Average Cost of Business Contents Insurance (2024)

The cost of basic business contents insurance hovers around £100 to £200 for a small to medium-sized business in the UK. However, adding coverage for stock, freezer contents, high-value stock like wine and spirits, etc. can raise your premium. We've checked prices with one of the largest UK business insurance companies to get a sense of contents insurance costs for different businesses. Here's what we found.

• How much is business contents insurance in the UK?
• How to save money on business contents insurance

Average Cost of Business Contents Insurance

Contents insurance for a business in the UK starts from around £136 a year for up to £25,000 of contents cover for a typical business (e.g., a shop). As with other types of business insurance, the premium will rise with the policy coverage limit. For example, doubling the coverage to £50,000 would increase the premium to around £151.

The more coverage you have, the cheaper it gets per £10,000 of coverage—that is, additional coverage usually costs less per £ of coverage compared with the base amount of coverage. For example, the first £25,000 of cover in our study costs £136; but it costs a relatively cheap £185 for £100,00 of cover. That means you could get 10X the coverage (£100k vs. £10k) for 1.4X the price (£185 vs. £136).

These prices reflect basic contents insurance, which would cover business items like furniture (e.g., tables, chairs and sofas), fixtures and fittings (e.g., shop counters and shelving), glassware and linens, tills and computers. If you need cover for other types of content—specifically stock, tenants' improvements and your store front—you'll need to pay extra. Let's see how much extra.

Cost of Stock Insurance

The average cost of stock insurance in the UK ranges from around £136 (e.g., for £10,000 of regular inventory) up to £700 or more (e.g., for £500,000 of high-value goods) a year. The cost of stock insurance not only varies by the coverage limit (which is based on the value of your stock), it's also a function of your profession. For example, a restaurant owner typically pays more for stock insurance than a shop owner.

You'll notice that these prices are higher than the figures discussed in the previous section on general contents insurance. Why? You'll usually need to pay more to insure your stock/inventory compared to the other contents owned by your business—up to 50% more. For example, our sample gift shop would pay £171 for £50,000 of stock cover vs. £151 for contents (non-stock) cover.

And if you sell high-value merchandise like tobacco, wines, spirits, computers and laptops, that also costs extra. For example, you can expect to pay 30% to 80% more to insure high-value goods.

Cost of Freezer Contents Insurance

Restaurants, pubs, cafes and other food-related businesses might also want protection against the deterioration of food—for instance food in the freezer. This covers you for food stock that you keep frozen or chilled, which is damaged or lost due to a change in temperature (e.g., if your freezer or refrigeration equipment is accidentally damaged or breaks down). Freezer cover costs in the range of £51 to £164, and there is usually a lower limit on your freezer contents than the amount of your total stock coverage.

Tenants' Improvements

If you rent your premises, you're usually responsible for any structural improvements you make (e.g., to customise the space to your needs), such as decorating the walls and ceiling, installing fixtures and fittings and fitting flooring or carpet. Since your landlord's insurance is unlikely to cover these types of improvements, buying tenants' improvement cover will protect you financially if there is damage to the changes you made (e.g., due to flood or fire).

The cost of tenant's improvements insurance primarily depends on the value of the changes you made, and starts from around £136 for a value of £10,000, ranging up to around £255 for bigger renovations valued at £500k.

Other costs

You might also want a higher level of coverage during certain seasonal periods of time. Some insurers include—for free—a boost in stock coverage limits during certain periods (e.g., 30% extra coverage during November and December or in the 14 days before and after a bank holiday). However you may need to pay an extra premium if you need larger seasonal coverage increase or a boost during other periods of time (e.g., during summer for a garden shop).

How To Save Money on Business Contents Insurance

Many factors are at play when an insurer decides how to quote contents cover for your business, such as the types of content you're covering, the amount of coverage you need, your profession, the type of building you occupy—and even your location. While you may not be able to change any of these factors, there are ways to save money and find discounts for your business insurance. Here are a few: