A guide for founders, CFOs, operations & HR teams
Fire insurance for businesses in India, explained plainly.
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Business fire insurance can help cover your office, shop, factory, warehouse, stock, machinery, computers, furniture, interiors and other insured assets if they’re damaged by fire or other covered events. This guide explains what it covers, what STFI and RSMD mean, how to choose the right sum insured, what affects premium, and what happens during a claim.
20 minutes with an advisor — to map your locations, your assets and where your current cover leaves gaps. No obligation.
Fire insurance for business: the quick answer
Fire insurance for a business helps cover insured property — buildings, stock, machinery, equipment, computers, furniture and interiors — against fire and other named events such as lightning, explosion, STFI and RSMD, depending on the policy wording.
The decisions that matter most: which assets to insure, whether STFI, earthquake, burglary, terrorism and business interruption are included, and whether the sum insured is set on reinstatement value rather than old book value.
- Best for: offices, shops, factories, warehouses, clinics, restaurants, startups — any business with physical assets or stock.
- Biggest risk: underinsurance, especially when assets are insured at old book values.
- What a broker does: compares insurers, checks exclusions, sets the right sum insured, and supports your claim.
What is fire insurance for a business?
Fire insurance for a business is a policy designed to pay for repairing, rebuilding or replacing insured property — such as premises, stock, machinery, computers, furniture and interiors — if it’s damaged by fire or other insured events listed in the policy. Despite the name, a modern business fire policy often covers far more than fire alone.
Depending on the wording, it may also respond to events such as lightning, explosion, storm, flood, inundation, riot, strike, malicious damage, impact damage and other named perils. You’ll see this cover described in several overlapping ways — fire insurance, commercial property insurance, business asset insurance, office insurance or an office package policy — all answering the same question: what happens to the things my business owns if something destroys them?
Fire insurance meaning, in simple words
Fire insurance is a promise that if an insured event damages insured property, the insurer pays towards repair, replacement or rebuilding — up to the applicable sum insured, and subject to the policy wording, exclusions, deductibles and conditions.
How is business fire insurance different from home insurance?
Home insurance is built around a household. Business cover is built around how a business loses money: not just the building, but the stock you can’t sell, the machines that stop, the equipment you rely on, and — if you add it — the income you lose while you’re shut. The risks, the values and the extensions are different, which is why businesses use a business policy rather than a household one.
Fire insurance vs property, office and asset insurance — what’s the difference?
Short answer: these terms describe the same broad family of cover from different angles. The label matters less than the assets covered, the perils included and the sum insured selected.
| Term | What it usually means | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| Fire insurance | Cover for fire and named allied perils such as explosion, lightning, STFI and RSMD | Businesses with premises, stock, equipment or machinery |
| Commercial property insurance | Broader wording for insuring business premises, contents and assets | Companies thinking about buildings and contents together |
| Business asset insurance | Cover framed around assets owned or used by the business | Firms with equipment, furniture, stock, interiors or machinery |
| Office insurance / office package | A bundled policy combining fire, burglary, electronic equipment, money and other sections | Offices, shops, clinics, showrooms and SMEs |
The practical point: don’t get stuck on the label. What matters is that the right perils, the right assets and the right sum insured are inside the policy — and that’s the part a broker is for.
Why your business needs fire and asset insurance
Because one bad hour can undo years of work. A fire, a flood or a break-in doesn’t just damage a wall — it can take out your stock, your machines, your servers, your records and your ability to trade, all at once.
- Fire can destroy more than the building. Stock you’ve paid for, machines you depend on, computers, interiors and paperwork can all go in a single event.
- Burglary and theft hit cash flow immediately. Replacing stolen equipment or stock is an unplanned bill at the worst possible time.
- Natural events can stop operations. Storm, flood and inundation can shut a site for weeks, not hours.
- Other people may expect you to be covered. Landlords, lenders, investors and large customers often want proof of insurance before they sign.
- One uninsured incident can wipe out years of profit. Insurance can turn a sudden, severe loss into a structured recovery — provided the policy is set up correctly.
