A fish and chip shop concentrates a large volume of hot oil into a small unit that trades in the evening and shuts up for the night. Insurers have a long memory of what happens next, and the conditions on the policy are the record of it.
Fire, and the conditions written around the range
High volume frying is the dominant peril, and wordings respond with conditions rather than exclusions: extraction and duct cleaning at stated intervals by a competent contractor, a maintained suppression system where fitted, a documented shutdown procedure at close, periodic electrical inspection, and often a requirement that the range is serviced annually. Each is a condition, so a fire after a missed duct clean can be declined even though fire is plainly insured.
Oil, and the loss that is not the fire
Used oil storage, disposal and the handling of hot oil at change over are the everyday injury risks, and burns are the employers' liability claim this trade makes. Insurers ask how oil is changed, whether it is done hot or cold, and what the training says. Escape of oil that damages a neighbouring unit is a liability claim, and in a terraced parade the neighbour is usually close enough to matter.
Stock, freezers and the power going off
Frozen fish and chipped potatoes represent real money in freezers running overnight in an empty shop. Deterioration of stock after a refrigeration breakdown or a power failure is a specific extension rather than part of contents, usually with conditions about maintenance and sometimes temperature monitoring. A single compressor failure on a Sunday night is the most likely loss this trade will make in an average year.
Being shut, and the customers coming back
A shop that burns out does not trade from anywhere else, and reopening waits on a fit out, a new range and an extraction installation rather than on a delivery of stock. Business interruption should therefore carry an indemnity period covering the rebuild and the period afterwards in which trade is recovered, because a local takeaway's customers find somewhere else within a fortnight and do not all come back on the day it reopens.
Questions people ask about fish and chip shop insurance
Why does the insurer ask about duct cleaning?
Because it is a policy condition. Grease build up in extraction is a leading cause of fire in frying premises, and a missed interval can defeat a fire claim.
Is frozen stock covered if a freezer fails?
Only with a deterioration of stock extension, usually with conditions about maintenance and sometimes temperature monitoring.
How long should business interruption run?
Long enough for a rebuild including a new range and extraction, plus the period in which trade is won back, which is the slower half for a local takeaway.