By Sajad, Founder at Cellbot — 25 years in the tech repair industry
Published: 19 August 2025 · Editorially reviewed: 26 August 2026 · Qualified insurance-broker review pending
Most UK phone repair businesses are not legally required to buy every type of commercial insurance. Employers' Liability insurance is the important exception for most businesses with employees. Motor insurance is also compulsory when a vehicle is used in circumstances that require it.
The commercial question is broader: would your policy respond if a customer's phone disappeared, a replacement battery caused damage, stock was stolen or the workshop had to close after a fire? A policy name alone does not answer that. The schedule, definitions, limits and exclusions do.
This guide helps you prepare for a broker conversation. It is not insurance advice or a recommendation for a particular policy.
Quick answer: most repair shops need a tailored combination rather than a policy with the right-sounding name. Start with any compulsory cover, then test customer devices, stock, batteries, work away, transit, cyber incidents and interrupted trading against the actual wording. Record the clause, limit, excess and evidence requirement for each material risk.
Cover at a glance
| Risk | Cover to discuss | Check carefully |
| Employee injury or illness | Employers' Liability | Whether an exemption applies and whether the statutory minimum is met |
| Customer injury or damaged property | Public liability | Work away, collection, delivery and market-stall activities |
| Fault linked to a supplied part | Product liability | Batteries, refurbished devices, imported parts and completed work |
| Customer device stolen or damaged while held | Property in your custody, care or control; sometimes called goods in trust | Per-device and total limits, theft conditions, unattended vehicles and transit |
| Your tools, parts and refurbished stock | Contents and stock | Replacement basis, security conditions, stock fluctuations and high-value items |
| Workshop cannot trade after insured damage | Business interruption | Indemnity period, payroll and realistic gross-profit basis |
| Data breach or cyber incident | Cyber cover | Device data, passcodes, ransomware response, notification costs and exclusions |
| Collections and deliveries | Commercial motor and goods in transit | Business use, couriers, subcontractors and unattended vehicles |
The wording varies between insurers. “Shop contents” may cover your own stock but exclude customer devices. “Public liability” may cover accidental property damage but not the device being worked on. Ask for written answers.
Download the repair-shop insurance cover register. It is a policy-comparison worksheet, not a statement that a risk is insured. Replace every `ENTER` field with wording supplied by your insurer or broker and retain the dated answer with the policy documents.
What is legally compulsory?
Employers' Liability
GOV.UK says most businesses must obtain Employers' Liability insurance as soon as they become an employer. The policy must normally provide at least £5 million of cover and come from an authorised insurer, although limited exceptions apply. Check the current Employers' Liability guidance before a technician, administrator or apprentice starts work.
You must also make the certificate accessible to employees. Do not assume a contractor label automatically removes the duty; employment status depends on the real arrangement.
Motor insurance
If a car or van is used for collections, mobile repairs or other business journeys, tell the motor insurer how it is used. Social and commuting cover is not automatically business-use cover.
Business.gov.uk summarises legally required and optional business insurance. Public liability is commonly requested by landlords, markets and commercial clients, but it is not a universal statutory requirement for every repair shop.
The customer-device gap
At any point, a shop may hold devices worth much more than its own tools. The important question is whether the policy covers property belonging to customers while it is:
- waiting for diagnosis;
- on a technician's bench;
- locked in overnight storage;
- being collected or delivered;
- sent through a courier; or
- temporarily held at an employee's home.
Ask the insurer to identify the exact clause, limit and excess. Then test it with realistic scenarios:
- A single high-value foldable phone is damaged during disassembly.
- Ten customer devices are stolen during a break-in.
- A device disappears from a locked van.
- A mail-in parcel arrives crushed and ownership of the damage is disputed.
- A swollen battery ignites and damages neighbouring devices.
A useful answer says which section responds and which evidence is required. “It should be covered” is not enough.
Public and product liability
Public liability can respond when business activity causes injury or damage to somebody else's property, subject to the policy. A customer tripping over a cable is different from a screen cracking while a technician removes it; the latter may fall within an exclusion for property being worked on.
