Commercial Property Insurance

Commercial property insurance covers a range of events that could be costly for owners. Policies vary by insurer, but typically, this includes:

• Damages to your building or contents from fires, accidents and weather-related events  
• Theft, break-ins or damage from arson or riots 
• Loss of stock or cash on the premises 
• Subsidence caused by sinking ground under your property 
• Legal costs from claims  

Most business building insurance also includes cover for loss of rent. But this tends to only apply to any rental income lost through what is known as an ‘insurable event’ if you own a commercial property. This means your insurer will only pay out if you can’t rent out your property because it’s not in a fit state. If you simply can’t find a business tenant, then you won’t be covered. 

Although many events out of your control are covered, some incidents aren’t. It’s worth getting a full list from your insurer so you can be sure, but generally, commercial property insurance doesn’t cover: 

• Damage caused by negligence from yourself, renters or employees  
• General wear and tear, like flaking paint and rust 
• Damages from pests or animals 
• Poor DIY or craftmanship. This refers to anything you’ve installed yourself or by a contractor  
• Buildings that have been unoccupied for 30 days or more 

Although commercial property insurance isn’t a legal requirement, if you own a commercial property and it's used for business use, you should strongly consider it. You can put measures in place to reduce risks, but you can’t eliminate them — there is always a risk your building could be damaged from factors beyond your control. 

Some commercial mortgage lenders won’t approve applications unless buyers take our commercial property insurance because of the risks involved. 

We can help cover a number of different commercial properties, including:

• Offices
• Shops
• Manufacturing/Warehouses
• Hospitality - Takeaways, Pubs
• Salons/Barbers

And many more.

Building insurance is just another name for commercial property insurance, but contents insurance is not the same.  

To clear up any confusion, let’s break it down: 

• Buildings insurance — This covers most major unexpected building costs when owning a commercial property, like damages to the roof from a bad storm. 
• Contents insurance — This covers the content of what’s inside the property, such as equipment, computers, and cash registers.  

Sometimes it makes sense to combine both in an insurance package. For example, if you own the property and occupy it. But if you own the property and rent it out to a tenant, as you wouldn't own the tenant's contents it would be up to them to take out insurance. In this case, it’s the responsibility of the tenant who runs the business from your property. 

At Bionic, we celebrate and champion UK business owners and want to help in every way we can. That’s why we use a team of knowledgeable insurance brokers who work with a panel of trusted insurers to find you the right level of commercial property cover. 

Our UK-based team helps business owners daily to compare business insurance to find the right insurer that fits.