Consumer Electronics Business Insurance

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Who needs a Consumer Electronics Business Insurance policy?

A consumer electronics business insurance policy is for any business that manufactures, distributes wholesales, sells or perhaps imports or exports consumer electronic goods. The list is endless from everyday objects that people use without even thinking about it to the really specialist items designed for the dedicated hobbyist/amateurs from computer gamers, audio buffs or even home scientists.

What type of insurance cover might a Consumer Electronics Business need?

This does depend on the type of business you have, the types of covers an electronics wholesaler might require, a manufacturer has different priorities. Likewise, online electronics seller business insurance will be different from an exporter.

One of the main areas of coverage across all types of consumer electronics businesses is liability insurance. Liability insurance is available either as a standalone product which includes Public Liability Insurance, Product Liability and if anyone works for you then Employers Liability insurance is not only essential but it’s also a legal requirement.

Public Liability Insurance for a consumer electronics business will protect against allegations of loss, damage or injury to a third party, such as a member of the public. This could be a customer coming to your premises, they slip on a wet floor, something as simple as someone falling down some steps and whilst that might sound a little unlikely unless you have clearly marked that there are steps and they could be a hazard they are likely to win a case against you. If you are found to be negligent then the policy will pay the legal and defence costs as well as any compensation that might become payable up to the indemnity limit of your policy.

Product Liability insurance for a consumer electronics business works very much the same as Public Liability, the difference is that any loss, damage or injury caused by your product is covered. There are of course many examples of where this could happen, a badly finished item causes a cut to someone’s hand, a piece of audio-visual equipment catches fire due to a fault with the product which causes other damage if you brand a product like yours, the instructions are badly translated, the result is item overheats causing damage. Product liability insurance will provide the defence costs and any compensation awards where you have been found negligent.

As a business grows is essential that further help is required, other than for certain circumstances you must have Employers Liability in force, it provides compensation to your employee where they have been injured in the course of their employment, it also defends your business providing the necessary legal expertise to defend the allegations.

Liability insurance for and on-line electronics business or a traditional bricks and mortar business can be stand-alone or it can be part of an electronics combined insurance policy that can incorporate many of the insurance covers your business is likely to require.

Property protection for for electronics businesses

A consumer electronics combined insurance policy can cover you for many perils, these are typical, Fire, Storm, Flood, as well as theft, being somewhat theif attractive electronics goods, need not only good protections but good physical protections at your premises, something that your insurer would be rather insistent on.

A policy such as this will provide cover for the building if you own it as well as the contents of the premises. For a manufacturer of electronic goods, this could mean contents of clean rooms with all the special equipment that requires, for a distributor then racking is probably going to be the single largest asset you have.

The contents of your premises are usually split down on a policy, this might include all your fixtures and fittings, your stock, and of course all your electronic equipment such as servers, desktops, laptops and even tablets and telephone systems.

When a claim occurs at the business premises, fire, storm or other material loss, for example, can mean that a business can’t carry on trading, most policies have an option to include Business Interruption Insurance, this is designed to keep your business ”in business” whilst your premises are rebuilt and your business is back to where it was immediately before the loss occurred. Cover for a consumer electronics business would usually be based on the amount of Gross Profit and would pay for the duration of the indemnity period that has been chosen, this usually is 12, 18, 24 or 36 months, longer periods can be available, we would always recommend a minimum of 24 months.

Does a consumer electronic business need to cover goods whilst being delivered

Getting your products from your premises to your customer can be fraught with dangers, for most business their use of the many carriers is normal, however when using these carriers it should always be investigated to the limit they cover and can be based on the cost per ton, this means that the actual payout from the carrier’s insurance could be well short of the actual value. You can remove this problem by buying Goods in Transit or Marine cover which will provide the full cover.

Marine Insurance, sending your goods overseas means that they usually have a long way to travel, loss, damage are all exposures your goods are exposed to. Speak to us about how we can protect your electronic products overseas.

Exporting your products doesn’t necessarily change how your insurance works, shipping goods throughout the world isn’t any different to selling in a local market, there are further risks, of course, the main one is where you are shipping to the USA or Canada, the main thing that is affected is how your product liability insurance will work, many traps are awaiting the inexperienced and USA Product Liability needs to be in place. We are specialists in this area, speak to us about how you can cover your liability for goods shipped to that country, and if you have representation, a subsidiary, a sister company or you have warehousing we can liaise with our US partners on your behalf.

2020 has seen a global pandemic caused by a virus, it’s expected that the next pandemic will be Cyber. For most, the problem with cyber attacks is that they haven’t been exposed to it, knowingly anyway, with a fire you can see the devastation, with a theft you can see things are missing, on the surface though with a cyber-attack or cyber-crime it’s not immediately apparent.

Cyber-attacks now are not about if it will happen but when it will happen. There are many types of cyber protection insurance available, from the very basic cyber response policies to the full policy coverages including cybercrime.

Directors & Officers Liability Insurance is part of what is known as a management risks insurance policy. A Limited Company has limited liability, as a Company Director you have no such limitations you can be held personally responsible and the liability is unlimited, putting your personal assets at risk.

Commercial Legal Expenses insurance, inbuilt into many policies and also available as a standalone, they can provide good legal coverage to your business, being a giveaway or cheaply priced they do have their drawbacks, the main one being the prospect of success clause meaning that there must be a 50% chance or more of winning. Nevertheless, there is wide cover for employment law,  HMRC disputes and with many there is contract disputes cover, even the business advice lines are a huge help.