Craft Insurance: Handmade Product Insurance for Crafters - Quotes From $7

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Crafters classify as any person who makes and sells their own handcrafted goods. For the most part, crafting is a relatively low-risk business, which means that purchasing business insurance for crafters and artisans is simple, easy, and affordable.

Despite this fact, many still operate without basic handmade business insurance for crafters and craft shops. This is not a smart move, as crafters are just as likely as a large retailer to have a claim made against them.

A lot of things can go wrong for a crafter. For one, someone might visit your booth at a street fair and sustain injuries while testing a product. It’s also not impossible for an item you created from the workshopto cause injuries sometime after it has been purchased.

In this article, we’re going to explain why crafters, like you, must hold a basic craft business insurance policy and provide you with some craft insurance quotes from the top providers. Then, we’ll break down the various types of small craft business insurance available. With that said, it’s time to get your craft business safe and covered!

Do Crafters Need Insurance? 

So, you may be thinking, “I just sell arts and crafts, then why would I possibly need insurance?”. As we mentioned, crafting is a low-risk industry. Accidents choose no one, and it's only a matter of time before you find yourself in a problematic situation.

For example, let’s just say that you have a small shop where your works are displayed. Unfortunately, while your customers are in the shop, they carelessly bump into a tabletop and knock some sharp pointed objects that stab their foot. 

Without small craft business insurance,  you will have to pay for the medical bills of the customers injured using your own money. And if they failed to go to work because of their injury, you might even be required to pay for lost wages!  

Of course, the above situation is just one of the many incidents that could occur. These days, it’s not uncommon for customers to sue small businesses for everything from a simple papercut to a large piece of art falling and hurting them. A claim might even be filed even though you did nothing wrong! That's why get a comprehensive crafter insurance policy because it's the best way to protect yourself and your business from losses.

Craft Liability Insurance

Craft liability insurance is the most common type of coverage that is required for all arts and crafts businesses. Liability insurance for crafter protects against third-party claims filed due to personal injuries, property damage, and economic or financial loss. It comes in many types namely:

• General liability insurance

• Professional liability insurance

• Product liability insurance

General Liability Insurance for Arts and Crafts Businesses 

General liability insurance, also included in gift shop insurance bundles,  is the most basic protection insurance companies offer for crafters like you. You’ll get $1 million - $2 million coverage from general liability insurance. The coverage of general liability insurance includes the following:

Third-Party Personal Injuries	Third-Party Property Damage	Legal Expenses
You were applying paint and varnish on a finished product. Some of the paint and varnish were spilled on the floor. Someone who was about to watch you work stepped on spilled chemicals and slipped, sustaining minor fractures on the hips. If this person files a claim, general liability insurance will take care of medical expenses	A client asked you to put patterns on his mahogany flooring. While working, the surface you’re working on developed a crack. If the client demands you reimburse the value of the damaged property. General liability insurance will provide the reimbursement on your behalf	A person you injured or had property damaged might take legal action against you. In this case, general liability insurance will pay for attorney fees, compensatory payments court orders, and other legal costs

General liability insurance is different from other liability policies. This is a very comprehensive policy that covers most exposures accompanying your business’s interaction with customers, vendors, and other third parties. The scope of general liability insurance is very broad because it comes with add-ons, mainly:

Advertising Injury Coverage	Products and Completed Operations	Rented Premises Liability Coverage
You might bad-mouth a business, customer, or another caterer in an interview, blog, or ad. You could also copy another person’s work, trademark, slogan, logo, or advertisement.  These might result in a claim for advertising or reputational harm.  Advertising injury coverage will help you with this by taking care of attorney fees, compensatory payments ordered by the court, and other legal costs	Your completed product or service might have caused injuries or property damage to previous customers. If past clients file a claim against your business, products and completed operations coverage will take care of attorney fees, compensatory payments, and other legal costs	Most crafters like you rent a space to do business. Know that if that commercial space becomes damaged due to fire, you have to reimburse the owner. Rented premises liability coverage will shoulder the reimbursement on your behalf

Professional Liability Insurance for Crafters 

You will commit oversights and this might result in economic or financial loss for a client. For example, a business might contract you to make souvenirs and you fail to meet the quota. In this situation, the client will lose some money and file a claim against you. 

And so, get professional liability insurance. This type of  handmade craft insurance usually works in tandem with general liability insurance to give a very comprehensive protection against claims from clients. Professional liability insurance will handle attorney fees, compensatory payments, and other legal costs when a customer files a claim for:

• Negligence

• Misrepresentation

• Violation of good faith

• Violation of fair dealing

• Breach of confidentiality

Product Liability Insurance for Crafters

Another liability insurance for crafters is product liability insurance. This is designed to protect you and your business from claims when a defective product injured another person or caused property damage. For example, without noticing it, you might have used toxic paint on a toy you made for a kid. The kid then puts the toy in his mouth and gets sick. In this case, the parents can sue you for damages and demand payment for medical bills.

