Coronavirus help and support Personal Insurance Contact us Claims

Fashion your own Clothing and Accessories Retail Insurance policy

Price beat guarantee

We guarantee to beat your new insurance quote or renewal premium from any other insurer.

To redeem and for full Terms & Conditions, click here.

New customer only. Cover on an equivalent basis to ours. Excludes policies with home emergency cover added. Qualifying criteria apply.

Get a quote Retrieve a quote

Stolen laptop? Damaged mobile? We'll replace your essential tech within 24hrs of claim approval, with Business Tech Essentials.

Cover & claim limits apply. Mon – Fri 8am – 6pm, except Bank holidays

  • We can cover you at your shop or when selling from home, at fairs, pop-ups or online.
  • No admin fees if you need to make changes to your policy.
  • 0% APR on your monthly Direct Debit payments in the first year.

    Over 18s, subject to eligibility.

  • We won't be beaten on price. We'll beat your new business insurance quote or renewal premium from any other insurer.

    New customer only. Cover on an equivalent basis to ours. Excludes policies with home emergency cover added. Qualifying criteria apply. Terms & Conditions.

Retailers’ insurance made for you

The beauty of working in fashion retail is that you can run your business exactly as you see fit. Insurance might not be as glamorous as the clothes you produce but it can offer you the security you need to grow your retail empire.

At Direct Line for Business, we offer personalised business insurance that can cover your services, your employees, your workplace and your stock. You can pick and choose from a range of cover options to create a policy that reflects your unique business needs.

The right insurance for your fashion business

As a retailer, public and product liability cover is something you should consider. Whether you see your customers face-to-face or just sell online, product liability insurance is crucial to cover you against claims. If a child choked on a loose button from a piece of clothing you sold, product liability would cover any compensation and court fees if legal action was pursued.

Public liability will cover you for accidental damage to other people’s property or injury caused by you or your property. This could be at your shop or when trading at markets and fairs.

It doesn’t matter if you sell from a shop, online or at fairs, you’ll still have a considerable amount of valuable products and materials that need the right cover. Whether you purchase wholesale or create your own designs, stock damage is a major concern for a retailer.

We can cover the stock and raw materials at your premises and you’ll also get an extra 25% covered for two months of your choice (seasonal increase only). This is especially useful if you have a busy period when the new season starts or you increase your stock to meet higher demand, e.g. at Christmas.

There are other issues to consider when deciding what type of cover to include in your business insurance policy. What if there was a fire in your clothes shop or home workspace? Many small businesses would struggle with the costs of repairing the damage. You can add buildings cover to your insurance policy to help cover these costs.

Get a quote
or call us on 0345 605 9168
Get a quote call us on 0345 605 9168

Confused by an insurance term? Look it up in our
jargon buster

Click here

Your cover options

Add any of the following cover options to your Clothing and Accessories Retail Insurance policy to create cover that precisely fits your business needs. These covers are subject to policy conditions and limits.

  • Public and product liability

    Public liability covers you if you accidentally damage someone’s property or someone is injured on your premises or due to your business activities. For example, if your employees damaged the floor of a trade fair venue by dragging heavy clothes railings across the room.

    Product liability covers you if someone becomes ill or is injured as a result of the products you supply. For example, if a customer hurts themselves because the heel of the boot you supplied snaps off.

    If anyone pursues legal action against you, public and product liability insurance would cover your costs. We can offer cover from £1 million to £10 million, subject to criteria.

  • Employers' liability

    Employers’ liability insurance covers the costs you have to pay if an employee gets injured or becomes ill because of the work they do for you and decides to take legal action. Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement if you have employees. Read more about employers’ liability cover to find out about exceptions to this rule. At Direct Line for Business, we will cover you for £10 million, as standard.

  • Buildings cover

    If your building is damaged due to an insured event, for example by flood or fire, your buildings insurance will help you cover the costs of the repairs. It can pay for clean-up costs and architect’s fees.

    Equipment breakdown cover (for items forming part of the building) is included as standard, so if your equipment breaks down and you need to repair or replace any items, this policy will cover the costs. Equipment could include boilers and fire/burglar alarms. The breakdown must not be due to wear and tear.

  • Contents and stock

    As a retailer, covering your stock is a primary concern. You’ll get 25% extra included for two months of your choosing, depending on when you’re busiest. You can also choose contents insurance to cover all your electrical items like computers and tills, any business equipment, and furniture.

    You can also choose to insure these items on the go, with our property away cover, if you travel to fairs, markets, pop-ups or other locations.

    And now with Business Tech Essentials, if your essential tech is stolen or damaged, we'll replace it within 24 hours from claim approval.

    When you cover your electrical items and tech you get Business Tech Essentials. Which means if your essential tech - like laptops, mobiles or tablets - are stolen or damaged we'll replace them within 24 hours of claim approval.

    Cover & claim limits apply. Mon – Fri 8am – 6pm, except Bank holidays.

  • Home emergency

    Peace of mind, if you experience a sudden and unexpected issue, which can cause damage to your home, makes it unsafe or uninhabitable, home emergency's 24-hour claims line means help is never far away. You'll have a certified contractor, such as plumbers, electricians, glaziers, locksmiths, or drainage engineers at your home within 4 hours of your claim being registered, to make the property secure or prevent further damage. In addition, you have access to gas engineers, pest control services and roofers, but these are not subject to the 4 hour response time. Extreme weather and remote locations may extend the response time.

    Up to £1,500 inc. VAT per claim for call-out charges, labour costs and materials for insured emergencies, such as issues with plumbing, heating or pest infestations.

