Office insurance in brief:
An office package policy combines fire and allied perils cover with optional sections for burglary, electronic equipment, money, fidelity, plate glass, public liability, personal accident and business interruption. It suits owned and rented offices. It is not mandatory by law in India, but landlords, lenders and client contracts often require it. Premiums for small offices can start from a few hundred rupees a year, plus GST.
An office package policy is a single insurance policy that bundles several covers an office needs. The fire section is compulsory. You then add the other sections that match your risks, such as burglary, electronic equipment or money.
Buying one package instead of separate policies means one renewal date, one policy schedule and one claims contact. It also avoids gaps between policies, for example a laptop that is covered for fire but not for theft.
What you insure depends on whether you own or rent. Owners insure the building structure, either within the package or through separate building insurance. Tenants insure their interiors (called leasehold improvements), furniture, IT equipment and contents, and the landlord insures the building.
Any business that works from a physical office and could not easily absorb the cost of replacing it should consider office insurance. It is most relevant for:
An office package policy is built from the sections below. Only the fire section is compulsory. Exact cover, limits and deductibles depend on the insurer's policy wording.
Covers the building, fit-outs, furniture and contents against fire, lightning, explosion, riot, strike, malicious damage, storm, flood, inundation and impact damage. Earthquake is included in the standard Bharat fire policies. Terrorism is usually an add-on.
Covers loss of or damage to contents after forcible and violent entry into, or exit from, the office. Theft without signs of forced entry is usually not covered unless you add an extension.
Covers IT and electronic equipment against sudden accidental damage, short circuit, voltage fluctuation and breakdown, in addition to fire and burglary. Laptops taken outside the office need portable equipment cover.
Covers laptops, tablets, cameras and other equipment that staff carry outside the office, against theft and accidental damage, within the geographical limits in the policy.
Covers sudden mechanical or electrical breakdown of air conditioners, lifts, DG sets, UPS units and EPABX systems.
Covers cash and cheques stolen from the office safe or robbed in transit between the office and the bank.
Covers financial loss from fraud or dishonesty by employees, such as misappropriated cash or fraudulent payments.
Covers accidental breakage of glass doors, windows, partitions and illuminated signboards.
Covers your legal liability if a visitor is injured or their property is damaged at your office.
Covers death or disablement of employees from an accident, within the sum insured chosen per person.
Covers the loss of income and continuing costs, such as rent, salaries and loan interest, while the office is shut after insured damage. It can also pay for temporary premises.
Covers employees' baggage on business travel and the cost of recreating damaged office records.
Add-ons extend the base cover for a small extra premium. The most useful for offices are:
Office insurance does not cover losses that are gradual, deliberate or excluded by the policy wording. Common exclusions are listed below. Always check the wording before you buy.
Covered | Not covered |
Sudden fire, flood, storm or lightning damage | Wear and tear and gradual deterioration |
Burglary with forced entry | Unexplained loss or shortage found at stock-taking |
Sudden electrical or mechanical breakdown | Damage from poor maintenance or wilful negligence |
Cash stolen from a locked safe | Cash left outside a safe after business hours |
Employee fraud (with fidelity cover) | Losses discovered after the policy's discovery period |
Accidental glass breakage | War, nuclear risks and pollution |
Income lost after insured damage | Loss of income without physical damage to property |
Insure your office for the cost of replacing it today, not what you originally paid. This is called the reinstatement value. The alternative, market value, deducts depreciation and leaves you short of money to rebuild.
If you insure for less than the true value, the insurer applies the average clause and pays only a proportion of every claim.
Worked example (grey box): Your office contents are worth ₹50 lakh but insured for ₹30 lakh. A fire causes ₹10 lakh of damage. The insurer pays ₹10 lakh × (30 ÷ 50) = ₹6 lakh, and you absorb ₹4 lakh.
To set the sum insured correctly:
Review values at every renewal and after any office expansion.
The premium is calculated section by section: the rate for each section is multiplied by its sum insured, then adjusted for location, security and claims history. Small offices can pay from a few hundred to a few thousand rupees a year, plus GST.
Office type | Typical sum insured | Indicative annual premium |
Small or home office | Up to ₹25 lakh | ₹600 – ₹8,000 |
Medium rented office | ₹25 lakh – ₹1 crore | ₹8,000 – ₹25,000 |
Large or multi-floor office | Above ₹1 crore | ₹25,000 – ₹1 lakh+ |
Note: “Indicative annual premiums. Your actual quote depends on the factors below.”
Factors that affect your premium:
| Office package policy | Bharat Sookshma Udyam Suraksha | Bharat Laghu Udyam Suraksha | |
| Best for | Offices needing wide cover | Small offices | Mid-sized offices |
| Value at risk (per location) | No fixed limit | Up to ₹5 crore | ₹5 crore – ₹50 crore |
| Property cover (fire and allied perils) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Earthquake, flood and storm | Per policy wording | Included | Included |
| Burglary, electronics, money, liability | Yes, as sections | Burglary as an add-on only | Burglary as an add-on only |
| Underinsurance relief | Per policy wording | Up to 15% waived | Up to 15% waived |
Inform the insurer, or Edify Brokers, as soon as the loss happens, and keep all evidence until the surveyor has inspected it.
Timelines: Under IRDAI's 2024 Master Circular on policyholder protection, the insurer must allocate a surveyor within 24 hours and the surveyor must report within 15 days. For retail policies, the insurer must then decide within 7 days, and late payments earn interest at bank rate plus 2%. If a claim is wrongly rejected, you can escalate to the insurer's grievance officer, then IRDAI's Bima Bharosa portal, and micro enterprises can also approach the Insurance Ombudsman.
Documents Required:
Claim type | Documents |
All claims | Claim form, policy copy, photos of the damage, repair or replacement estimates, asset register or purchase invoices |
Fire | Fire brigade report (if called) |
Burglary or theft | Police FIR and final police report (non-traceable certificate) |
Electronic equipment | Service engineer's report on the cause of damage |
Money | FIR, cash book and bank records |
Business interruption | Audited accounts, monthly sales records and a list of continuing expenses |
An insurer can only sell you its own policy. As an IRDAI-registered broker, Edify Brokers works for you, not the insurer.
