If your shop is burgled and you are insured, do you recoup all the value?

Question

each time you are burlged, doesthis affect the amount you pay in insurance and is it harder to recoup the value of stolen goods or prove the theft was genuine?

Answer 1

Well, most of the time retail shops are required to have a functioning central station alarm.  If you don't, or if it's not turned on, it voids the theft coverage.

When you do have it on, you only collect the wholesale cost - your cost, not the RETAIL value.  

And if you have even one theft claim, you're going to have a hard time finding anyone to give you a policy.

Answer 2

Businesses can have replacement cost policies, stated value or actual cash value policies.  Regarding the alarm situation, that may be something written into the policies in her state where she is an agent, I have not ever seen that clause.

You are required to file a police report, listing each item which was stolen.  If you have full replacement cost, you will be paid the full price of a NEW item, as close to what you had as possible.  If you have stated value, you get the amount each item was insured for.  If you have actual cash value, you would get the cost or value of the item new, minus any depreciation(if it was a used item)

Determining your policy premium rate involves overall statistics of the region your business is in, as well as your business's loss history. Typically your premium wouldn't increase until the renewal period, and at that time you may be increased.  Also, if you have a poor loss history, such as frequent thefts, or other claims, you might be cancelled.  As far as having problems getting insurance after one theft, I find that difficult to believe, since the point of insurance is to cover you if you have a loss. Having one claim shouldn't penalize a business for something beyond their control.

Answer 3

You recoup the value of lost items-or the amount you insured the items for.  And yes, your premium can increase.  More than likely depending on the # of times your are burglarized, as well as the amount of claim---the burglary will also be investigated by the insurance company.

Answer 4

It depends on what you mean when you say "recoup all the value".

If you think "all the value" is the retail value of what you would have sold it for then the answer is no you will not recoup all the retail value.

If you are expecting to be reimbursed for what you paid for the merchandise (wholesale value) then the answer is yes you will recoup all the value.

As far as the cost of your insurance there is no automatic rating plan for small businesses that penalizes you because you made a claim. However, the underwriter might look at the circumstances of your loss and insist on changes to your security arrangements to avoid a repeat of the same loss.