Why your landlord’s insurance probably won’t protect your assets
A common and costly assumption. Your landlord’s policy is built to protect their building — not your fit-outs, your stock, your equipment or your income. If those are yours, they’re your risk to insure. Worth checking your lease and your own cover rather than hoping.
Pressure-test what your current cover would — and would not — respond to after a serious loss.
What does fire insurance cover?
A business fire policy typically covers sudden and accidental physical loss or damage to insured property caused by events named in the policy wording. The exact list of covered perils depends on the product, insurer, endorsements, exclusions and location-level underwriting.
Fire and allied perils
The standard set of insured events may include:
- Fire
- Lightning
- Explosion or implosion
- Aircraft damage
- Impact damage from external objects, such as vehicles or falling trees
- Riot, strike and malicious damage (RSMD — see below)
- Storm, tempest, flood and inundation (STFI — see below)
- Bursting and overflowing of water tanks, apparatus and pipes
- Leakage from automatic sprinkler installations
- Subsidence, landslide and rockslide, where covered
- Bush fire and other named perils, where included
Earthquake is usually selected separately or added by endorsement. Exact perils, conditions and exclusions vary by policy wording.
What is STFI full form in insurance?
STFI stands for Storm, Tempest, Flood and Inundation. In a business fire policy, STFI cover can cover damage to insured property caused by these natural events, subject to the policy terms, excess, exclusions and location-level underwriting. It matters most for ground-floor premises, basements, warehouses and locations prone to waterlogging or heavy monsoon. In many wordings it may be included as standard, but it’s worth confirming it isn’t excluded or restricted for your location.
What is RSMD in insurance?
RSMD stands for Riot, Strike and Malicious Damage. It can cover damage to insured property caused by riots, strikes, vandalism or malicious acts by third parties, depending on the policy wording.
Earthquake and catastrophe extensions
Not every natural peril is automatically included. Earthquake (and some other catastrophe perils) is typically an opt-in selection or endorsement rather than a default. If you’re in a seismically active zone, this is a deliberate decision to make, not an assumption to leave to chance.
Terrorism cover
Terrorism is usually excluded from the standard fire policy and added back as a separate cover — so it’s a deliberate choice, not automatic. In India this terrorism add-on is commonly placed through a shared market terrorism pool, with standard wording and a defined excess. It’s not the same as RSMD: riot, strike and malicious damage cover everyday unrest, while terrorism cover responds specifically to acts of terrorism, subject to the terrorism clause. Worth considering for premises in higher-risk or high-profile locations.
What business assets can be insured?
Most physical things your business owns and uses can be insured — the building (if you own it), everything fitted inside it, and the stock and equipment you trade with. A typical policy can cover:
- The building, if it’s owned by the business
- Office interiors and fit-outs
- Furniture, fixtures and fittings
- Plant and machinery
- Stock and inventory — raw materials, work in progress and finished goods
- Computers, servers and electronic equipment
- Tools and trade equipment
- Signage, plate glass and electrical installations
- Documents, records and valuable business papers — where specifically covered
- Money (in safe or in transit) and employee fidelity — where added under a package
If you operate from leased premises, pay special attention to fit-outs, interiors, improvements and assets you’re contractually responsible for under the lease. Your landlord’s building policy will usually not cover these.
How each is valued matters as much as whether it’s listed — see how much sum insured should you choose, below.
Fire and burglary insurance: should you combine them?
For many businesses, fire and burglary are two obvious physical-asset risks to review together. Fire can destroy property; burglary can remove stock, equipment and cash-flow-critical assets overnight. That’s why they’re often bought together, or included in an office package policy.
What is burglary insurance?
Burglary insurance usually covers loss of, or damage to, business property caused by burglary or housebreaking — typically theft involving forcible and violent entry to or exit from the premises, as defined in the policy wording. It may cover stock, equipment, furniture and contents, and sometimes damage caused to the premises during the break-in.
