Delivery services are quickly becoming a standard option for grocery stores to offer, and some stores offer these services directly rather than through a third party. If you own or run a grocery store that’s going to soon or has just started offering delivery to customers, there are a few additional coverages that you may want to add to the business’ grocery store insurance policy.
When First Offering Delivery Services, What Additional Grocery Store Insurance Coverages Does My Store Need?
Hired and Non-Owned Auto Coverage
Hired and non-owned auto is a uniquely designed coverage that’s generally meant to help businesses cover their liability risks when using non-owned vehicles for company operations. The coverage typically doesn’t insure against damage sustained by a car that’s in use, but it will normally help businesses pay liability claims associated with accidents that employees get in while driving non-owned vehicles for work.
As the name suggests, this coverage is often used both when businesses rent (or hire) vehicles and when businesses use vehicles they don’t own without renting them. The latter situation is what your grocery store will likely face when it begins offering delivery services.
Assuming your grocery store will have employees make deliveries using their own vehicles, not-company-owned vehicles will be driven for work-related purposes. Most personal auto policies won’t provide liability protection for this driving, which is why your business probably needs to secure liability coverage in case an employee causes an accident. That’s what hired and non-owned auto’s liability protection is generally for.
Off-Premises Coverage
General liability coverage normally offers a range of important protections, but sometimes certain protections are limited to accidents that occur on a business’ property. Should a business cause property damage or injury to a third party off of the business’ property, general liability may not cover the claim.
Off-premises coverage may help fill in this potential coverage gap by offering liability protection for off-site incidents. Since your employees will regularly be leaving your store’s property when they make deliveries, getting this extra protection may be a wise selection.
(Job-related injuries sustained by employees are usually covered by workers compensation regardless of where they occur, so there’s typically little need to consider obtaining more protection for employee injuries when starting delivery services.)
Cyber Liability Coverage
If your grocery store hasn’t already been accepting online orders for pickup, taking website or app orders for deliveries will expose your store to new risks. The store will have customers’ credit card numbers, and customers may hold the store liable if those numbers are compromised through a data breach or online attack.
Cyber liability coverage typically provides protection against data breaches, online attacks and other risks associated with accepting and storing sensitive data online. If your store doesn’t already have this coverage, it should probably be added to the store’s grocery store insurance policy even if you weren’t going to begin accepting delivery orders. After all, there’s a lot of other data that your store keeps digitally and relies on.
Check Other Grocery Store Insurance Coverages
In addition to specifically considering these three coverages, you should also review your store’s other insurance coverages anytime there’s a substantial change in operations. Talking with an experienced insurance agent can help make sure that both the new coverages you select and the ones already in place meet your store’s current risk mitigation needs.
To speak with an independent insurance agent who knows grocery store insurance, contact World Insurance Associates. Our independent agents have helped many grocery stores find and adjust insurance policies, and they have the expertise necessary to make sure your store has all the right protections in place before you start offering delivery services.