Mississippi Grocery Store Insurance
Local independent insurance agents can help you find the best coverage in the Magnolia State.
Jeff Green has held a variety of sales and management roles at life insurance companies, Wall street firms, and distribution organizations over his 40-year career. He was previously Finra 7,24,66 registered and held life insurance licenses in multiple states. He is a graduate of Stony Brook University.
Grocery stores play an important role in the local economies of Mississippi’s cities. Whether you own a large supermarket as part of a franchise or run a small family-run food store, a comprehensive grocery store insurance policy can help your business stay profitable in times of trouble.
When you are shopping for coverage for your grocery store, an independent insurance agent in Mississippi can help. These agents can shop around to find you great coverage at a competitive price. Contact an insurance agent near you to learn more.
What Is Grocery Store Insurance?
Grocery store insurance is a general term used to describe a business insurance policy package that has been customized to meet the specific coverage needs of grocery stores.
Local independent agents can help you be sure that your grocery store insurance is comprehensive and doesn’t leave you with any unintended coverage gaps.
How Much Does Grocery Store Insurance Cost in Mississippi?
Grocery store insurance premiums can vary from one store to the next. While a small store may spend just a few hundred dollars a month, larger supermarkets may pay several thousands of dollars.
Some of the factors that can influence your rates include the following.
- The size of your store and its expected annual revenues
- The crime rate and weather risks where your store is located
- The value of your grocery store’s assets
- The number of employees who work at your store
- The coverage options you want to include in your policy
Every insurance company has its own method for calculating rates. That is why it is to your advantage to request customized quotes from a few competing providers before deciding which policy to purchase.
What Could Go Wrong at a Mississippi Grocery Store?
Grocery stores have a lot of merchandise, deal with a lot of foot traffic, and use a lot of expensive machinery. This means there is a fairly high risk of problems occurring.
Consider how your store would handle the following scenarios if it were uninsured.
- A food spill in your shopping aisles isn’t cleaned up immediately, and a customer slips on it and is severely injured.
- Heavy winds from a tropical storm cause an outdoor sign to become dislodged and it damages a neighboring building.
- An employee who was turned down for a promotion claims that your store engages in discriminatory practices and files a lawsuit.
- A tornado causes an extended power outage, and several thousands of dollars worth of refrigerated and frozen foods must be thrown away.
- An employee suffers a serious injury while using the meat slicer at your store’s deli and required several weeks off work to recuperate.
These are just a few examples of the many potential hazards that a good grocery store insurance policy can protect your business against.
What Does Mississippi Grocery Store Insurance Cover?
Your grocery store insurance can cover as much or as little as you want it to you. There are several different commercial insurance products available for you to choose from when you are building your business insurance policy package.
A basic business insurance policy for your grocery store will include the following.
- Commercial property insurance: This can cover your business-owned property such as merchandise, inventory, shopping carts, cash registers, and outdoor signs if it is lost or damaged due to a covered event.
- Business interruption insurance: This can provide your grocery store with a continuation of income if it must shut down for an extended time while repairs are made for damages caused by a covered event.
- Commercial general liability insurance: This can cover court costs, legal fees, settlements, judgments, and other costs associated with some of the most common liability exposures businesses face. It includes the following policies.
- Premises liability insurance: This can cover injuries that occur on your business property, such as if a customer slips on a wet floor.
- Product liability insurance: This can cover injuries or illnesses caused by a product sold in your store.
- Advertising liability insurance: This can cover against accusations of copyright infringement, deceptive pricing, false advertising, and other marketing errors.
The following are other insurance products you may want to include in your grocery store business insurance policy package.
- Flood insurance: This can cover any damage your store may sustain due to a flood. This supplemental insurance is important because commercial property insurance specifically excludes flood damage from its coverage.
- Employment practices liability insurance: This can cover against accusations of illegal employment practices such as wrongful termination, discrimination, and harassment.
- Boiler & machinery insurance: This can cover the cost to repair or replace your store’s well-maintained machinery like refrigerators and freezers.
- Spoiled food insurance: This can cover your losses if perishable foods are spoiled due to problems with your store’s cooling systems.
- Cyber liability insurance: This can cover your store’s liabilities if criminals hack into your computer system and steal customer records, or if they successfully install skimmers on your store’s credit card readers.
- Workers’ compensation insurance: This can cover the costs associated with employee injuries. It is required in Mississippi if you employ at least five regular workers.
- Commercial vehicle insurance: If your grocery store offers catering or delivery services, you will need to be sure that it has sufficient liability coverage if one of your drivers causes an accident.
- Druggist liability insurance: If your grocery store includes a pharmacy, your pharmacists will need to be covered by this professional liability insurance.
Independent agents make shopping for coverage easy by helping you determine which of the many available coverage options are a good fit for your Mississippi grocery store.
How an Independent Insurance Agent in Mississippi Can Help You Find the Best Grocery Store Insurance
When you are shopping for coverage for your Mississippi grocery store, you can turn to a local independent agent for help. These agents can save you time and money by shopping around to find you the best available coverage at the most competitive price.
There are more than 200 independent agents in Mississippi. Contact an insurance agent near you to schedule an obligation-free consultation.
https://www.iii.org/insurance-topics/business-insurance