Shopify Business Insurance

Shopify Business Insurance

Protect your Shopify business with a customized insurance policy to safeguard you from third-party lawsuits and other risks.

Zensurance - Shopify Business Owner

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Shopify Business

Insurance for Shopify businesses

Shopify, the Canadian multinational e-commerce platform, is a go-to source for merchants and service providers to create a customized online store to sell goods and services across multiple channels.

Regardless of the type of products and services your small business or startup provides, a Shopify business insurance policy can help minimize your risks. It provides financial support if you are sued or suffer damages or losses resulting from an insurable event, such as a fire or flood.

Shopify business insurance is a customized policy that protects online retailers from a myriad of risks, including third-party bodily injury and property damage, product liability, property damage from severe weather, and cybercrime.

A comprehensive Shopify business insurance policy may include the following coverages:

  • Commercial General Liability (CGL) Insurance: CGL covers you for third-party bodily injury or property damage claims that occur on your premises or because of your services. For instance, if a customer visits your brick-and-mortar retail store falls and fractures a wrist, CGL may pay for their medical expenses. CGL includes product liability insurance. You are liable for any product you manufacture, distribute, or sell, whether through your business’s website, a third-party marketplace or at a brick-and-mortar location. It protects you from third-party bodily injury or property damage claims resulting from the goods you offer to the public.
  • Cyber Liability Insurance: All businesses are susceptible to cybercrime, and small businesses are increasingly targeted by cyber-attacks, ransomware, and other online threats. Cyber liability coverage provides you with financial support to cover the cost of data breaches, cyber extortion, or cyber-attacks that compromise your business or if your customers’ confidential data is stolen.
  • Commercial Property Insurance: Commercial property insurance protects your business’s physical structure and its contents from loss or damage resulting from fire, flood, extreme weather, theft, and vandalism. It pays to repair or replace your inventory or merchandise, office equipment and furniture, and any improvements you make to a building if you are a tenant and not the business property owner. It typically includes business interruption insurance to cover your net income losses following an insured event.
  • Equipment Breakdown Insurance: Regardless of selling online or not, if your business has a brick-and-mortar location, you should include equipment breakdown insurance. Also referred to as boiler and machinery coverage, it covers your equipment and machinery if they malfunction as a result of internal damage, such as a power surge or an electrical failure.
  • Commercial Crime Insurance: Research suggests that 64% of small business employees steal from their employers. Whether it’s a primary concern for you or not, it’s wise to err on the side of caution and add commercial crime protection to your policy to cover you for losses related to internal theft, forgery, fraud, and other acts of employee dishonesty. You must have commercial property insurance to purchase commercial crime coverage.
  • Legal Expense Insurance: Seeking legal advice from an experienced lawyer or hiring a counsellor to represent you can cost thousands of dollars. Legal expense insurance is a far more affordable option to include in your overall policy. It covers your fees when getting legal advice on everyday business topics and for various other issues, including contract and employment disputes, debt recovery, appealing a tax-related decision from the Canada Revenue Agency, and statutory licensing protection.

How much a Shopify business insurance policy costs vary by insurer. Insurance companies determine pricing for your policy based on several factors, including:

  • The type of business
  • The products and services you provide
  • Where your business is located
  • Your years of experience
  • Your company’s annual and projected revenue
  • Your insurance claims history

Although Shopify does not require its account holders to carry insurance, it’s wise to protect your assets, reputation, and finances from the possibility of third-party lawsuits, cyber-attacks, and other risks.

Whether you sell products or services, there is considerable potential for something to go wrong. A customer could be injured by a product you sold them, items you ship could be damaged en route to their destination, or your inventory could be wiped out following a fire at your storage facility.

Getting insured is quick and easy!

Complete our 5-minute online application for a free Shopify business insurance quote.

Common claims scenarios

woman with phone in pocket

Problem: You sell a mobile phone to a customer through the Shopify platform. The device’s battery overheats while in the customer’s pocket and inflicts burns on one of their thighs.

Outcome: Your product liability insurance may cover your customer’s medical expenses.

inventory in warehouse

Problem: Your warehouse containing the products you sell online are stolen overnight by a burglar.

Outcome: Your commercial property insurance may cover the cost to replace the stolen merchandise.

cyber criminal

Problem: Your Shopify retailer account suffers a cyber-attack. All your existing customers’ personal and financial data is stolen.

Outcome: Your cyber liability insurance may pay customer notification costs, the income you lose because of the breach, credit monitoring expenses, and your legal fees if you are sued.

Frequently asked questions

Does a Shopify business insurance policy include coverage for dropshipping?

Some e-commerce businesses that do dropshipping are ones that sell products without stocking any inventory on their premises. Your Shopify business insurance policy from Zensurance includes product liability and other coverages that protect you for the goods you sell, even if you use dropshipping.

How can I protect the products I ship to my customers?

Speak to a licensed Zensurance broker about adding a rider for cargo insurance (also called transit insurance or inland marine insurance) to your Shopify business insurance policy. Although it will increase the cost of your annual premium, it protects the entire value of your shipments, including profits that are shipped worldwide, costs related to shipping delays, and items that are held in storage.

Will my Shopify business insurance policy cover the costs of product recalls?

Yes. The product liability portion of your commercial general liability insurance covers the cost of product recalls. It provides financial support for recall expenses, including disposal fees and public safety messages, inventory replacement costs, and brand rehabilitation expenses for public relations or advertising fees.

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Ready to start? Let’s get a quote!

Getting the protection for your Shopify business is quick and easy with Zensurance.

Fill out our online application to get a free quote. Our licensed brokers will shop our partner network of more than 50 Canadian carriers to get you the customized coverage you need at an affordable price.