Bookshop insurance in Ireland
A customer tripping over a box of new stock, or a display that damages a venue floor at a book fair, can turn into a claim against you. Public liability cover from Insify meets that cost, up to the limit you choose.
Public Liability from €7.55 per month, with cover limits up to €6.5 million per claim.
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 bookshop owner?
Your shop puts you in front of the public all day, and the work does not always stay behind the counter. Most days pass without incident. The ones that don't are expensive.
A customer or passer-by is hurt. A box of new stock in a narrow aisle, a step stool left out between shelves, someone trips and is hurt.
You damage someone else's property. A display case that gouges the parquet of a library during a school book fair, a banner stand that marks a Dublin hotel wall at an author signing.
Something of theirs is in your hands. Tables, display units and equipment belonging to a venue or a school while you set up a stall.
Public liability covers what you owe the other party, up to your cover limit. Landlords, shopping centres, schools and event venues commonly ask to see it before they'll let you trade or host on their premises.
What is Public Liability insurance?
Your public liability insurance covers you and your business when you or your employees accidentally cause harm to a third party, whether that's injury to someone or damage to their property. It means a third-party claim is met by your policy rather than by your business, up to the limit you choose and after your excess.
How does it work: you tell us your activities and choose your cover limit and your excess, the amount you pay yourself towards a claim. If an accident during your work injures someone or damages their property, your policy covers the third-party claim and your defence costs.
What does it cover: Injury or property damage caused to others in the course of your bookselling 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 of others in your care (up to €5,000 per claim).
Cover that fits your work: Public Liability adapts to what you actually do, at the counter, online and out at fairs, school visits and author events. You select your activities when you apply, so the policy matches your real day-to-day risks.
Is it mandatory: Public Liability isn't required by law in Ireland. However, many landlords, shopping centres and event venues often make it a condition of trading or hosting on their premises. Get your cover from €7.55 per month with Insify.
Who needs it: any bookseller who welcomes customers into a shop, sells online or trades at fairs and events, whether you work alone or run a small team.
What does our insurance cover for bookshops?
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.
What is covered
Selling books, magazines, newspapers, stationery and calendars: in the shop and online.
Running events: author signings, launches, book clubs, seminars and training courses.
The shop you work from: if a customer trips on the step, you're covered.
Travelling for the business: a trade fair or a publisher meeting. If you knock something over while you're there, you're covered.
Customers' items left with you for work. Only if you haven't added cover for 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 tripped over a box of new books, broke a wrist, and claimed for treatment and lost earnings.
A display case was carried into a library for a school book fair and gouged the parquet floor. The library claimed for the repair and the make-good.
A staff member restocking a high shelf knocked a row of hardbacks onto a customer's laptop on the reading table below, breaking the screen. The customer claimed for the repair.
A customer tripped over a box of new books, broke a wrist, and claimed for treatment and lost earnings.
A display case was carried into a library for a school book fair and gouged the parquet floor. The library claimed for the repair and the make-good.
A staff member restocking a high shelf knocked a row of hardbacks onto a customer's laptop on the reading table below, breaking the screen. The customer claimed for the repair.
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 as a bookshop owner?
Criteria to compare:
The cover offered: check it matches the real shape of your work, including counter sales, online orders, book fairs, school visits and author events. Make sure every service you actually provide is declared, sidelines included.
The price: compare premiums, but a competitive premium can hide exclusions that matter to a bookshop.
The excess: know what stays at your own expense when a claim happens.
The exclusions: watch for undeclared services, trade lines that sit outside the policy, and goods left with you for repair.
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 fairs, school visits and author events are exactly where a bookshop meets the public on someone else's floor. 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 bookshops
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 shop sits at the lower end. A bookshop with staff, higher turnover, regular event work 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 tripping over a box of stock in an aisle, a passer-by struck by a pavement sign blowing over, a library floor scratched while you set up a book fair. It pays your defence costs and any compensation due, up to the cover limit you choose and after your excess. It responds whether the incident happens in your shop, at a school or at a venue where you are selling.
Insify's cover in Ireland is liability cover, not property cover, so your own books, stock, shelving, tills and fittings are not covered against damage or loss. What it does cover is your liability to other people: injury to a customer, or damage to property that belongs to someone else.
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 or hosting away from the shop, not only to incidents inside it. A display that damages a school hall floor, or a stand that marks a hotel wall at a signing, are the kinds of claim it answers. Company events, seminars and training courses you organise are included in your cover, and so are business trips.
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, venue terms and event contracts 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.