Difference between theft and burglary insurance
The distinction is in the wording, and it matters at claim time. Burglary usually requires evidence of forcible and violent entry or exit. Theft can be defined more broadly or more narrowly depending on the policy — some losses (like unexplained disappearance, or theft by your own staff) may need a different cover such as fidelity guarantee. Reading these definitions before you buy is the difference between assuming you’re covered and actually being covered.
Why businesses often combine fire and burglary cover
- They’re two major physical-asset risks that are often reviewed together.
- One policy or package is simpler to administer than several.
- It suits offices, retail stores, showrooms, warehouses and clinics especially well.
Office package insurance: one policy, or separate covers?
An office package policy bundles several covers — fire, burglary, electronic equipment, money, fidelity, public liability, plate glass and more — into a single policy with one renewal date. For many SMEs that’s simpler and can leave fewer gaps than buying everything separately. But it’s not automatically the right answer; it depends on your risk and how carefully the sub-limits are set.
The biggest risk with package policies isn’t the idea of bundling — it’s assuming every section has the same limit. Fire, burglary, money, equipment, glass and fidelity sections may each have separate limits, conditions and exclusions.
| Approach | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Separate standalone policies | Most room to customise each cover | More admin, more renewals, possible gaps between policies |
| Office package policy | Simpler, bundled, one renewal | Must check each section’s sub-limits and exclusions |
| A broker-designed programme | Built around your actual risk and values | Needs proper asset data to do well |
There’s no single “best” structure — only the one that fits your assets, your locations and your exposures.
Other covers worth adding alongside fire insurance
Fire and asset cover pays for physical loss. Several adjacent covers fill the gaps it doesn’t reach — and for many businesses these matter as much as the core.
Business interruption / loss of profits
The one people most often miss. Your fire policy may pay to repair damaged property; this can help replace lost gross profit, ongoing standing charges and the increased cost of working while your business is affected by an insured event.
Machinery breakdown
Can cover sudden, unforeseen breakdown of plant and machinery — relevant for manufacturers, factories, restaurants, clinics and warehouses.
Electronic equipment
Can cover servers, computers, diagnostic and office electronics against a broad range of sudden damage — useful for IT-led and equipment-heavy businesses.
Money and fidelity guarantee
Money insurance can cover cash in transit or in the safe; fidelity guarantee can cover loss caused by dishonest acts of your own employees.
Plate glass, signage and extensions
Useful for retail, clinics, showrooms and customer-facing offices — glass fronts, signage and similar that a standard section may not fully cover.
We help decide which of these you actually need, and which you don’t — rather than adding everything by default.
The standard fire policy, and the SME versions: Bharat Sookshma & Bharat Laghu
Here’s the India-specific bit that matters. The older Standard Fire and Special Perils (SFSP) framework was historically the default reference point for fire and allied perils cover. From 1 April 2021, IRDAI introduced standard fire and allied perils products, including Bharat Sookshma Udyam Suraksha and Bharat Laghu Udyam Suraksha for eligible business risks.
For eligible micro and small business risks, cover may fall under one of the following standard products, based on the total value of insurable assets at one location.
Bharat Sookshma Udyam Suraksha
For businesses where the total value of insurable assets at one location is up to ₹5 crore. It’s designed for eligible business risks such as offices, shops, hotels, restaurants and manufacturing units, subject to product terms. It works on a reinstatement value basis — broadly, new-for-old replacement without deducting depreciation — and includes a standard set of in-built covers and optional add-ons. It also includes an underinsurance waiver up to 15%, meaning small valuation shortfalls may be ignored, though larger shortfalls can still affect claims.
Bharat Laghu Udyam Suraksha
For businesses where the total value of insurable assets at one location is more than ₹5 crore and up to ₹50 crore. It follows a similar broad structure — reinstatement basis, in-built covers, optional add-ons and an underinsurance waiver up to 15% — but is designed for larger eligible business risks.
Above ₹50 crore, or complex risks
Larger or more complex businesses may need customised property insurance programmes, where policy structure, perils, deductibles, locations, add-ons and business interruption requirements are designed around the actual risk — which is where careful, broker-led design earns its keep.