    You're also covered for overnight accommodation, up to £300 inc. VAT, if you can't stay in your home due to the insured incident. This isn't available if your home is a B&B, guest-house or hotel.

    There's no excess to pay and no limit on how often you can claim.

    You can add home emergency to a Direct Line business policy, so long as you run your business from home and have home buildings insurance, home contents insurance or business contents insurance on your policy. It is available on new and renewal policies, it can't be added during the policy term.

    Home emergency isn't currently available on policies that include commercial premises.

    For more information click here.

  • Business interruption

    Whether you work out of a brick and mortar retail space or from your back bedroom, if your working premises became unusable due to an insured event like a fire or flood, business interruption will cover the extra costs of temporarily setting up elsewhere. It also covers lost turnover for the period when you couldn’t trade.

    We can also cover you if your main customer can’t trade because their building is damaged, resulting in a loss of profit for you, up to a limit of £50,000.

    Our business interruption cover can insure you if you or one of your key employees becomes seriously disabled and is unable to continue work. We will cover the incurred costs, up to £25,000, to minimise any interruption to the business.

  • Theft of takings

    If you sell your clothes and accessories in person, you have to deal with a lot of cash changing hands. This policy will cover you and anyone who works for you in case of theft, including when you trade at markets and fairs, up to £1,000.

  • Cyber cover

    If you hold sensitive customer data, process payments online or just want peace of mind, Cyber cover should be considered. Because cyber criminals can be clever. Catching you off-guard and tricking you in to doing something you shouldn't, like opening an attachment in a fake email, or finding a way through your cyber-security. If this happens and they get their hands on your data or access to your bank account, the impact on your business could be devastating.

    But, with our Cyber cover, you can call the experts, 24/7. They'll be on it, helping you to stay in business and recover in three ways following a cyber incident:

    Recover financially

    • Covering loss of business income
    • Covering recovery costs, like fixing damage to your computer systems or data restoration
    • Covering fines (where insurable by law) and compensation costs following a data breach

    Recover your reputation

    • You get access to public relations and crisis management experts to minimise damage to your brand and business.

    Recover your systems and help prevent future incidents

    • Technical experts will help fix your IT issues and provide advice on how to prevent future cyber incidents.

    Read more on Cyber cover here.

    Available on new and renewal policies only. For Retail and Office & Professional customers only.

  • Legal expenses

    This pays the legal costs of providing specialist lawyers and taking action against many common legal problems, for instance disputes with suppliers, clients or venue managers.

  • Personal accident

    Personal accident cover provides payment if anyone in your business between the ages 16-75 is unable to work because they've been injured in an accident, whether in a business or personal capacity.

    We'll pay a lump sum of £50,000 if there is an accidental death, accidental loss of limbs or sight, or if someone in your business becomes permanently disabled following an accident.

    If someone in your business is unable to work due to a temporary injury, then after 7 days we'll pay their normal net weekly earnings up to £500 for up to 104 weeks.

    You can choose Personal Accident as an add-on once you've completed your quote.

  • Terrorism cover

    If you have commercial premises, you can extend your cover, for an additional premium, to include property damage as a result of an Act of Terrorism. We'll cover you up to the maximum sum insured on your policy for buildings, contents and business interruption (depending on which covers you have taken).

    This includes:

    • the rebuild of buildings damaged beyond repair
    • cover for damage or loss of your business contents, stock and computer equipment, to help you get back up and running.

    If you choose business interruption cover, you can extend this to include cover for reduced turnover and the costs of setting up elsewhere, due to damage to your premises resulting from an Act of Terrorism. It will also cover you not being able to access your premises as a result of an Act of Terrorism within 1 mile of your business.

    Acts of Terrorism are defined as damage caused by someone acting on behalf of, or in connection with, any organisation which uses force or violence to overthrow or influence the UK government.

    Terrorism cover is only available for properties located in England, Wales and Scotland.

    Terrorism insurance is optional, so an additional premium will apply.

    You can include Terrorism cover on your policy by adding it online or by calling us on 0345 301 5066 when you take out your policy or at renewal, as it cannot be added to your policy mid-term.

How can we help?

Get a quote, talk to us via live chat or call us on
0345 605 9168.

Visit our contact us page to view our opening hours.

Frequently asked questions

  • QDoes my house insurance cover me if I work from home?

    It’s a common misconception that if you work from home all aspects of your business will be covered under your home insurance policy. This is not always the case. However, creating your home business insurance policy with us means you keep costs down by only paying for the cover that you need. You can also insure your home building and personal belongings with us, so everything you need is on one policy.

  • QDo you cover online businesses?

    Yes, we’ll cover you if you sell your products online. However, this is dependent on where you are importing and exporting your products from. Answer a few questions about your business using our easy-to-use online quote tool, and we will let you know what we can and cannot cover you for.

    It is important to have product liability insurance even if you don’t meet your customers in person, as they could still be injured by something you have sold them online.

  • QAre there any fashion and accessories retailers you don’t cover?

    At present, we cannot offer cover to jewellers or fur retailers. This could change in the future as we are always reviewing our insurance practices.

    You can also see a full breakdown of the cover we can offer you when you get a quote with us.

Policy documents

If you have an existing quote or policy with us, you can view and download your policy documents from the My Account page.

We tailor all our policies, so your documents only show what you’ve chosen to cover.

Below is a summary of a generic policy, from 25 October 2020 onwards, which shows the main covers and exclusions in our policies.