Commercial Property Insurance for Crafters

Commercial property insurance is useful if you’re owning an arts and crafts shop where products are made and supplies and sold.  There’s a lot of investment when owning a commercial space. That’s why you need to insure that using commercial property insurance. Commercial property insurance primarily covers:

Building Destruction	Building Damage
Commercial property insurance provides reimbursements equal to the value of the craft shop that fire, extreme weather, and other related events destroyed. Note that destruction due to floods and earthquakes is excluded	If your craft shop becomes damaged due to fire, theft, vandalism, extreme weather, and other covered perils, commercial property insurance will provide reimbursements equal to the value of the damaged structures. Damage, earthquakes and floods caused, is excluded

Commercial property insurance for artists and crafters  doesn’t only take care of your building. It will also cover the stocks, contents, and equipment within the business premises. Such additional protection is provided by the following inclusions in commercial property insurance:

Stocks and Contents Coverage	Business Equipment and Tools Coverage
Inside your craft shop are computers, CCTV cameras, furniture, and other valuables not considered equipment and tools. Stocks and contents coverage will reimburse your losses if these become damaged or lost due to fire, theft vandalism, and other covered perils	Inside your craft shop are specialized machines and numerous toolsets. When those get damaged due to fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils, business equipment and tools coverage will reimburse losses.

How Much Money Can You Get from Commercial Property Insurance?

You’ll know how much money you can get from commercial property insurance if you understand how it reimburses your losses. Commercial property insurance provides money based on the actual cash value or replacement cost of the scheduled commercial property.

Actual Cash Value	Replacement Cost
Commercial property insurance providing reimbursements through actual cash value will give you money based on the depreciated value of the scheduled property. For example, if your craft shop’s $500,000 building depreciated 2% upon getting destroyed, you’ll only get $100,000 insurance money. You will not recover investments in full. However, the advantage is that this option is cheaper in terms of premiums	In a replacement cost reimbursement, commercial property insurance will give you money without taking the depreciation of the scheduled property into account. For example, if your craft shop’s $500,000 building got destroyed 5 years later, you’ll receive the same amount of money even if the building has depreciated considerably

Craft Fair Insurance

If you sell your arts and crafts at festivals, carnivals, or fairs, then you’ll most likely need to purchase craft fair insurance. Insurance for craft fair typically includes general liability coverage designed to cover your business from customers who get injured around your vending area or who want reimbursement after finding that your product has defects. 

Since festivals, carnivals, and fairs take place in a limited time, craft fair vendor insurance can be purchased as a short-term policy lasting for only one day or one week. 

One Day Craft Fair Insurance

One day craft fair insurance policies are perfect for selling at carnivals, festivals, and fairs because these take place for only a limited time.  Sometimes referred to as on-demand insurance coverage or temporary craft insurance, these policies are more expensive than the standard crafters insurance policies that last a whole year.  Price starts at $50 - $100 then scales up depending on how long you want coverage to take effect. Inclusions are general liability insurance with rented premises liability coverage and product liability insurance. 

One Day Public Liability Insurance for Crafters

Insurance companies serving crafters underwrite one day public liability insurance. One day public liability insurance is a stand-alone policy that provides protection against personal injury claims or property damage claims for 1 hour, 3 hours, 6 hours, 12 hours, or 24 hours. You can get $500,000 - $2 million coverage from this policy. Examples of insurance companies that provide one day public liability insurance for crafters are Thimble and Act Insurance. 

Craft Vendor Insurance

Craft vendors who sell their products at local farmers markets, flea markets, or similar locations will need craft vendor insurance. It includes professional liability insurance and general liability insurance  for craft vendors that are designed to protect you from claims arising from products, property damage, personal injuries, or economic loss. We recommend you to add rented premises liability coverage and tools and equipment coverage in your primary craft vendor liability insurance. It’s not bad to get product liability insurance too. 

Craft Show Insurance

If you’re doing a small arts and crafts show, performance, or pop-up event, then you’ll likely be searching for craft show insurance. This is available as a short-term policy.  Common inclusions in this tailored insurance are general liability insurance with products and completed operations coverage as well as professional liability insurance. 

Craft Insurance for Candles and Wax Melts

As the saying goes, “where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” So if you make your own candles or wax melts, you definitely need to maintain candle craft insurance or candle business insurance. This can protect you from claims that your candles caused a larger fire or weren’t designed to adequately protect the flame. Regardless of whether it was your fault or not, your business can still be held liable.

If you accidentally make a defective wax melt that catches fire or causes a burn on somebody, you could be held liable. Handcrafted insurance for wax melts and candles can protect your business against these claims and the financial liability associated with them. This goes for soap makers insurance as well.

Craft Insurance Cost

So, given the importance of insuring your small business, you’re probably wondering, “How much does craft insurance cost?” 

Purchasing an insurance policy for your small crafting business is quite affordable. Although claims and accidents can happen, they aren’t quite as common compared to other industries such as electrical work or food truck. Therefore, the lower risk associated with the industry translates into more affordable craft insurance premiums! 

In general, the average craft insurance cost is around $47 per month or $564 per year for a $1 million general liability insurance policy for crafters. 

To get a firmer grip on the cost of tailored craft insurance, we’ve made a table for you that shows the pricing of the best craft insurance companies. 

How to Find Cheap Craft Insurance?

As you can see, craft cover insurance typically costs less than most people’s monthly cell phone bill, so there’s no reason why you can’t find an affordable craft insurance policy. Keep in mind that these rates are just an average calculated from comparing rates from small craft insurance providers around.

Your own rates may differ and could be slightly cheaper or more expensive. Your individual rate will differ based on factors such as:

• The city you do business in

• Whether you’re mobile, home-based, or have a retail location

• Annual sales

• Coverage limits

• Deductibles

• The type of arts and crafts you do

You shouldn’t have any problem finding cheap craft insurance. The best way to get a good rate on your insurance policy is to compare quotes from different insurance providers. 

Finally, we recommend you do craft insurance comparison by getting the quotes of insurance companies offering coverage for crafters and artists. We have an online tool that will help you with that. Just click on the “Get Quotes” button on this page to start.