What Type of Insurance Do Florists Need?

Flower shop owners may be required by law to purchase commercial auto and workers’ compensation insurance depending on their circumstances and may also benefit from other coverage types such as general liability insurance, professional liability insurance and more.

Keep reading for an overview of some of the specific risks florists face and what coverage types you may want to consider adding to your florist insurance policy.

On This Page

• 

  What Is Florist Insurance?

• 

  What Types of Business Insurance Does My Florist Shop Need?

• 

  How Much Does Florist Insurance Cost?

• 

  How To Get Florist Insurance for Your Business

• 

  FAQs

What Is Florist Insurance?

Florist business insurance refers to a broad collection of commercial insurance coverage types that can address the unique risks that come with creating, displaying and delivering floral arrangements. There is no single coverage type that broadly covers every florist’s needs, so you may need to make your own florist shop insurance policy by purchasing various coverages from a commercial insurance carrier.

Alternatively, you may be able to buy an insurance package that is specially designed to include all of the coverage types that flower shop owners most commonly need. Examples of companies that offer customized insurance for florists include State Farm, The Hartford, NEXT Insurance and Thimble Insurance.

Are Florists Required To Have Insurance?

Depending on where your shop is located and how your florist business operates, you may be required by law to buy certain coverage types. For example, commercial auto insurance is generally required if you use any vehicles for business purposes.^[1] In addition, every state has workers’ compensation insurance requirements, with most businesses outside of Texas needing to maintain coverage if they employ multiple people.^[2]

There are various coverage types that may still be beneficial to maintain even if they aren’t required by law.

Without optional flower shop insurance, you may have to bear the full financial burden if a guest trips and breaks their ankle in your shop, a storefront fire temporarily puts you out of business or a disgruntled customer sues you for putting the wrong flowers in their wedding bouquet.

What Types of Business Insurance Does My Florist Shop Need?

If you’re looking for the right insurance for florist business activities, you may want to consider buying a policy that includes some or all of the following coverage types.

General Liability

Perhaps the most fundamental business insurance coverage type, general liability insurance can cover medical bills or property repairs if someone is injured or their property is damaged on the premises of your business. This coverage type can also pay your legal expenses if your business is sued over an instance of bodily injury or property damage.

In addition, general liability insurance covers personal and advertising injury, which refers to situations where you are accused of violating another person or company’s intellectual property rights or defaming them. For example, if you make cartoon-themed flower arrangements, your general liability coverage could take care of legal costs if you are sued for using trademarked names or the likenesses of copyrighted characters.

Business Owners Policy

A business owners policy (BOP) is an insurance package commonly sold to small and midsize businesses that combines general liability insurance with commercial property insurance and oftentimes business interruption insurance.

Commercial property coverage can insure your storefront or another space you operate out of against perils like fire or theft while also covering documents, equipment, inventory and other items stored in your primary workspace. Meanwhile, business interruption insurance can take care of any expenses that arise if a covered peril forces you to temporarily relocate or otherwise shut down your business.

Commercial Auto

If you own a van or any other company vehicles that you use to transport flowers to weddings, funerals and other events, you will need to buy commercial auto coverage to insure those vehicles. At the minimum, you will likely need to maintain liability insurance and potentially uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage.^[1]

Workers’ Compensation

Workers’ compensation insurance protects your employees in case they become sick or injured on the job. A workers’ compensation policy can include coverage for an employee’s hospital treatments, surgeries, rehabilitation, lost wages while they are recovering and, if necessary, a death benefit payout for their loved ones.

Cyber

There are various types of cyber insurance that can protect your floral arrangement business in case information you store digitally is compromised. For example, you may want cyber liability insurance to cover legal expenses if you are sued after your customers’ payment information leaks online or electronic data loss coverage to help cover the costs of restoring all of your clients’ contact information after a virus wipes your internal database.

Professional Liability

Professional liability insurance, or errors and omissions (E&O) insurance, can cover attorney fees, settlements and judgments if you face a lawsuit due to a failure to correctly perform your professional duties. This can include situations where you have been accused of acting negligently, misrepresenting something in your advertising materials, breaching the terms of a contract and more.

For example, if a customer pays you to make a custom arrangement of aster flowers for Mother’s Day but you mistakenly use daisies instead, your E&O insurance would kick in if the customer sues you after their mother has an allergic reaction to the daisies.

Additional Insurance Policies Florists Should Consider

There are multiple other coverage types that could potentially benefit your florist business such as the following:

• Commercial crime insurance: Commercial crime insurance can reimburse you for losses caused by criminal actions your employees commit such as embezzlement or forgery.
• Equipment breakdown insurance: While your commercial property insurance should already cover repairs or replacements if an external peril damages equipment like flower coolers, you will need equipment breakdown insurance to cover internal sources of damage such as short circuits and mechanical failures.
• Inland marine insurance: Similarly, your commercial vehicles should already be covered by your commercial auto insurance whenever you hit the road for a delivery but you will need inland marine insurance to cover the tools and inventory you take with you in case they are damaged in a car accident.
• Commercial umbrella insurance: Commercial umbrella insurance provides extra coverage in case a particularly costly claim exceeds the coverage limits for one of your other liability policies. As the “umbrella” name suggests, this insurance product can provide excess coverage for multiple types of liability insurance at once, meaning it could cover a general liability, professional liability or auto liability claim if necessary.
• Pollution liability insurance: If you grow your own flowers, you may want environmental insurance to cover cleanup costs or legal expenses in case pesticides or other chemicals you use cause damage to the environment.
• Spoilage coverage: Spoilage coverage may pay to replace inventory you lose if a covered peril causes your flower coolers to stop working and your flowers start to wither as a result.
• Seasonal increase coverage: Seasonal increase coverage is an endorsement that raises your commercial property coverage limit during parts of the year you identify as your peak seasons.^[3] You could set your seasonal increase coverage to apply during the spring to account for a higher number of sales around Easter and Mother’s Day or, if you specialize in using a certain type of flower, whenever that flower is in season.
• Event coverage: If you host your own events such as floral design workshops, you may want to purchase special event insurance to cover event-related liability concerns and potential event cancellation costs. In addition, if you regularly serve alcohol at these events, you may want to purchase liquor liability insurance in case a drunken guest injures someone else or damages their property.

How Much Does Florist Insurance Cost?

The cost of florist insurance will depend on factors like the location and size of your business, the exact risks your business faces, the commercial insurance company you opt to buy coverage from and the coverage types and coverage limits you select for your policy.

For example, the majority of florists who buy coverage from NEXT Insurance pay a combined monthly total of around $80 to $127 for general liability, commercial property and workers’ compensation insurance. However, for some flower businesses, the same coverage could cost $272 or more per month.^[4]

How To Get Florist Insurance for Your Business

To find the right coverage for your flower shop, you should consider comparing quotes from three to five separate insurance providers. You’ll need to give them information like your industry, location, yearly revenue and number of employees to receive a quote, which can become a burdensome task if you try contacting each insurance carrier individually.

Fortunately, you can make this process easier by filling out SmartFinancial’s simple online questionnaire. Get started by typing in your zip code below and answering a few simple questions about your coverage needs and budget. Within minutes, we may be able to match you up with local agents who can help you compare commercial insurance quotes.