Product names, clauses and standard wordings can change. Always review the insurer’s current policy wording and schedule before buying.
How much sum insured should your business choose?
The sum insured is the maximum amount selected for insured property or a policy section, subject to sub-limits, deductibles, exclusions and policy conditions. Getting it right is one of the most important decisions you make, because the basis of valuation changes how much you can recover after a loss.
Reinstatement value vs market value vs book value
- Reinstatement value — the cost to rebuild or replace with new, without deducting for age. Usually what you want, because it funds an actual recovery.
- Market value — replacement cost minus depreciation. Pays less, because it reflects the worn value of old assets.
- Book value — the figure in your accounts after depreciation. Often the lowest of the three, and a common, costly mistake when used to set the sum insured.
Which basis should you use — reinstatement or market value?
A simple rule of thumb: insure on reinstatement value anything you’d actually rebuild or replace with new and keep using — your building, plant and machinery, equipment, furniture and fit-outs — so a claim funds a real replacement rather than a depreciated fraction. Choose market value only where you wouldn’t replace the asset with new: older or obsolete equipment near the end of its life, or anything you’d not reinstate — it pays the depreciated value and costs less to insure. (Stock and inventory are usually valued on their own basis — at cost — rather than either of these.) Getting the basis right, asset by asset, is part of what we do with you.
If your stock rises and falls through the year — common for traders and manufacturers — a declaration policy can help: you insure for a peak value, declare your actual stock from time to time, and the premium is adjusted to the average. It saves you from over-insuring in quiet months and under-insuring at your busiest.
Underinsurance is especially common when businesses use accounting book value, forget recent asset purchases, don’t update stock values, or add new locations without updating the policy.
The underinsurance trap, and what is “average clause” in fire insurance?
The average clause reduces your claim in proportion to how much you under-insured. If you insure your property for only part of its true insurable value, the insurer can apply that same proportion to every claim — including partial ones.
For example: a building would cost ₹10 crore to rebuild today, but it’s insured for only ₹6 crore — 60% of the real figure. A fire causes ₹2 crore of damage. Because the building is insured for 60% of its value, the insurer can pay 60% of the loss — about ₹1.2 crore — leaving ₹80 lakh for you to find. The loss was partial; the shortfall was not. (Illustrative figures.)
The lesson is simple: insure for the full, correct value, and review it after every expansion or major purchase. (Some standard SME products waive small shortfalls up to 15% — but don’t rely on the buffer.)
Get a rough fire insurance premium estimate
A 60-second, no-obligation estimate to help you size your cover and budget. Enter a few asset values and you’ll see an indicative annual premium range — a planning estimate, not a final price.
Laptops, servers, cameras, etc.
DG set, lift, AC, etc.
Estimated annual premium (excl. GST)
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Indicative range — your actual premium depends on a full risk assessment.
What you enter stays in your browser — nothing is sent anywhere or stored. This is a rough planning estimate only. Your actual premium may be higher or lower after underwriting.
For a formal quote built around your real assets and locations.
What is not covered by fire insurance?
Knowing what is not covered is as important as knowing what is covered. Exact exclusions vary by policy wording, but common exclusions may include:
- Wear, tear and gradual deterioration
- Electrical or mechanical breakdown — unless specifically covered (e.g. machinery breakdown)
- War, warlike events and nuclear risks
- Deliberate or intentional damage by the insured
- Unexplained disappearance or shortage found only at stock-taking
- Consequential loss / loss of income — unless business interruption is added
- Certain natural perils — if not opted in (e.g. earthquake, where excluded)
- Pollution or contamination (as defined)
- Property not declared or not included in the policy schedule
- Losses where policy warranties or conditions are breached
- Losses occurring before the policy start date
- The portion of any loss falling within your excess/deductible
- The effect of underinsurance (the average clause)
Always read exclusions together with the policy schedule, because the schedule may add location-specific conditions, warranties, deductibles, sub-limits or endorsements. We read these sections with you before you buy, so you understand the gaps before a claim.
How does a fire insurance claim work?
In short: make people safe, tell the insurer fast, protect what’s left, document everything, and submit your claim with proof. Here’s the practical version.
What to do immediately after a fire, flood or burglary
- Make people safe first — and call emergency services or the police where needed.
- Tell your insurer or broker quickly — early notice matters and is often a policy condition.
- Protect remaining property from further damage (within reason).
- Don’t dispose of damaged items without the insurer’s go-ahead — they may need to be inspected.
- Preserve the evidence — CCTV footage, invoices, stock and asset records.
Documents usually needed for a fire insurance claim
- Policy copy and a completed claim form
- Fire brigade report, where applicable
- Police FIR, where applicable (especially burglary/theft)
- Photos and videos of the damage
- Your asset register and purchase invoices
- Stock records
- Repair or replacement estimates
- Books of accounts, where relevant (especially for business interruption)
How a broker helps when you claim
This is where the relationship earns its keep. We help you notify the insurer correctly, assemble the documentation, coordinate with the surveyor and respond to information requests — so the process is clearer and better organised while you focus on getting the business running again.
About how our claims support works — before you ever need it.
Is fire or property insurance mandatory for businesses in India?
Fire insurance is not universally mandatory for every business in India by law. However, specific businesses, premises, financing arrangements, lease agreements or customer contracts may require it.
It’s commonly required by:
- Lenders and banks — where premises or assets are financed, insurance protects the secured asset and is usually a loan condition.
- Landlords and lease agreements — many commercial leases require the tenant to insure.
- Investors and large customers — who may want proof of cover before they commit.
- Specific regulations for certain premises or industries — which should be checked case by case.
So while you may not be legally required to buy it as a general business, you may be contractually required to. Even where you aren’t, going without cover means carrying the full loss on your own balance sheet. (Note: the home-loan insurance rules people often search for are a residential matter and don’t decide what your business needs.)
Who should buy business fire and asset insurance?
Almost any business with premises, stock or equipment — but it’s especially worth it for:
- Startups with an office, leased premises or business equipment
- IT, SaaS and services firms with office assets, servers or electronics
- Retail shops and showrooms
- Warehouses and logistics companies
- Manufacturers and factories
- Clinics, labs and diagnostic centres
- Restaurants, cafés and cloud kitchens
- Schools, training centres and coworking spaces
- Professional services firms
- Importers, exporters and traders holding stock
- Data centres, server rooms and equipment-heavy offices
If a fire, flood or break-in would set your business back by a sum you couldn’t comfortably absorb, this cover is for you.
How to choose the right fire and asset insurance policy
A simple, sensible sequence:
- List your locations — every site, every address.
- Build an asset register — building, interiors, plant, stock, equipment.
- Decide the basis of valuation — reinstatement vs market vs book.
- Value building, contents and stock separately — don’t lump them together.
- Confirm STFI and consider earthquake or catastrophe extensions where your location needs them.
- Add burglary / theft where the risk warrants it.
- Add business interruption if downtime would hurt revenue.
- Read the exclusions and warranties — know what’s carved out.
- Compare deductibles and sub-limits across insurers, not just headline premium.
- Review annually — and after any expansion, new site or major purchase.
- Check every location — assets stored at an unlisted site may not be covered.
You don’t have to do this alone — walking through exactly this list with you is what we do.
Where liability insurance fits in
Worth being clear: fire and asset insurance is designed to cover what your business owns or is responsible for. Liability insurance protects against claims made by other people. They do different jobs, and many growing businesses need both.
- Commercial General Liability (CGL) → — third-party injury or property damage
- Directors & Officers (D&O) → — personal liability of your leadership
- Cyber insurance → — data breaches and digital risk
- Errors & Omissions / Professional Indemnity → — claims of professional negligence
- Workmen’s Compensation / Employee Compensation → — employer liability for workplace injury
- Marine / Transit insurance — goods in transit
Looking after your people too?
Separately, group health insurance → and group personal accident → help protect your employees.
