Museum, Art Gallery & Exhibition Insurance: Quotes From $5

A museum is a demanding business. You have to look out for stampedes and slip-and-fall accidents when hosting an auction event that will invite prominent people. Fire and sprinkler leakage can happen and damage the rare books donated by libraries.

You also have to think how devastating things can get if a conservator makes a mistake and damages a piece of antique from the bygone days that has a great cultural and moral value to the place where your museum is operating.

Art gallery, exhibition, and museum insurance protects you from financial losses caused by lawsuits, property damage or loss, employee injuries, and other risks. Policies you can get from this tailored coverage are general liability, workers’ compensation, employer’s liability, commercial property insurance, and more.

Art Gallery And Museum Liability Insurance

Limits Of General Liability Insurance

Your museum and art gallery will admit people. You have liability over the bodily injuries or property damage of people who experience an accident while on the premises of your business. 

Operate without worries by getting general liability insurance. Your museum and art gallery will find this insurance useful when:

• An attendee slips and falls on a wet floor, where an employee forgot to place a caution sign

• An exhibit of your museum goes haywire and injures an attendee 

• An accident happened during an activity in your museum, and the participants sustained injuries 

• An attendee falls from your museum’s stairways 

• Your employees were installing a heavy exhibit. They made a mistake and the exhibit fell on someone, causing injuries or property damage 

Museums and art galleries get general liability insurance to cover claims for bodily injuries or property damage. Every time you face a claim, general liability insurance takes care of these costs:

• Medical treatment of the attendee or any other third party who sustained an injury

• Refunds for the damaged property of the claimant

• Settlements

• Defense costs such as attorney fees, investigation fees, court filing fees, etc. 

• Court judgments

Additional Coverages In The General Liability Insurance for Museums And Art Galleries

General liability insurance for museums and art galleries has additional coverages that protect you from other exposures. The most common ones are:

• Advertising Injury Coverage-Advertising injury coverage of general liability insurance will take care of expenses if another individual or business entity accuses your museum and art gallery of copying promotional materials, visuals, and other intellectual properties. Another thing, the advertising injury coverage of general liability insurance also applies if your museum and art gallery faces a claim for slander, libel, invasion of privacy, and breach of confidentiality. 

• Products And Completed Operations Coverage-The products and completed operations coverage of general liability insurance will cover expenses when an attendee files a claim for bodily injury or property damage after joining one of the activities of your museum and art gallery. 

• Rented Premises Liability Coverage-The rented premises liability coverage of general liability insurance takes care of indemnification if a space, your museum and art gallery is renting for a few days, gets damaged or destroyed because of a fire. 

Museum And Art Gallery Commercial Property Insurance

Limits Of Commercial Property Insurance

A commercial property policy will also be included in your museum and art gallery insurance. Get this to protect yourself in case something happens to the establishment where the equipment, artifacts, books, and artworks are displayed and stored.

Your museum and art gallery can use commercial property insurance to recover losses and pay for reconstruction or repair expenses in case the building is damaged or destroyed due to:

• Fire

• Theft

• Vandalism

• Civil commotion

• Riot

• Sinkhole collapse

• Volcanic action

• Vehicle

• Aircraft

• Rain

• Hail

• Winds

• Snow

• Other covered perils

Commercial property insurance doesn’t cover artworks, , and artifacts stored and displayed in the building. However, the policy can reimburse losses if HVAC, electric generators, computers, fixtures, and other similar business properties become damaged or lost due to the perils above.

Fine Arts Insurance for Museums And Art Galleries

Fine arts insurance protects your museum and art gallery’s artworks against theft, fire, malicious mischief, and sprinkler damage. When a covered peril happens, this insurance will reimburse your losses based on the total value of all covered artworks.

You get up to $50 million coverage from fine arts insurance. Some insurance companies also cover the following items inside your museum and art gallery with this policy:

• Rare books

• Collectibles

• Stamps and coins

• Musical instruments

• Vintage vehicles

Commercial Auto Insurance for Museums And Art Galleries

Limits Of Commercial Auto Insurance

It’s impossible to operate an art gallery or museum without a commercial vehicle. After all, you need a ride in order to move exhibits to other cultural establishments and transport employees or officers.

Insure the commercial vehicle of your museum and art gallery with commercial auto insurance. Commercial auto insurance covers risks associated with the ownership of a commercial vehicle. Your business can avail the following from this policy:

• Auto Liability Coverage-Your museum and art gallery is liable if an accident happens because of the commercial vehicle. Auto liability insurance takes care of this exposure. When an accident happens, the auto liability coverage of commercial auto insurance for museums will take care of the costs

• Physical Damage Coverage-Commercial auto insurance takes care of vehicle maintenance on behalf of your museum and art gallery. It has a physical damage coverage that you can get as comprehensive or collision insurance. Collision physical damage coverage will take care of parts repair or replacement expenses if your museum and art gallery’s commercial vehicle sustained damage after crashing into an object or another vehicle. Comprehensive physical damage coverage will take care of costs if fire, weather, vandalism, theft, and other covered perils caused the damage to your business’s commercial vehicle.

• Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage-Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage will cover the medical treatment of the driver and passengers if your museum and art gallery’s commercial vehicle gets involved in an accident caused by a vehicle with no insurance or no adequate insurance.

• Rental Reimbursement Coverage-Rental reimbursement coverage takes care of car rental expenses while your commercial vehicle is being repaired after getting damaged due to weather, vehicular accidents, theft, and other covered perils.

• Medical Payments Coverage/Personal Injury Protection-Medical payments and personal injury protection are coverages in commercial auto insurance which cover the medical treatment of the driver and passengers regardless of who is at fault for the accident.

Workers Compensation Insurance for Museums And Art Galleries

You can’t run a museum without permanent and part-time employees. When you have employees, it ultimately follows that you get them covered with workers' compensation insurance.

Workers' compensation insurance takes care of costs if an employee of your museum and art gallery sustains a work-related injury or disease. Here are some situations where you’ll find this policy useful:

• A clerk of your business sustains carpal tunnel

• An employee falls from a height while installing a display

• An employee slips and falls on a wet floor

• An employee sustains cuts or burns while handling a display

So how does workers' compensation insurance work? Workers' compensation insurance provides the funds you can use to cover these costs when an employee sustains a work-related injury or disease:

• Employee Medical Treatment-Workers' compensation insurance allows your museum and art gallery to cover first aid treatment, emergency medical care, and surgeries when an employee sustains an occupational disease or injury.

• Hospitalization-Your museum and art gallery can use workers' compensation insurance to cover food, room, and nursing fees if an employee needs to stay in the hospital after sustaining an occupational disease or injury.

• Medication-Workers' compensation insurance is also designed to cover the cost of medication so that an employee can get needed medicines without using his own money or asking money from your business.

• Rehabilitation-Your museum and art gallery can use workers' compensation insurance to cover rehabilitative care, so that its employee can fully recover and resume working.

• Lost Wages-If the employee of your museum and art gallery can’t work because of an occupational disease or injury, workers' compensation insurance covers lost wages. Coverage for lost wages comes in the form of a weekly allowance equal to two-thirds or 67% of the average weekly wage.

• Death Benefits-Workers' compensation insurance provides death benefits. In case a covered employee dies because of an occupational disease or injury, this insurance will cover funeral expenses and provide financial assistance to dependents.

Employer’s Liability Insurance for Museums And Art Galleries

Limits of Employer’s Liability Insurance

Employer’s liability insurance is offered as part of workers' compensation insurance policies. Its job is to provide funds in case an employee files a lawsuit against the employer after sustaining a work-related injury or disease.

Commercial Crime Insurance for Art Galleries And Museums

Theft is the biggest threat when it comes to running a museum and art gallery. This is why you need to get multiple levels of protection against it.

Commercial crime insurance is an effective deterrent against financial losses if an employee or third party commits a crime against your museum and art gallery. The perils covered are:

• Employee theft, larceny, skimming, forgery, and social engineering

• Burglary or theft committed by third parties

• Fraud

• Computer fraud

• Robbery

Art Exhibition Insurance

Limits Of Art Exhibition Insurance

Also called art show insurance, art exhibition policy is a specialized type of special events insurance that covers art shows held in museums and art galleries.

You typically get this as a short-term coverage that lasts for hours, days, or weeks. Art exhibition insurance offers the following:

Rain Insurance for Art Shows

Rain insurance for art shows covers non-refundable expenses such as equipment rental. It will also cover any financial losses resulting from reduced sales and event cancellations. Coverage also applies to extra expenses when rescheduling the art show.

Art Exhibit General Liability Insurance

Art exhibition insurance automatically comes with a general liability coverage. This covers medical treatment, property damage reimbursement, and defense costs if an accident happens at the art show resulting in injuries to attendees, vendors, visitors, and other members of the public.

Art Exhibit Liquor Liability Insurance

Art exhibition insurance comes with liquor liability coverage. If you’re serving alcoholic drinks and a drunk guest sustains injuries or property damage, this insurance will take care of the costs. Coverage also applies if the drunk guest injures someone or damages the property of others.

Art Dealer Insurance

Art dealer insurance is a specialized coverage for those involved in the sales of artworks. Inclusions are general liability and professional liability insurance. Some insurance companies also offer commercial auto and commercial property insurance with this tailored insurance plan.

Museum And Art Gallery Insurance Cost

On average, museum and art gallery insurance cost $46 per month or $552 per year for a $1 million general liability coverage. Factors that affect pricing are revenues, size of business operations,  claims history, and more. In connection, here’s a table showing the rates of the carriers worth trying: