Insuring consigned items in your store

A short guide for Ragpiq resellers on protecting the items you hold on a consignor's behalf.

Why this matters

When a consignor lists with Ragpiq, they keep ownership of their items until those items sell. While the items are in your store, they're in your care. Under Australian law, a business holding someone else's goods is generally responsible for them while they're in its custody. In practice, that means if a consigned item is lost, stolen or damaged while it's with you, you may be liable to the consignor for it.

Carrying the right cover protects both of you, and it's a big part of what makes a consignor comfortable handing their wardrobe to a reseller in the first place.

The cover you have versus the cover you need

Most stores already hold business insurance that protects their own stock and contents. Here's the part that catches people out: standard contents and stock policies generally cover goods you own. Items you're holding on consignment belong to someone else, so they're often excluded unless your policy specifically extends to them.

That gap is the thing to close.

The simple fix: extend your existing policy

In most cases you don't need a brand-new policy. You can extend your current business insurance to include goods held in custody. Depending on the insurer, this cover goes by a few names:

• goods in custody cover
• bailees cover
• care, custody and control (CCC) cover

For modest values the additional premium is usually small, and it's typically a short conversation with the broker you already use.

What to ask your broker

You can keep it simple. Something like:

"I hold customers' goods on consignment in my store. I'd like to extend my cover to include loss of or damage to those goods while they're in my care, custody and control. I'm holding up to roughly $[value] of consigned stock at any one time."

If you'd like consignors to have direct recourse under the policy, you can also ask your broker about naming Ragpiq or the consignor as an interested party. That's an optional, more advanced step, and it isn't required to get the core cover in place.

When this matters most

Goods-in-custody cover is especially worth having if your store:

• has a physical shopfront exposed to break-in or theft
• holds higher-value consigned items
• carries a meaningful amount of consigned stock at any one time
• sits in an area with elevated theft or property risk

Typical events it can respond to include theft and break-in, fire, water damage, and accidental damage while the goods are in your custody.

A note on this guide

This is general information to help you understand your options. It isn't financial, insurance or legal advice, and it doesn't account for your specific circumstances. Cover, terms and exclusions vary between policies and insurers. Please speak to your own licensed insurance broker about the cover that's right for your business.