Clothing shop insurance
A customer trips between the rails, or a rail marks the floor at a pop-up venue. If they hold you responsible, we cover what you owe them.
Public Liability from €7.55 per month, with cover limits up to €6.5 million.
Business insurance, done differently.
Fully online business insurance in Ireland.
A few questions and you're covered.
No lock-in, no long contracts.
Excess from €0, up to €6.5 million of cover.
Why take out business insurance as a clothing retailer?
Your shop puts you in front of the public all day, and the work doesn't stop at your own door. Most days pass without incident. The ones that don't are expensive.
A customer or passer-by is hurt. A wet floor at the entrance on a rainy day, or a stock box left between the rails, and someone trips.
You damage someone else's property. A garment rail that gouges the oak floor of a hotel during a trunk show, or a display stand that marks the wall of a wedding-fair venue.
Something of theirs is in your hands. Display units on loan from a brand, a shopping centre's fittings, a venue's mirrors while you set up. That's the optional third-party objects and sites cover, up to €5,000 per claim.
Public liability covers what you owe the other party, up to your cover limit. Landlords, shopping centres, market operators and event organisers commonly ask for proof of cover before they'll let you trade.
What is Public Liability insurance?
If a customer or a member of the public holds you responsible for injuring them or damaging their property, public liability insurance covers what you owe them, up to your cover limit.
What does it cover?
Injury or property damage caused to others in the course of your retail work. You choose a cover limit of €1.25 million, €2.5 million or €6.5 million per claim. Optional covers can be added: employers' liability (€13 million per claim) if you have staff, and third-party objects and sites for damage to equipment or premises belonging to others in your care (up to €5,000 per claim).
Cover that fits your profession
You describe your activities fully at sign-up, and your cover matches what you actually do: shop sales, online orders, markets, fairs and pop-ups.
Is it mandatory?
Public liability isn't required by law in Ireland. However, many landlords, shopping centres, market operators and event venues require proof of cover before you can trade. Cover starts from €7.55 per month.
Who needs it?
Any clothing or accessories retailer who deals with customers in person or online: on the shop floor, at a market, or at a fair or pop-up.
What does our insurance cover for clothing shops?
Your cover is built from the activities you declare when you apply.
Cover limit: choose €1.25 million, €2.5 million or €6.5 million per claim, with twice that available per year.
Excess: depending on your turnover, an excess from €0 up to €2,500. The excess is the amount you pay yourself towards a claim.
Third-party objects and sites: available as an option, covering damage to equipment or premises belonging to others while they are in your care, up to €5,000 per claim and €10,000 per year.
Employers' Liability: available as an option if you take on staff, with a limit of €13 million per claim.
Who we can cover: turnover up to €10 million and up to 30 people.
What is covered
Selling clothing in the shop and online: underwear, nightwear, lingerie, outerwear, sportswear, workwear and costume jewellery.
Selling fashion accessories: ties, scarves, gloves, hats, caps and costume jewellery.
The shop you work from: if a customer trips on the step, you're covered.
Travelling for the business: a buying trip or a trade fair. If you knock something over while you're there, you're covered.
Designing or making products. Selling what you stock is covered; making or altering garments yourself is not.
Customers' items left with you for work. Only if you haven't added third-party objects and sites.
Cover and exclusions shown are indicative and non-contractual. Only the terms of your policy apply.
Some examples
A customer caught her foot on a stock box, fell, fractured her wrist, and claimed for treatment and lost earnings.
A garment rail wheeled in for a wedding-fair stand gouged the parquet floor of a hotel. The venue claimed for the repair and the make-good.
A free-standing sign outside a Cork city shop blew over in a gust and scratched a parked car, and the owner claimed for the respray.
A customer caught her foot on a stock box, fell, fractured her wrist, and claimed for treatment and lost earnings.
A garment rail wheeled in for a wedding-fair stand gouged the parquet floor of a hotel. The venue claimed for the repair and the make-good.
A free-standing sign outside a Cork city shop blew over in a gust and scratched a parked car, and the owner claimed for the respray.
Examples are for illustrative purposes only. Compensation depends on the exact circumstances of the claim. No rights can be derived from these examples.
Your business insurance with Insify SmartGuide
Taking out insurance can be quick. Making sure you have the right cover is another matter. With Insify SmartGuide, you don't sign a contract blindly. You ask all your questions, and get clear, immediate and personalised answers, before you take out a policy.
Are you covered if you accidentally damage a client's equipment while working?
What excess should you choose?
Are you protected in the event of a dispute with a client?
