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Fashion your own Clothing and Accessories Retail Insurance policy

Use our online tool to get personalised insurance that suits your fashion business.

Get a quote Retrieve a quote

or call us on 0345 605 9168

Call us on 0345 605 9168

Join over 500,000 businesses who trust us with their insurance.

  • Get 10% off business insurance if you’re already a Direct Line customer.

    Discount applies to your new business insurance policy. Subject to minimum premiums.

  • 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.

    New customers only, 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 customers only. Cover on an equivalent basis to ours. 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

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.

  • 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 customer data when you take payments online, or rely on computer systems to work, you should consider cyber insurance. We cover you for the cyber security risks your business might face. This includes the costs you face as a result of cyber crime, compensation and defence costs for a data breach or unintentional transmission of a virus, as well as loss of income following a cyber attack and the cost of responding to a cyber ransom demand.

    We also provide access to specialist support for PR and crisis management, IT forensics and data recovery specialists, identity theft assistance and specialist advice to prevent viruses or hacking attacks after an incident.

  • 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.

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 15 July 2018 until 31 March 2019, which shows the main covers and exclusions in our policies.

Below is a summary of a generic policy, from 1 April 2019 onwards, which shows the main covers and exclusions in our policies.

We're on it

Direct Line insurance policies are underwritten by U K Insurance Limited, Registered office: The Wharf, Neville Street, Leeds LS1 4AZ. Registered in England and Wales No 1179980. U K Insurance Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, registration number 202810. The Financial Services Register can be accessed through www.fca.org.uk. Calls may be recorded.