Retail insurance for Surrey shop owners — built to protect your stock, your lease, and your income. For the owner who opens at 9 and locks up at 7.

One of our advisors — preferably the advisor who placed your coverage, or a senior advisor — stays on the phone with the adjuster from first report to final cheque. Kuljeet and Seema lead commercial claims; one of them is on your file the whole way. We help you document the loss, photograph what's damaged, organize the receipts, push for fair settlement, and translate the adjuster's questions into plain English (or Punjabi or Hindi). If your theft sub-limit was too low to cover the actual loss, that's a conversation we should have had before the break-in — and the reason we emphasize the 15-Minute Coverage Review.

For existing Prime commercial clients with active policies: within 2 business hours, during commercial desk hours (Mon–Fri 8:30am–6:00pm). For new clients: same business day once we have complete information. Retail COIs often list the landlord and sometimes a mall management company as additional insureds. Two hours gives us time to get it right. If we miss the window for an existing client, we send you a $50 gift card.

Usually yes. Many Surrey commercial leases require proof of insurance — a Certificate of Insurance naming the landlord (and sometimes the property management company) as additional insured — before keys are released. The lease typically specifies minimum CGL limits ($2M is common; $5M for larger units or higher-exposure operations), required coverage sections, and the additional-insured wording. Bring the lease (or just the insurance clause) to a 15-Minute Coverage Review and we'll match the policy to what the lease actually requires — not what the previous tenant had.

"Fully covered" is a sentence, not a coverage. The 15-Minute Coverage Review answers the specific questions: what's your theft sub-limit against peak stock, is tenant improvements scheduled, what's your business interruption indemnity period, is cyber coverage on the policy, does CGL cover the products you sell? You get the answers in writing. You keep the document. If "fully covered" was accurate, we'll tell you. If it wasn't, you'll see exactly where.

The property limit is the big number on the front of your declarations page — what the policy will pay for a covered loss overall, like a fire. The theft sub-limit is a smaller number inside the policy that caps what gets paid specifically for theft claims. They're almost never the same. A property limit of $300,000 can sit next to a theft sub-limit of $25,000 in the same policy. Most retailers don't know the second number exists until a break-in.

Most retail property policies include a co-insurance clause that says you have to insure your stock to a certain percentage of its actual value — typically 80% or 90%. If you don't, the insurer reduces your recovery by the same proportion you under-declared. Declare $80,000 in stock when you actually carry $160,000? Your $80,000 fire loss gets paid at half: $40,000. The other $40,000 comes out of the business. It's a clause baked into the policy, not a penalty. We review declared stock at renewal and during seasonal inventory changes (Christmas, Diwali, wedding season, back-to-school) so the clause is less likely to surprise you at claim time.

The landlord's insurance covers the landlord. If a fire or water loss in your unit damages the building, the landlord's insurer pays the landlord — and may pursue recovery from the tenant whose unit caused the loss. That recovery claim lands on you. Tenant's Legal Liability (TLL) is designed to respond, subject to policy terms, exclusions, and limits. It's a different product from Tenant Improvements, and it often has a lower limit hidden inside a Business Pak. We review the TLL limit against your lease requirement, occupancy, and available policy options — not just the boilerplate default.

Against your peak stock, not your average. If you carry $50,000 most of the year but $100,000 in the weeks before Christmas or a big sale event, the coverage needs to reflect the peak. Also think about where the stock sits — cash in the till vs cash in the safe are usually different limits, and high-value items like jewellery or electronics often need specific endorsements above the standard theft sub-limit.

When you lease a raw space and build it out — shelving, lighting, flooring, signage, counters, fixtures — all of that is "tenant improvements." Legally the improvements belong to the landlord at the end of the lease. Financially you paid for them. Tenant improvements is a separate limit on your policy that covers the money you invested in the build-out. If it isn't scheduled, a fire claim pays the landlord for the structure and you get nothing for what you spent on the interior.

That's what CGL is for. Commercial General Liability covers third-party injury on your premises — the classic wet floor, someone trips over a display, a shopping basket causes an injury. The insurer investigates and defends covered claims, and pays covered damages up to the policy limit if liability is established. Many retail leases require $2M minimum; larger operations are often asked for $5M. Defence coverage is typically included.

Potentially yes. As the retailer, you're often the closest party a plaintiff can reach — even when the manufacturer is overseas. Product liability is part of most retail CGL policies, but limits and exclusions vary. If you import directly rather than buying from a Canadian distributor, the exposure is higher. Worth specifically reviewing on a 15-minute session if this applies to your business.

More than people think. Even a bricks-and-mortar shop runs a POS system, stores payment card data, accepts Interac and credit cards, and has employee and supplier information on some kind of computer. A POS breach, a compromised email account, ransomware on the back-office laptop — all of these are cyber losses. For many retailers, it's worth pricing rather than ignoring.

Partly. This page is written for retailers whose main business is the physical storefront. If online sales are a significant part of your business — and especially if most of your sales are online and the storefront is secondary — the exposure looks different (no foot traffic, bigger inventory hubs, shipping liability, cross-border tax and regulatory issues, cyber as a central rather than secondary concern). Call us and we'll talk through whether a standard retail policy fits or whether we should build something with e-commerce in mind.

It varies by category, square footage, peak stock value, claims history, and lease structure. A solo independent retailer with modest stock can land in the $1,200–$2,500 range. A larger retail operation with high-value inventory, multiple staff, and significant tenant improvements is typically $4,000–$10,000+. Categories like jewellery, electronics, and licensed retail are usually higher than gift or apparel at similar size. These ranges are illustrative only — your actual premium depends on underwriting, limits, deductibles, claims history, and carrier appetite. The 15-Minute Coverage Review gives you specific numbers from three competing insurers — not a generic range.

Yes. People on our Fleetwood team speak English, Punjabi (ਪੰਜਾਬੀ), and Hindi (हिन्दी) every day. Coverage reviews, claims, Certificate of Insurance requests, or walking through the policy line by line — all of it can happen in your preferred language. Ask for Kul, Kuljeet, Seema, or the commercial desk when you call.

The office is in Fleetwood. The service isn't. Our retail clients run shops along King George Boulevard, Scott Road, Newton Town Centre, Cloverdale, South Surrey, White Rock, and across Langley and Delta. The address is just where we sit.

Over the past decade, a lot of BC family brokerages have been bought up by national consolidators and insurance-company-owned networks. Prime hasn't. Same Shergill family. Same Fleetwood address. Same voices on the phone when you call. If you run a family retail business — and a lot of Surrey retail is family retail — there's something simpler about dealing with a brokerage that hasn't been flipped.