7 ways to stop your retail business getting sued

Lawsuits can cost businesses huge amounts – not only can they cause financial damage, but they can also cause major damage to a company’s reputation.

Retail businesses face a number of legal threats, which are worth protecting against. Here are just 7 ways in which you can stop your retail business from getting sued.

Organise a health and safety audit

Customers or employees that are injured on your premises as a result of poor health and safety measures are the most likely lawsuits you’ll receive. As a result, health and safety should be a priority. Organising an audit could allow you to scan your entire premises from top to bottom for risks in order to eliminate any chance of being sued. Companies like Quest Cover can help to run a professional health and safety check – this could be more effective than doing it yourself. Try to make as many recommended changes as you can.

Do checks for faulty products

Another common source of lawsuits in retail is faulty products. Allowing returns or having warranties in place can be a great way of deflecting these lawsuits, however you may be able to also do regular checks to ensure that the products you’re selling don’t break in the first place. Make sure to recall any products that frequently have faults.

Improve your digital security

Losing private information of customers or employees can also lead to lawsuits. It’s important to have strong data protection security in place as provided by companies such as IBM. This could help to reduce the risk of cyberattacks, which could also lead to data loss. Backing up files can also help prevent data loss caused by human error.

Install CCTV

A growing number of retail stores are using CCTV for legal protection against fraudulent lawsuits. There’s been a recent trend of crooked customers falling over in retail outlets and feigning injury in order to seek compensation. Having CCTV footage to fall back on could help you to prove that there was no real cause for injury and could also help protect against other false claims.

Train your staff thoroughly

Training your employees thoroughly can be one of the most effective ways of preventing lawsuits. If your employees are not confident in what they are doing, they could make errors leading to claims of negligence from customers. Some mistakes could even cause injury to your employees who may then sue for lack of health and safety training. Health and safety protocol and security protocol should be two fundamental aspects to consider when training your staff, as these are the two areas where a lack of training is most likely to result in you being sued.

Write up contracts

There may be times when you can use written contracts to protect yourself by putting agreements in writing. This isn’t always possible between you and your customers (although it is worth doing with large value products like cars or appliances), however it is something you should do when taking on employees or choosing suppliers. You should hire a legal writer to write these contracts.

Insure yourself

Insurance is the last form of defence against lawsuits – it won’t stop them from happening, but it will help cover the costs. There are many different forms of insurance against different threats including employee liability, public liability, product liability, professional indemnity and cyber insurance. You may be able to find an insurance scheme that combines multiple schemes into one. You can find such schemes at sites like Simply Business.