The guidance on this site is based on our own analysis and is meant to help you identify options and narrow down your choices. We do not advise or tell you which product to buy; undertake your own due diligence before entering into any agreement. Read our full disclosure here.

Average Cost of Warehouse Insurance (2023)

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Warehouse insurance costs from £189 a year for basic cover for a small business, but can rise to £850 or into the thousands of pounds a year depending on the coverage you need. If you're wondering how much warehouse insurance will cost, here's what you need to know to get started.

How much does warehouse insurance cost?

The average cost of warehouse insurance starts from around £189 a year in the UK for basic cover—this rate could get you £1 million of public liability and £2,500 of stock cover, but no added coverages (e.g., legal cover, employers' liability, personal accident cover, etc.). Stock cover can protect the products you store in the warehouse against fire or theft—and warehouse insurance rates will rise with the amount of stock cover you need, as you can see below.

Average Cost of Warehouse InsuranceCost, including £1m of public liability
£2,500 stock£189
£5,000 stock£218
£10,000 stock£248
£25,000 stock£283

Warehouse cover for £2,500 of stock costs from around £189 a year. Insurance for stock worth £10,000 would cost around 30% more, or £248. Those needing £25,000 of stock cover would pay closer the £300 a year for basic insurance that included public liability and stock cover.

Chart showing the cost of warehouse insurance in the UK

Many factors can affect your insurance rates, from where you live to the type of business you run to the additional coverages you require, so your rates could be significantly different. Let's see how warehouse insurance rates are affected by add ons like legal, employers' liability and personal accident cover—which can be important coverages for many warehouse businesses.

Cost of warehouse insurance with extra coverages

Many warehouse-based companies—from small lock-up units to large warehouse businesses—will need extra coverages beyond the basic cover mentioned above. What are these additional features and how much do they add to insurance rates?

If you employ at least one person (on a temporary or permanent basis) you're required by law to have an employers' liability policy in place (see Employers’ Liability Compulsory Insurance Act 1969). Employers' liability can be costly and adding this to your insurance policy can more than double your premium. For example, while a basic policy with £1m of public liability cover and £10k of product cover would cost from around £250, adding employers' liability for 2 workers would bring the total premium up to over £650, a 2.7X increase.

Average Cost of Warehouse Insurance with additional features
Basic cover (£10,000 stock cover + £1m public liability)£248
Basic cover + personal accident for 2 people and legal cover£406
Basic cover + employers' liability for 2 people£666
Basic cover + employers' liability and personal accident for 2£779
Basic cover + employers' liability, personal accident for 2 and legal cover£846

Insurance cover that includes many features (e.g., £10k of product cover, £1m public liability, employers' liability and personal accident for 2 workers plus £100k of legal cover) would start from around £850 a year. There may be additional coverages you want as well, such as goods in service, commercial van, product liability, etc.

Chart showing the cost of employers liability and public liability insurance for plumbers

How to save money on warehouse insurance

To save money on warehouse insurance, it's usually a good idea to shop around and not just take the first price you find or accept a renewal automatically without checking the market. In fact when we tested the market recently we found that some insurers charge 2.5X as much as cheaper insurance providers for warehouse insurance. Whether you're are insuring a small one-person, sole trader business or a larger limited company, the cost of insurance can feel significant so it's helpful to the bottom line to find a good deal for cover that suits your needs.

Using a comparison site can be the quickest way to access multiple quotes in minutes, without having to fill in multiple forms. You may want to check more than one comparison site since the panel of insurers may be different, providing you access to a wider range of quotes.

You may be given the option to increase the excess on your coverages in order to reduce your premium. Before you do so, see if there is really much of a reduction in your insurance rate—oftentimes the premium only comes down marginally for a significant increase in your excess. Also be sure you're comfortable paying the excess should you need to claim.

Finally, make sure that you buy enough cover for your needs, but not too much. The higher your cover limits and the more extras you add on, the higher your warehouse insurance rate. Extra coverages for warehouse-based businesses can include:equipment cover, commercial van cover, buildings cover, goods in transit cover, employers' liability, personal accident, legal, etc.

Methodology

To find the average cost of warehouse insurance in the UK, we gathered dozens of quotes for post codes that tend to rate near the average in terms of cost of cover. Then, we took the average of the 3 cheapest quotes returned to determine the average starting cost of cheap warehouse insurance.

We varied quotes by different factors to learn how factors like stock cover, employers' liability, personal accident and legal cover affect warehouse insurance rates.

Please note that insurance prices can vary significantly from situation to situation depending on the details of your application. As a result, quotes you receive from the market may be higher or lower than the rates mentioned here. Use this information just as a rough guide to help you learn more about prices and how they are affected by different factors.

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The guidance on this site is based on our own analysis and is meant to help you identify options and narrow down your choices. We do not advise or tell you which product to buy; undertake your own due diligence before entering into any agreement. Read our full disclosure here.