Why do you need insurance for your art and crafts shop?
Shop display accident
You load your art supplies store window with display boxes of new paint brushes around an assembled easel holding a half-completed canvas. It looks great. But as you’re working on the display, a passer-by trips on a stack of the boxed brushes, landing awkwardly and breaking their wrist. You’re devastated for the injured person. But also concerned about protecting your business.
Insurance tailored with public liability cover can help to support with the cost of compensation for third-party injuries.
Defective glue gun damages carpets
You sell tools for crafters in your craft supplies shop. You sell a glue gun to a local toy maker, but the buyer returns – unhappy. They claim the glue gun is faulty and has leaked, causing damage to their sofa and carpets. Naturally, you want to help rectify the situation but you’re not sure how to cover the cost.
Product liability insurance can help with the cost of compensation if a product you have sold causes injury or damage to the buyer’s property.
Your card reader is lost
Sometimes you take your art and crafts shop on the road with a pop-up ‘hobby store’ stand at a local craft fair. It’s a fantastic opportunity to market your business and secure a few sales, and a portable card reader helps you to keep payments flowing. Today, an hour into the event, you notice this is missing.
Whether it was lost, or even stolen, portable equipment insurance can help you to replace the reader and keep hobby store sales coming.
What insurance is available for art and crafts shops?
Public liability insurance
If you run a crafts shop or an art supplies store, public liability insurance can help to cover you against potential costs if someone suffers an injury or sustains property damage because of your business activities. For example, if a member of the public trips over a display of paint brushes in your shop.
If a customer, courier, supplier or visitor is injured while interacting with your business, public liability insurance can help to pay compensation and legal fees.
Products liability insurance
When you run a crafts shop, someone could file a complaint if they feel that a product you sold them caused injury, illness or damage. For instance, a defective paper trimmer might cut a customer’s finger when they unwrap the package. Or the ink from a hand-dyed rug might transfer on to their carpet, causing permanent damage.
Whether you sell art and crafts products from a bricks-and-mortar shop or an online store, products liability insurance can help to cover compensation and legal fees.
Exhibition insurance
If you take your shop on the road to do pop-up events at fairs, insurance can help to mitigate risks. Exhibition insurance is a type of specialist event cover that can complement business insurance for your hobby store. It combines liability insurance with cover for event cancellation and property risks.
Whether your exhibition stand is selling handmade pottery or paints and brushes, if something goes wrong, insurance can help to cover the costs.
Art and crafts shop owners may also take out employers’ liability insurance if they employ staff in their store. Others might add cyber and data insurance if they trade online.
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Build tailored coverInsurance for art and crafts shops: FAQs
What is shop insurance?
Shop insurance is a broad, catch-all term that is used to describe several different types of business insurance relevant to retail businesses, including art and crafts shops. There’s no one-size-fits-all ‘shop insurance’ product. Instead, you build a tailored cover package that may include business contents insurance, public and products liability cover and employers’ liability insurance.
Do shops have to have public liability insurance?
If you run a shop, you’re not required by law to arrange public liability insurance. However, if you fail to arrange public liability cover and then someone makes a claim after suffering an injury or damage to their property in relation to your business activities, you’ll have to face legal fees or compensation costs without cover or support.
Do I need employers’ liability insurance for my crafts shop?
If you employ people at your art and crafts shop then yes you will need employers’ liability (EL) insurance. You are required by law to take our EL as soon as you hire your first member of staff. If you plan to run your shop yourself with no employees, you may not require EL.
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