Why buy fire and asset insurance through a broker?
Because the policy is only as good as how it’s structured — and that’s a job, not a checkout. As an IRDAI-licensed insurance broker, Ethika works on your behalf: comparing insurer options and structuring cover around your business needs. What that means in practice:
- We compare terms from multiple insurers, not just one.
- We structure the policy around your actual risk, assets and locations.
- We help set the sum insured correctly and avoid the underinsurance trap.
- We read clauses, warranties, exclusions and sub-limits with you before you commit.
- We support you through the claims process.
- We review cover at renewal and when your business changes.
- We coordinate property, liability, cyber and employee-benefit covers so they work together — not as disconnected policies.
And structure your fire and asset insurance with a broker-led review.
How we’ve helped — three real examples
Often the biggest savings come not from buying more cover, but from structuring it correctly. Three examples from our work.
Old laptops costing more to insure than a claim would ever pay
A company was insuring its whole fleet of around 600 laptops under a portable-equipment all-risk cover — the most expensive way to insure electronics. Most were three to four years old, so when one was damaged, depreciation and the pace of technology meant the payout was small while the premium stayed high. We kept only the newest laptops on the all-risk cover, where it earns its place, and moved the older ones to fire and theft cover instead. The protection that mattered stayed; the premium dropped sharply.
Paying twice to cover the same gensets and lifts
Another company was paying for comprehensive annual maintenance contracts (AMC) on its gensets and lifts — in effect paying the vendor to cover breakdowns. We suggested a standard AMC plus a machinery breakdown (MBD) policy for the breakdown risk. Covering breakdowns through insurance worked out far cheaper than through the comprehensive AMC — the same protection, for noticeably less.
Insured for what the building cost, not what it would cost to rebuild
A company was insuring a 100,000 sq ft building for what it had cost to construct a decade earlier. Rebuilding it today would cost far more — and because the sum insured was set at that old figure, the average clause would have cut any claim to a fraction of the loss. We had the building insured at its true rebuilding cost, so a claim would actually pay to rebuild it.
These are past examples of how the right structure helped specific companies — not a promise of a particular saving or outcome. What’s right for you depends on your own assets and risk.
Common mistakes to avoid
Many coverage gaps start as small, avoidable oversights:
- Insuring assets at book value instead of replacement value
- Forgetting that stock fluctuates — under-insuring at peak
- Assuming the landlord’s policy covers your assets (it usually doesn’t)
- Buying fire cover but skipping STFI in a flood-prone location
- Not adding burglary cover
- Ignoring business interruption when downtime would hurt
- Not updating the sum insured after expansion or new sites
- Not declaring every location where assets or stock are kept
- Assuming all sections in a package policy have the same limit
- Not keeping invoices and asset records — which slows claims
- Choosing only the cheapest premium, regardless of cover
- Not reading the warranties, exclusions and deductibles
Most of these cost nothing to fix in advance — and a great deal to discover at claim time.
Myths vs facts about business fire insurance
- MythMy landlord’s insurance covers my office contents.FactIt usually doesn’t — your fit-outs, stock and equipment are yours to insure.
- MythFire insurance covers everything if there’s a fire.FactIt covers named events and listed assets, with exclusions; some perils like earthquake and terrorism are separate add-ons.
- MythInsuring at book value is good enough.FactBook value is usually too low. Underinsurance can cut even a partial claim through the average clause.
- MythBurglary is automatically part of fire insurance.FactBurglary is usually a separate cover, often added alongside fire or inside an office package.
- MythA package policy means every section has the same limit.FactEach section can have its own sub-limit, conditions and exclusions — worth checking.
Key fire insurance terms, explained
- Fire insurance
- Cover for sudden, accidental physical loss or damage to business property from fire and a defined list of related events.
- Commercial property insurance
- A broader description of cover for business premises and their contents.
- Business asset insurance
- Cover framed around the assets a business owns (equipment, stock, interiors, furniture).
- Peril
- A specific cause of loss the policy lists as covered (e.g. fire, flood).
