Lose the licence and you lose the shop.
Cover for off-licences and specialist drinks retailers: the stock, the premises, the takings, and the licence the whole business depends on.
Off-licence insurance
Usually includes
Stock
Buildings & shopfront
Money
Legal expenses
Public liability
Stock deterioration
One
conversation.
You explain the business once, and we take it from there.
Bespoke service
for your business
No two businesses are the same, so we start with yours rather than with a template.
Everything
quoted together.
The premises, your stock, your liability and the trade you would lose, priced in one go rather than piece by piece.
Know your cover
What is off-licence insurance?
An off-licence is a retail business whose right to trade sits in a document. The stock is valuable, attractive to thieves and often fragile, and the premises licence carries conditions that a review can tighten or remove. That makes this a shop policy with two additions most shops do not need: a stock figure that reflects high-value lines, and cover for the cost of defending the licence itself.
It covers the stock
Wines, spirits and beers, which are valuable per shelf metre and break when they fall.
It covers the premises
The shop, the glazing, the chillers and the fit-out that holds the stock at temperature.
It does not renew the licence
Legal expenses can fund a defence at a review. No policy restores a licence a committee has removed.
Who it’s for
Whatever you sell.
✓
Independent off-licences
Owner-run shops with a premises licence and a personal licence holder on site.
✓
Specialist wine merchants
Higher unit values, fine wine stock and sometimes storage held for customers.
✓
Craft beer shops and taprooms
Retail alongside consumption on the premises, which changes the liability picture.
✓
Convenience stores with a licence
Alcohol as one category among many, but with the same licensing obligations.
✓
Online drinks retailers
Stock held for despatch, with age verification at the point of delivery.
✓
Multi-site licensed retailers
Several shops, several licences and a designated premises supervisor at each.
What we cover
Cover built around your licence.
We ask what you sell, what the licence allows and how the stock is held before we approach anyone. Then show you what’s available, and you decide what fits.
Stock
Wines, spirits and beers, valuable per shelf and fragile, with high-value lines declared separately.
Buildings & shopfront
The structure if you own it, the glazing and the shutters, which are what a break-in goes through.
Money
Takings on the premises and in transit, which for a licensed shop means a long trading day’s worth.
Legal expenses
The cost of defending a licence review or a prosecution, and of recovering money owed to you.
Public liability
A customer injured in the shop, including on broken glass or a wet floor.
Stock deterioration
Chilled stock lost when a chiller or the power fails, which is not part of standard stock cover.
Employers’ liability
Required by law from your first employee, including anyone covering evenings.
Business interruption
The trade lost while the shop is closed, and the effect of a suspension on the income.
Cyber & data
The till and stock system, the customer list, and the card payments that stop with them.
Who this cover tends to suit.
This cover is generally bought by licensed drinks retailers, from a single independent off-licence to a specialist merchant holding fine wine for customers. Not every part will apply to every business, so tell us how you’re set up and we’ll show you what’s relevant.
Worth knowing
Check the details before you choose.
The licence is not an insurable asset
Legal expenses can fund a defence at a review or a prosecution. Nothing restores a licence that has been removed, which is why the conditions on it matter more than any limit.
High-value stock is declared separately
Spirits and fine wine can be sub-limited inside a general stock figure. If you hold anything unusual, list it rather than let an average carry it.
Customers’ stock is a separate question
Holding wine that belongs to a customer is goods in your custody, which is not the same as your own stock. Tell us if you do it.
Age verification forms part of the presentation
Insurers and licensing authorities both look at what process you operate. A documented one helps the presentation as well as the licence.
Every shop is different.
A high-street off-licence and a fine wine merchant don’t carry the same risk, so we ask different questions for each.
Off-licences
Wine merchants
Fine wine
Craft beer shops
Taprooms
Spirits retail
Convenience with licence
Online drinks retail
Mail order
Customer storage
Tastings and events
Chilled stock
Multi-site licensed
Personal licence holders
Age verification
Premises licence
Off-licences
Wine merchants
Fine wine
Craft beer shops
Taprooms
Spirits retail
Convenience with licence
Online drinks retail
Mail order
Customer storage
Tastings and events
Chilled stock
Multi-site licensed
Personal licence holders
Age verification
Premises licence
Why Vara
Bespoke service for you & your business,
without the big-firm minimum.
01
The licence conditions get read
What the premises licence requires shapes the risk and sometimes the claim. We read it rather than take the trade description at face value.
02
Stock is split, not averaged
High-value lines behave differently from the general shelf. We present them separately so a targeted theft is properly answered.
03
Deterioration is raised early
Chilled stock lost to a failed chiller is not covered by a stock figure alone. We raise it rather than wait to be asked.
04
We present the risk right
Stock mix, licence conditions, security, hours and claims history. How it’s framed changes what you pay.
You talk to a person. The machines do the typing.
Free review of your off-licence cover and costs.
On a policy that treats spirits like tinned goods? Leave your details and we’ll call you straight back. One conversation covers the lot.
What the review covers
Legal expenses cover can fund a defence at a licence review or prosecution — nothing restores a licence that has been removed.
High-value lines such as spirits or fine wine can be sub-limited inside a general stock figure, so it’s worth declaring them separately.
We approach insurers on our panel who write licensed drinks retail risks, and come back with what they’ll offer.
We explain each option in plain English, including what it doesn’t cover.
If it’s not a risk we can place, we’ll tell you straight away rather than leave you waiting.
No obligation to switch. You decide what fits.
Rather not wait? Call us on 0333 091 3663
Good to know
Off-licence insurance questions, answered straight.
What insurance does an off-licence need?
Can I insure the licence itself?
Is spirits stock covered by my stock figure?
What if I hold wine that belongs to a customer?
Am I covered if a chiller fails?
Does selling online change my cover?
Do tastings and events affect anything?
What security will insurers expect?
Vara Commercial Insurance · 0333 091 3663
Vara is a trading name of Koral AI Operating Company Limited. Vara is an appointed representative of Innovative Risk Labs Ltd, under Firm Reference Number 1060955. Innovative Risk Labs Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, under FRN 609155. We are registered in England and Wales under Registered Company Number 17256222. Registered office: 167-169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor, London, W1W 5PF.