Made in the workshop, fitted on someone’s floor.
Commercial insurance for shopfitters and joinery contractors of any size: a one-bench workshop, or a full unit with machinery and a delivery fleet.
Shopfitting & joinery contractor insurance
Usually includes
Public liability
Employers’ liability
Premises & contents
Business interruption
Stock & work in progress
Tools, plant & equipment
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 tools, the van, your liability and the work in progress, priced in one go rather than piece by piece.
Know your cover
What is shopfitting & joinery insurance?
Shopfitting is two businesses in one: a workshop making things, and a fitting operation installing them in somebody else’s premises, usually overnight or to a deadline. Both halves carry risk, and the machinery and timber in the workshop are often the biggest single asset, whatever size the operation. Cover for it comes as a commercial combined policy: property, liability and business interruption in one, with fleet alongside, sized to what you actually run.
The workshop
Machinery, timber and part-made units, and a real fire load to go with them.
The people doing the work
Bench joiners and fitting teams. Both have to be declared.
The days you can’t work
If the workshop stops, nothing ships and nothing gets fitted.
Who it’s for
Whatever you make and fit.
✓
Bespoke joinery workshops
One-off and made-to-measure joinery.
✓
Shopfitting contractors
Retail and hospitality fit-outs, often overnight.
✓
Commercial fit-out joiners
Office and workplace interiors.
✓
Furniture & fitted joinery makers
Wardrobes, studies and built-in furniture.
✓
Firms with a delivery fleet
Getting finished units to site and installed.
✓
Multi-workshop operators
More than one unit, and equally, businesses running just the one.
What we cover
Cover built around the way you work.
We get to know how you actually run before we build anything around it.
Public liability
Injury or damage arising from your work, in the workshop or on a client’s premises.
Employers’ liability
Required by law from your first employee, bench or site.
Premises & contents
The workshop or unit you work out of, and everything in it.
Business interruption
If the workshop stops, nothing ships. This covers the trading you lose.
Stock & work in progress
Timber, sheet materials and part-made units in the workshop.
Tools, plant & equipment
Saws, spindle moulders, CNC and hand tools, workshop and site.
Legal expenses
Contract disputes, employment matters and the cost of defending a claim.
Fleet
Vans and delivery vehicles on one fleet policy alongside the main cover.
Cyber & data
A payment diverted to someone posing as a subcontractor, and an attack on the office systems that hold your contracts and payroll.
Who this cover tends to suit.
This cover is generally bought by shopfitters and joinery contractors at any size, from a one-bench workshop to a full unit with machinery and a fleet. Not every part will apply to every business, so tell us how you’re set up and we’ll show you what’s relevant rather than sell you cover you don’t need.
Worth knowing
Check the details before you choose.
Dust and fire load
Wood dust and finishing products make workshops a closer-looked-at risk.
Spray finishing
A spray booth changes the picture and usually brings conditions.
Fitting on site
Installing in someone else’s premises is a separate exposure from making.
Overnight and out-of-hours work
Retail fit-outs often happen when the shop is shut. Worth flagging.
Every fit-out is different.
A bespoke kitchen and a national retail rollout don’t carry the same risk. We ask different questions, and we’ll quote both.
Shopfitters
Joinery contractors
Bespoke joinery
Retail fit-out
Office fit-out
Hospitality fit-out
Fitted furniture
Cabinet making
Shopfitters
Joinery contractors
Bespoke joinery
Retail fit-out
Office fit-out
Hospitality fit-out
Fitted furniture
Cabinet making
Bar & counter fitting
Display joinery
Reception desks
Shelving & racking
Spray finishing
CNC joinery
Site installation
Rollout programmes
Bar & counter fitting
Display joinery
Reception desks
Shelving & racking
Spray finishing
CNC joinery
Site installation
Rollout programmes
Why Vara
Bespoke service for you & your business,
without the big-firm minimum.
01
The bench and the fleet, before we quote
A one-bench workshop and a full unit with machinery and a delivery fleet differ on machinery values, stock and vehicles. We ask what you run before we approach anyone.
02
Cover for both halves of the business
The workshop and the fitting operation. We make sure neither falls through the gap.
03
Certificates your contracts will accept
Retail clients and principals want proof before you start. We turn it round quickly.
04
We present the risk right
Machinery, dust control, finishing and claims history all change what you pay.
You talk to a person. The machines do the typing.
Free review of your shopfitting and joinery cover and costs.
Cover spread across three or four policies? Leave your details and we’ll call you straight back. One conversation covers the lot.
What the review covers
Wood dust and finishing products make workshop premises a closer-looked-at risk, and insurers want to know your extraction and housekeeping.
A spray booth usually brings its own conditions, so tell us if you spray finish in-house.
We approach insurers on our panel who write shopfitting and joinery 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
Shopfitting & joinery questions, answered straight.
What insurance does a shopfitter need?
Does wood dust affect my premises cover?
Does spray finishing change things?
Is fitting on site covered as well as the workshop?
Can my delivery vehicles go on the same arrangement?
How is business interruption calculated?
Are my materials and stock covered, or just tools?
What does this cover if I lease my premises?
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.