- Allied / special perils
- The events beyond fire itself that the policy also covers.
- STFI
- Storm, Tempest, Flood and Inundation.
- RSMD
- Riot, Strike and Malicious Damage.
- Terrorism cover
- A separate add-on, commonly placed through a market terrorism pool, that can respond to damage from acts of terrorism — which the standard fire policy normally excludes. Distinct from RSMD.
- SFSP
- Standard Fire and Special Perils, the older standard fire policy framework historically used for fire and allied perils cover.
- Sum insured
- The maximum amount selected for a property, asset class or policy section, subject to sub-limits, deductibles and policy terms.
- Reinstatement value
- Cost to rebuild/replace with new, without deducting depreciation.
- Market value
- Replacement cost minus depreciation.
- Book value
- The depreciated value in your accounts (usually too low for insurance).
- Average clause
- A condition that reduces a claim in proportion to any underinsurance.
- Excess / deductible
- The part of each claim you bear yourself.
- Endorsement
- A change or addition to the policy.
- Policy schedule
- The document listing your specific covers, sums insured and terms.
- Business interruption / loss of profits
- Cover that can help with lost gross profit, standing charges and increased cost of working after an insured event, subject to the policy wording.
- Machinery breakdown
- Cover for sudden, unforeseen breakdown of plant and machinery.
- Fidelity guarantee
- Cover for loss caused by dishonest acts of your own employees.
- Bharat Sookshma Udyam Suraksha
- IRDAI’s standard fire-and-allied-perils product for eligible micro enterprises (assets up to ₹5 crore at one location).
- Bharat Laghu Udyam Suraksha
- IRDAI’s standard product for eligible small enterprises (assets above ₹5 crore and up to ₹50 crore at one location).
Fire insurance for businesses: common questions
What is fire insurance?
What does fire insurance cover for a business?
What is the difference between fire insurance and property insurance?
What is STFI full form in insurance?
What is RSMD in insurance?
Is terrorism covered under fire insurance?
Is burglary covered under fire insurance?
What is fire and burglary insurance?
What assets can be covered under business asset insurance?
Can fire insurance cover assets in a rented office?
Is fire insurance mandatory for businesses in India?
How is fire insurance premium calculated?
What is average clause in fire insurance?
What is the difference between reinstatement value and market value?
Should I insure my assets on reinstatement or market value?
What documents are needed for a fire insurance claim?
How long does a fire insurance claim take to settle?
Does fire insurance cover loss of profit?
Is office package insurance better than separate policies?
Can startups buy fire and office insurance?
Does landlord insurance cover a tenant’s office assets?
Can stock and inventory be insured?
Is fire insurance premium a business expense?
How often should the sum insured be reviewed?
Fire insurance, burglary and business interruption involve specific policy terms, conditions and exclusions. This page is general information, not advice on a specific policy.
Go deeper: plain-English explainers
Longer reads on fire & property cover — written to be useful on their own. Still general; where the honest answer is “it depends on your policy,” they say so.
The right cover is a conversation, not a quote
The right cover isn’t a number from a calculator. It depends on your assets, your locations, your stock values, your lease terms, your real exposures and how quickly you’d need to recover after a loss. That’s a conversation worth having before something forces it.
What happens when you talk to us
A 20-minute video call with a Growth Advisor — no obligation, and no quote pushed. It opens with a five-minute video from our founder on how the benefits stack works and why Ethika exists; the rest is your questions. You’ll leave with an honest read on your current cover and claims experience, and a straight answer on whether we can genuinely help — even if you never become a client.
20 minutes with an advisor. No obligation, no jargon.
A note on this page. This page is general information about fire and business asset insurance, not insurance, legal, financial or tax advice, and nothing on it is an offer of cover. The right policy for your business is determined through a conversation and the formal mandate process.
Sources. Standard fire and allied perils products (Bharat Sookshma Udyam Suraksha, Bharat Laghu Udyam Suraksha): IRDAI Guidelines for Standard Products for Fire and Allied Perils, effective 1 April 2021.