Once again, autumn has drifted in, drawing us into its familiar embrace. Mornings are starting to feel cooler and, everywhere you look, the leaves are changing colour. For many of us, autumn’s glorious colours and misty, mellow qualities make it the best season of all. Putting on a jumper and a pair of wellies to enjoy the crisp air is a treat stored up for the days and weeks to come.
For crafters, there may be another unmistakable sign of autumn: the calendar starts filling up! After the quieter months of summer, autumn heralds the beginning of a much busier period for craft people across the UK. A time when stock starts to build, new products are launched, craft fairs are booked, and thoughts turn towards the Christmas shopping season.
If this is the first time you have steered a fledgling craft business into the busy autumn season, take it from us, it’s a good time to start thinking about protecting what you have created.
When your craft starts to grow
For many people, crafting begins as something you love, and there’s no reason why that should ever stop!
Making jewellery at the kitchen table; discovering a talent for pottery at an evening class; sewing or making clothes for family and friends or filling a canvas whenever the inspiration lands. What flows out of doing something you love becomes a range of products that you can sell.
First, someone asks if they could buy one of your creations. Then another person wants one. You book your first craft fair or open an online shop. Perhaps you start taking commissions or teaching other people your craft. And, without necessarily noticing it, your hobby changes and becomes something more.
Autumn craft fairs provide opportunities to meet customers face-to-face. Seasonal shopping at this time of year creates demand for handmade gifts. Pre-Christmas workshops and demonstrations introduce your skills to new audiences. Online orders can increase as Christmas approaches.
It’s an exciting time, but it also means there is more at stake. Your craft now represents an investment of time, money, equipment, materials, stock, and reputation. And that’s where insurance becomes part of the picture.
Protecting what you’ve built
When you spend your days thinking about what to make next, insurance probably isn’t at the top of your creative to-do list. However, the things that make your craft possible have value.
Consider everything you might have accumulated: specialist tools and equipment, raw materials, finished products waiting to be sold, packaging, display equipment, and everything else you rely on to keep your craft going.
Then consider what happens when your work leaves your home or studio: You might take your products to a Christmas market. A customer might visit you. You could demonstrate your craft at an event or teach a workshop. Your products might be sold online or through another retailer. The more ways you share your craft, the more situations there are to consider.
Public and product liability insurance can help protect you against claims arising from injury, damage, or problems connected with your craft activities and the products you make and sell, subject to the policy terms and conditions.
For crafters who teach or demonstrate their skills, professional indemnity can also be important. At Craft Insurance, professional indemnity is included as standard alongside public and product liability cover.
For those who want protection for the physical things that make their business possible, optional business and stock cover can also provide protection for tools, equipment, materials, and stock, subject to the policy terms and conditions. The great thing is, we don’t differentiate between stock and business items, making things a lot easier for you in the event of a claim.
It’s about protecting more than the finished product. It’s about protecting the work, investment, and effort that sits behind it.
If my craft business is small, do I really need craft insurance?
Many crafters ask this question, and the answer depends on what you do and the risks involved.
You might only sell occasionally and consider yourself to be a hobbyist rather than a business owner who only attends a handful of craft fairs each year. However, even a small craft operation can involve valuable equipment, stock, and interactions with customers, and most craft fairs and other events require you to have appropriate crafts public liability insurance before you can take part.
It’s also worth remembering that insurance isn’t only about how much you sell. A single incident can potentially result in a claim, regardless of whether you regard your craft as a full-time business, a side income, or a serious hobby.
Is having home insurance not enough?
Another common assumption is that household insurance will cover everything connected with crafting. But home insurance and craft insurance are designed for different purposes, and business or craft activities may not automatically be covered under a standard household policy.
If you are selling your work, attending markets, teaching, or demonstrating, it’s worth checking exactly what your existing policy does and does not cover rather than assuming you are protected.
The same applies if your craft has grown since you first arranged your insurance. Your circumstances may have changed even if you don’t yet see yourself as someone who runs a small business.
Autumn is a good time for a check-up.
With the busy season approaching, a quick insurance check could be a useful addition to your autumn to-do list.
Ask yourself:
- Have I started selling in ways I wasn’t doing last year?
- Am I attending more craft fairs or markets?
- Have I started teaching or demonstrating?
- Has the value of my tools, equipment, or stock increased?
- Am I selling through retailers or other businesses?
- Have I introduced new products or changed what I make?
- Does my current insurance still reflect what I actually do?
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, it may be time to review your cover.
Protect the craft you’ve worked so hard to build
Your craft represents more than the finished item. It represents your time, creativity, skills, equipment, materials and years of experience. Taking steps to protect those things means you can concentrate on what you enjoy most: crafting.
At Craft Insurance, we’ve been providing specialist insurance for crafters since 1986. Our policies are designed around the different ways people make, sell, teach and demonstrate their crafts.
So, as the first signs of autumn appear, why not take a few minutes to check your cover?
