Multi-risk business insurance: covers, price and how to size it

Multi-risk business insurance ("multirisque professionnelle" in France) is the policy that protects your company's assets (premises, equipment, inventory) against fire, water damage, theft, weather events and breakage, and compensates the revenue lost after a claim. For an SME, it costs between €1,200 and €6,000 a year in 2026, depending on the activity and the values insured. Its real risk is not its price: it is being sized wrong, because a declared capital that is too low mechanically reduces the payout on the day of the loss.

What exactly does multi-risk business insurance cover?

A multi-risk business policy, often called MRP in France, bundles several property damage covers and a general liability cover into a single contract. The core covers fire and explosion, water damage, theft and vandalism, glass breakage, weather events (storm, hail, snow) and natural disasters. Options are added on top: business interruption, machinery breakdown, goods in transit, legal protection.

General (operations) liability, included in most MRP policies, compensates third parties for damage caused by your day-to-day activity (a visitor who falls in your offices, a water leak into the neighbour's premises). It is distinct from professional liability insurance, which covers errors in the services you deliver. The two complement each other; neither replaces the other.

Is multi-risk business insurance compulsory?

No, unlike motor insurance or ten-year construction liability. But almost every commercial lease requires tenant's liability insurance, because article 1733 of the French Civil Code presumes the tenant liable for a fire in the premises they occupy, unless proven otherwise. The "risques locatifs" cover protects your liability towards the landlord; "recours des voisins et des tiers" covers damage spreading to adjoining premises.

How much does multi-risk business insurance cost in 2026?

The price depends first on the capital insured (contents, inventory, building if you own it), then on the activity, floor area, location, prevention measures (alarm, fire detection, sprinklers) and past claims. Rates observed on the French market in early 2026 give the following orders of magnitude for SMEs.

These ranges come from comparison sites and brokers; there is no official statistic by company size. Two trends weigh on 2026: an average increase in property premiums of around 7%, and the natural disaster surcharge raised from 12% to 20% of the property premium on 1 January 2025. According to France Assureurs and the CCR, climate-related claims cost €5.2 billion in 2025, including €2.2 billion for hail alone.

Which values should you declare, and how do you calculate them?

The building is declared at rebuilding cost (the cost of rebuilding it identically, excluding land), not at market or book value. Contents (furniture, IT, machinery, fit-out) are declared at new replacement value, meaning the price of an equivalent asset today. Inventory is declared at cost price, taking the seasonal peak rather than the average, because a loss does not wait for the low season.

New-for-old value, in an insurance policy, means compensation at replacement cost without any deduction for depreciation; depreciation ("vétusté") is the loss of value linked to the age and wear of an asset. Three mistakes recur in SMEs: using the net book value of fully depreciated fixed assets (a written-off server is worth zero in the accounts but €8,000 to replace), forgetting fit-out works carried out by the tenant (partitions, cabling, air conditioning), and never updating the capital while the company has doubled in size.

What is the proportional rule and why can it halve your payout?

The proportional rule on capital, set out in article L121-5 of the French Insurance Code, applies when the real value of the assets exceeds the sum insured: the policyholder is then "deemed to remain their own insurer for the excess" and bears a proportional share of the damage, even on a partial loss.

Example: you declare €500,000 of contents, the loss adjuster values your assets at €800,000, and a fire destroys €300,000 of equipment. The payout is not €300,000 but 300,000 × (500,000 / 800,000), i.e. €187,500. The missing €112,500 stays on your balance sheet.

An undervalued capital is not a premium saving; it is a hidden deductible whose amount you discover on the day you most need the money.

Two defences exist. Negotiate a waiver of the proportional rule, often granted if the gap stays below 10 to 20% or if the capital was valued by an expert. And rely on indexation: most MRP policies revalue capital, premiums and deductibles each year according to the FFB construction cost index (1,197.3 points in Q1 2026, up 1.56% year on year), which tracks building inflation but not the growth of your equipment base. Do not confuse this with the proportional rule on premium in article L113-9, which reduces the payout in proportion to the premium paid versus the premium that would have been due had the risk been correctly described (floor area, activity, protections).

Should you add business interruption cover?

For a company with fixed costs and employees, yes. Business interruption cover compensates the lost gross margin (turnover minus variable costs) for the period needed to return to pre-loss activity, and reimburses the extra costs incurred to limit the drop in activity: temporary premises, replacement equipment, subcontracting. It is triggered by an insured physical damage; an IT outage without physical damage falls under cyber insurance.

Two parameters to set: the gross margin insured (last financial year's, increased by your forecast growth) and the indemnity period, usually 12 months, 18 or 24 for activities dependent on machinery with long lead times. For natural disasters, the statutory deductible for businesses is 10% of the damage with a minimum of €1,140, and three working days of activity (minimum €1,140) for business interruption, under the ministerial order of 30 December 2022.

Which extensions are really worth the cost for an SME?

Machinery breakdown covers internal failures (electrical fault, handling error) excluded from standard fire cover, essential as soon as a production asset is worth tens of thousands of euros. Equipment away from premises covers laptops on the move and in home offices, often excluded from "contents on the premises". Finally, policyholder's loss adjuster fees, the professional who defends your valuation against the insurer's adjuster, cost little and change the outcome of a claim. Also check sub-limits: theft and water damage often have ceilings well below the total capital. An insurance audit detects these gaps before a loss does.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between multi-risk business insurance and professional liability?

Multi-risk protects your assets and compensates your loss of activity after physical damage; it usually includes general liability for damage caused to third parties in the ordinary life of the company. Professional liability covers the consequences of errors in your services or products. An SME needs both.

What happens if I declare a capital that is too low?

Article L121-5 of the French Insurance Code allows the insurer to reduce the payout in proportion to the declared capital versus the real value of the assets. A 30% gap in capital translates into a payout cut by 30%, whatever the size of the loss.

Does a startup in a shared office need multi-risk insurance?

Yes, at least for its IT equipment, its fit-out and its tenant's liability if the coworking contract requires it. A few hundred euros a year, out of all proportion to replacing thirty laptops after a theft.

Does business interruption cover a cyberattack?

In principle no: business interruption under a multi-risk policy is only triggered after an insured physical damage. Downtime caused by ransomware or a provider outage falls under a dedicated cyber policy, which carries its own business interruption cover.

At Lesto, we start from your actual inventory, your lease and your accounts to rebuild the capital to declare, then consult nine insurers on average to obtain a premium that reflects your risk rather than a flat rate. Want to know whether your current policy would survive a claim? Discover our multi-risk business insurance offer and request an analysis within 72 hours.