Product liability matters when the shop supplies a part or refurbished device that later causes loss or injury. Tell the broker if you import batteries or components, sell refurbished phones, apply your own brand, or use parts without a clear UK supplier. Those details can change how the insurer sees the risk.
Keep purchase invoices, batch references, supplier terms, repair tickets and test results. They support both an insurance claim and a supplier recovery.
Our OEM versus aftermarket parts guide explains why vague part labels create avoidable warranty and liability disputes.
Premises, stock and tools
Create a current asset list rather than guessing a round number at renewal. Separate:
- tools and workshop equipment;
- saleable parts stock;
- refurbished devices owned by the business;
- customer property; and
- fixtures belonging to the landlord.
Check whether settlement is on a new-for-old, replacement or depreciated basis. Read every security condition: approved locks, shutters, alarms, safes, CCTV and key control can be conditions of theft cover rather than suggestions.
If you work from home, tell both the home and business insurers. GOV.UK warns that home insurance may not cover business stock, computers or customer visits.
Business interruption
Property cover pays for insured physical loss. It does not automatically replace the income lost while the shop is closed.
For business interruption, check:
- which insured events trigger cover;
- whether supplier or utility interruption is included;
- the waiting period;
- the maximum indemnity period;
- the definition of gross profit; and
- how increased working costs are handled.
Use actual accounts to set the sum insured. The repair shop accounting guide shows how to separate sales, direct parts cost and overhead so the calculation is not based on turnover alone.
Cyber and customer data
Repair businesses hold contact details, device identifiers, messages, photographs and sometimes unlock credentials. A cyber policy may pay for incident response, forensic work, legal advice, customer notification and recovery, but it will normally require reasonable controls.
Tell the broker whether staff access customer devices, how credentials are stored, whether remote tools are used and which cloud systems hold repair data. Check exclusions for unsupported software, weak authentication, social engineering and unencrypted devices.
Insurance does not replace data protection. Run the ICO's data protection fee self-assessment and maintain a practical access and retention policy.
How to compare quotes
Give every broker the same facts and request the policy wording, schedule and endorsements. Compare:
- named insured and trading activities;
- covered premises and work away;
- customer-device limit per item and in total;
- stock and seasonal increases;
- excess by claim type;
- theft, transit, battery and unattended-vehicle exclusions;
- business interruption basis and period;
- cyber conditions;
- notification deadlines; and
- insurer authorisation.
You can check firms on the Financial Services Register maintained by the FCA.
Do not choose solely on the annual premium. A cheaper policy that excludes property being worked on or customer devices can leave the shop's largest day-to-day risk uninsured.
Make a gap decision, not a wish list
For every material scenario, record one outcome:
- transfer: the policy wording responds within a sufficient limit;
- control: the shop reduces frequency or severity through storage, testing, access or handling rules;
- avoid: the shop stops an activity the insurer will not accept;
- retain: the business deliberately funds a tolerable loss; or
- escalate: the answer remains unclear and needs written specialist advice.
Do not mark a row “covered” because a proposal mentions a broad cover family. The evidence is the clause, schedule, endorsement and written answer applied to the scenario.
Evidence to keep before a claim
- dated inventory and equipment records;
- customer-device intake photographs;
- ticket history and completion tests;
- supplier invoices and part batches;
- alarm, lock and CCTV maintenance records;
- staff training and battery-handling procedures;
- courier tracking and packaging records; and
- incident reports written while facts are fresh.
Notify the insurer promptly when an incident may become a claim. Do not admit liability, dispose of evidence or promise a settlement before following the policy's instructions.
When to review the policy
Review cover when you move premises, employ somebody, add mail-in repairs, start mobile collections, import parts, sell refurbished stock or increase the number of customer devices held overnight. Those changes can matter more than the renewal date.
The goal is not to buy every available add-on. It is to identify the losses that would threaten the business, transfer the risks a policy can sensibly cover, and control the rest through better intake, storage, testing and records.
What changed in this review
The 26 August 2026 review added a scenario-led cover register, a five-stage decision graphic, clearer risk-transfer outcomes and the current Business.gov.uk insurance reference. Product recommendations, insurer rankings and invented premium ranges were deliberately excluded.
