Business owner's policy (France, MRP)

A small business needs several insurances: its premises, owned or rented, its equipment, its stock, its liability toward customers and third parties, and loss of income if a loss forces it to close. The business owner's policy combines them in a single contract, tailored by trade: bakery, restaurant, hair salon, retail shop, professional practice, workshop. The property part covers fire, water damage, weather events, theft, glass breakage, often machinery breakdown and cold-room goods. The business interruption part pays lost margin during closure, and sometimes the loss of value of the business goodwill. The liability part covers public liability, sometimes products liability. Legal protection and assistance are added. The format's appeal is simplicity and price, calculated on simple criteria, floor area, revenue, activity. Its limit is that of any standardized product: covers are calibrated on an average profile, and an insured whose business departs from the model may discover at claim time insufficient limits or unexpected exclusions, especially in business interruption, where disputes over the administrative closures of 2020 showed the importance of the exact wording.