Both Industrial Special Risks Insurance and standard Business Insurance can protect commercial property.
The main difference is usually the scale and structure of the risk being insured.
What is Business Insurance? #
Business Insurance is commonly structured as a package where a business selects sections such as:
- Property.
- Business Interruption.
- Theft.
- Money.
- Glass.
- Machinery Breakdown.
- Public Liability.
It can work well for many small and medium businesses.
What is different about ISR? #
ISR Insurance is generally designed for larger or more complex property risks.
It commonly uses:
- Declared Values.
- A Limit of Liability.
- Sublimits for specific exposures.
- Broad Material Damage cover.
- Detailed Business Interruption calculations.
- Individually negotiated endorsements.
The policy can therefore be tailored to larger or more complex operations.
Is ISR automatically better cover? #
Not necessarily.
The most appropriate policy depends on the individual business.
A well-structured Business Insurance policy can be more appropriate for some businesses, while others require the capacity and flexibility of an ISR policy.
The policy wording, limits and declared values matter more than the product name alone.

