Florist Insurance

What is florist insurance?

Florist insurance is a business policy designed around the specific risks of the flower trade: damage to perishable stock, injuries to customers in your shop and problems with deliveries. Standard home or retail insurance is unlikely to cover these risks, because working with fresh stock and members of the public exposes you to claims a generic policy was never built for.

Rather than a single product, it is usually a combination of covers chosen to match how and where you work. It can include public liability insurance, product liability, cover for your tools and stock, business interruption and employers' liability, all tailored to your flower shop, event work or home-run business.

Who needs florist insurance?

Anyone who sells flowers or floral arrangements to the public should consider it, whether you run a flower shop, create displays for weddings and events, trade from a market stall or sell arrangements from home. Policies are flexible depending on how your business operates, who you employ and how you sell your products.

Home-based florists are often caught out. Your home insurance is unlikely to cover business stock, tools or customers visiting your property, so a florist policy tailored to a home-based business fills that gap. If you run a shop, our shop insurance page covers the wider retail risks you may also want to think about.

What does florist insurance cover?

A good florist insurance policy can be built from the following covers, depending on how you work:

• Public liability insurance to protect against injuries or property damage caused by your business, such as a customer tripping in your shop.
• Employers' liability insurance if you employ staff, even part time or seasonally.
• Stock and equipment cover for fresh flowers, packaging, fridges, displays and tools.
• Business interruption cover if an insured event forces you to stop trading temporarily.
• Goods in transit insurance for those delivering bouquets or arrangements by van.
• Product liability cover for allergic reactions or injuries caused by flowers, plants or packaging.

Some policies also include stock deterioration cover, which protects you if perishable stock is lost due to equipment failure, such as a refrigeration breakdown.

Does florist insurance cover deliveries, weddings and event work?

Yes, both can be covered, but they are usually extensions you need to ask for rather than something every policy includes as standard.

If you deliver flowers, you may need goods in transit cover to protect bouquets and arrangements while they are in your van, plus business vehicle insurance for the van itself. If your van is broken into on a delivery round, goods in transit cover is what responds to the lost stock.

For wedding and event work, your policy can be extended to cover installations at venues, exhibitions or private functions, including liability for damage or injury while you are on site. Tell the insurer about this work when you get a quote so the cover is written in from the start.

What is not covered by florist insurance?

Cover only extends to the risks you have chosen to insure, so anything left off the policy will not be paid for. The most common gaps are deliveries without goods in transit cover, event installations without the liability extension, and perishable stock lost to a fridge failure where stock deterioration cover has not been included.

Your van is also a separate matter: goods in transit protects what is inside it, but the vehicle itself needs business vehicle insurance. Relying on a standard home or retail policy is the biggest risk of all, because it will not cover business stock, tools or customers visiting your property. Without the right cover, the cost of a loss could fall entirely on you.

Do I legally need employers' liability insurance as a florist?

Yes, if you employ anyone. Employers' liability insurance is a legal requirement as soon as you take on staff, and that includes casual, part-time and seasonal workers, so extra help brought in for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day or the wedding season counts.

Public liability is not a legal requirement in the same way, but most florist policies include it because customers, suppliers and members of the public come into contact with your business every day. You can read more on our employers' liability insurance page.

How much does florist insurance cost?

There is no single price, because the cost depends on how your business operates, who you employ and how you sell your products. A home-based florist with no staff and no deliveries will be rated very differently from a high-street shop with seasonal employees, a delivery van and regular event installations.

The covers you add also change the price: employers' liability, goods in transit, stock deterioration and the event liability extension each add to the premium. Getting a quick quote from a generic online system can leave you underinsured or paying for things you do not need, so it is worth comparing quotes that are tailored to a florist's actual risks rather than a one-size-fits-all retail policy.

How do I compare florist insurance quotes?

Complete one short form about you and your business, and you can compare live quotes online from a panel of UK business insurers. You then purchase your chosen policy directly from the insurer.

Before you start, be clear about how you trade: shop, home, market stall or mobile; whether you employ anyone, even casually; whether you deliver by van; and whether you do wedding or event installations. Each of these affects which covers you need, so having the answers ready means the quotes you compare reflect your business properly.