Commercial Property & Business Interruption

Commercial Property insurance covers loss or damage to assets like buildings, stock, machinery, office and other contents

A good policy should also cover business interruption - and if you use multiple business premises, wordings should be designed to reflect this, or you can find you are not appropriately covered.  
 

The two types of commercial property damage policy are:

• Fire and allied perils
• Property All Risk

As the name sounds, “All Risk” offers much broader cover, allowing bespoke policy wordings that can cover a range of risks, including fire, lightning, flood, impact damage, aircraft damage, bursting of pipes, malicious damage, theft etc, as well as accidental damage.

Other areas good insurance should cover:

• Loss of profits
• Increased costs of working
• Loss of rent
• Legal fees
• Consulting fees e.g. architects or surveyors
• Business interruption costs, including disruption to supplier and customer relationships, ports, utilities etc. 

Terms and conditions vary, greatly. 

While commercial property policies are readily available in the market, all covers are worded differently. The market is full of contrasting approaches to:

• Wordings
• Limits & sub-limits 
• Deductibles
• Losses at subcontract processors
• Supply chain risks
• Flood coverage
• Concurrency (how will property claim be processed if more than one policy applies)
• Policy definitions

Although this is a mainstream, ‘famous’ insurance category, things can be more complex than they seem. Your Howden consultant will invest time upfront to get to know your business and your approach to risk, to get the most comprehensive cover at the best possible price.

This can mean changing provider is not always a like-for-like offering. 

Your Howden consultant will assess your various options and ensure continuous protection – and wherever possible, improve your cover, making doing business safer.
 

Accurate valuations are essential. We can help.  

It’s important to keep an accurate value of all assets to be able to demonstrate how your sums insured have been arrived at in the event of a claim.

Contact Howden today for support and advice on getting this right. 

Your Howden consultant will enable you to confidently navigate the market, with up-to-date know-how, helping find quality cover at a very competitive price.