewal.
The questions we hear most often about commercial combined insurance, with straight answers. Anything else, call the office.
A package policy that brings the covers a premises-based business needs under one schedule: material damage to buildings, contents, stock and equipment; business interruption; public, products and employers’ liability; and optional sections such as money, goods in transit and legal expenses. One policy, one renewal date, one set of conditions, rather than a drawer full of separate documents that may not line up.
Cannot see your question? Speak to our team on 01782 739099.
Why brokers, why us
FCA regulated
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
45 yrs experience
Long-standing relationships across the UK insurer market.
Named broker
A direct line to the same person at quote, renewal and claim.
Independent
No tie-ins. We use the market that fits the trade.
● Cover that often sits alongside this
Ready when you are
Buildings, stock, business interruption and liability together. Tell us about the business and terms come back from insurers who write your trade. Your named broker on the file from day one.