Insify SmartGuide guides you step by step to understand what's covered, what isn't, and why. In just a few clicks, you build insurance that's truly tailored to your business, with complete confidence. Try Insify SmartGuide. Understand your insurance before you need it.
How to choose the right insurance for your clothing shop
Criteria to compare:
The cover offered: check it matches the real shape of your work, including shop sales, online orders, markets, fairs and pop-up stands. Make sure every service you actually provide is declared, seasonal and event trading included.
The price: compare premiums, but a competitive premium can hide exclusions that matter to a clothing retailer.
The excess: know what stays at your own expense when a claim happens.
The exclusions: watch for undeclared services, work beyond retail such as making or altering garments, and trade lines that sit outside the policy.
The service: you want cover that reflects how you actually work, not a generic policy. At Insify, you set out your own activities at the quote stage, so the cover you buy matches the work you actually do.
Mistakes to avoid: a generic off-the-shelf policy tends to describe a business that never leaves its own premises, and markets, fairs and pop-ups are exactly where much of a clothing retailer's risk sits. It is usually the declared-activities list that lets you down at claim time. To secure your business today, discover our Public Liability insurance.
More than 40,000 entrepreneurs trust us
When I had to make a claim, I was amazed how quickly and efficiently it was handled. Within a few days I had a resolution.
Very friendly, quick and thorough. It gives me real confidence in taking out the cover. The company feels genuinely transparent, exactly what I look for. You don't find that often.
Very friendly, quick and thorough. It gives me real confidence in taking out the cover. The company feels genuinely transparent, exactly what I look for. You don't find that often.
When I had to make a claim, I was amazed how quickly and efficiently it was handled. Within a few days I had a resolution.
The cover itself was sorted quickly, and when I later needed support I got that fast too.
Very friendly, quick and thorough. It gives me real confidence in taking out the cover. The company feels genuinely transparent, exactly what I look for. You don't find that often.
When I had to make a claim, I was amazed how quickly and efficiently it was handled. Within a few days I had a resolution.
The cover itself was sorted quickly, and when I later needed support I got that fast too.
Answers to your questions about our insurance for clothing shops
Not by law. In practice, though, it's what gets you in the door. Landlords and shopping centres ask for it before granting a lease or a licence. Market and event operators want to see it before allocating a pitch or a stand. Some brands ask before lending display stock. If you welcome customers into a shop or trade on someone else's premises, expect to be asked for proof of cover, and having it already in place is often what lets you sign.
Public liability cover starts from €7.55 per month with Insify. What you actually pay depends on the activities you declare, your turnover, the cover limit you choose and the excess you accept. A sole trader running one small boutique sits at the lower end. A retailer with staff, higher turnover, regular market and event trading and a €6.5 million limit sits higher. You see your own price before you buy, and there is no long-term commitment: you can cancel any day.
It covers injury to other people, and damage to their property, caused by your business. A customer trips over a stock box between the rails. A passer-by is hit by a sign blowing over outside. A venue floor is scratched while you set up a stand. In each case public liability covers what you owe them, up to the cover limit you choose and after your excess. It applies whether the incident happens in your shop, at a market, or at a venue where you're trading.
No. Insify's cover in Ireland is liability cover, not property cover, so your own stock, rails, mannequins, fittings and premises are not covered against damage, loss or theft. What it does cover is your liability to other people: injury to a customer, or damage to property that belongs to someone else. If you want protection for a venue's or a brand's belongings while they are in your care, that is the optional Third-party objects and sites cover, which pays up to €5,000 per claim and €10,000 per year.
Yes. Public liability follows the work rather than the address, so it responds to injury or third-party property damage caused while you are trading at a market, a fair or a pop-up, not only to incidents inside your own shop. A rail that topples onto a customer, or flooring marked while you set up a stand, are the kinds of claim it answers. Declare market and event trading when you apply so the policy matches what you do. Trade fairs and shopping centres will usually ask to see your cover before you set up.
You can choose €1.25 million, €2.5 million or €6.5 million per claim, with twice that amount available per year. Base the choice on what your contracts demand rather than on instinct: lease agreements, shopping centre licences and event terms frequently name a minimum, and the higher tiers exist because those requirements exist.
The excess is the amount you pay yourself towards a claim. Depending on your turnover, it runs from €0 up to €2,500. If a claim settles at €3,000 and your excess is €250, you pay €250 and Insify covers €2,750. A higher excess lowers your premium and raises what you carry when something goes wrong, so match it to what you could absorb without difficulty rather than to the lowest monthly figure.