Business insurance is meant to protect you and your business from financial losses in case of an unexpected event. Covered events typically include anything from a customer falling while on your business premises to theft or damage of your business equipment.
Business insurance also protects you against things like professional mistakes, legal fees, and when the business faces a compensation claim. As such, it’s important for all businesses, including sole traders, self-employed people, and limited liability companies.
What does business insurance cover?
Different forms of business insurance cover different kinds of risks. Professional indemnity insurance covers you in case you’re sued by a client, while public liability insurance provides coverage against compensation claims made by a member of the public. Employer’s liability insurance covers compensation claims brought by employees.
Every form of business insurance is meant to cover several types of risks that your business may face in the course of its operation. You can also choose to cover things like contents, the premises, equipment, tools, and stock in case they are destroyed or damaged.
Employer’s Liability Insurance
Every employer is required to look after the well-being of their employees, which makes employer liability insurance compulsory for every employer. In case a worker gets injured or ill while working for you, then this cover will pay out any due compensation. 
Public Liability Insurance
In case a client or customer slips and falls on your wet floor, or a meal from your restaurant makes a customer ill, your public and product liability cover should cover your business from any resulting claims.
Professional Indemnity Insurance
If your recipe or advice causes a client to lose something of value, such as a contract, this insurance will cover you against any claims brought and the resulting legal costs. This insurance is often necessary for consultants, contractors, solicitors, architects, accountants, engineers, and if you offer services in a business-to-business capacity.
Building and Contents Insurance
Just as you’d want to insure your home and your belongings against fire, break-ins, and other risks, you may also want to cover your business equipment and contents. This is typically done under buildings and contents insurance.
If you own the premises, you will need to get building insurance along with the contents insurance. However, if you license or lease the premises, you will only need contents insurance as the landlord has probably already covered the building.
If you run your business from home, your home insurance might not cover business usage, which means you may need to consider taking out a separate policy for your business. Make sure that you cover everything that you’ll need to get back to work as quickly as possible, including any equipment or machinery. 
Is refrigeration equipment covered by business insurance?
For businesses in the food services and catering space, the proper functioning of refrigeration equipment is critical. Businesses in Dublin such as restaurants rely on freezers, refrigerators, and cold storage units to maintain the safety and freshness of your stock. A sudden breakdown of these vital appliances could have far-reaching consequences.
Back to the question, it all depends on the kind of business insurance you have. Keep in mind that most types of business insurance are optional. Only employer’s liability insurance is mandatory if your business employs someone, or if you direct or supervise someone.
You want to make sure that you have an equipment breakdown cover as part of your business insurance. According to ChillCooler, this should cover the cost of replacing or repairing your refrigeration equipment in case it breaks down, is damaged, or destroyed.
Benefits of equipment breakdown insurance
No matter the quality of your refrigeration equipment, things can break down when you least expect them to. A breakdown could mean having to halt your operation until you can replace or repair the unit, costing you time and money that could end up affecting your bottom line.
For instance, if you provide catering services for events but your refrigeration unit breaks down, the food inside will likely spoil, and you might be unable to make food in time for the event until you have a working unit. You might have to cancel or even temporarily shut down the shop.
To get back on your feet, you might have to spend a lot of money to fix the issue. Failure to do so, you risk losing income, not to mention damaging the reputation of your business. An equipment breakdown cover can come in handy to cover the cost of replacing or repairing the unit.
It’s worth noting that wear and tear is typically not covered. This is because wear and tear damage happens over time, and is associated with leaks, corrosion, damage from pests, and even operator error. A breakdown or malfunction occurs when the equipment stops working, such as if a part explodes or the fuse burns out.
Final Thoughts
Equipment breakdown is one of the many policies that you should include in your business insurance policy. If you have any questions about exactly what type of insurance you need, an adviser can help.
