Looking For Fine Arts Insurance Near Me

We hope you’ve enjoyed our previous two articles as we’ve taken a look at fine art, some of its history and its important role within a thriving society. We now come to the nuts and bolts of insuring artwork. Looking for fine arts insurance near me? Here’s a little about what artists and galleries should know.

In the financial climate in which we are living, no one wants to pay for something they don’t need, and we all want to make sure that when we do make a purchase, we are getting value for money. Although we are focusing especially on fine arts, much of this will also be relevant to any crafter, whether they are searching “fine arts insurance near me” or any other kind of insurance.

Let’s start with public and product liability insurance, products that many individual crafters and business owners decide to invest in. The reason for doing so is that when you have invested hours of your time, a significant amount of money and a huge chunk of your talent into a project, you don’t want to risk losing all that through a claim made against you. It is virtually impossible to predict what could go wrong and hence what claim might be made against you.

This is the whole point of insurance: cushioning yourself against the unforeseen. If we could have a pound for every perplexed call we’ve had regarding a curveball incident which requires compensation, we’d be able to plan our retirement! However thorough your risk assessment is, and however closely you adhere to professional guidelines, you simply cannot rule out those unforeseeable accidents.

You can probably think of a few incidents that have happened in your own life, hopefully whose consequences haven’t been too serious, but which have come completely out of the blue. While you couldn’t predict them, you will have kicked yourself afterwards, with lots of “if onlys”. A series of events and circumstances, of people and timings all worked together towards an unexpected occurrence. If it can happen in general life, it can happen in business and this is why so many artists choose to take out insurance to cover their work, their exhibitions and their gallery events.

Fine art insurance will include public liability insurance. This covers you against any complaints that injury or damage has been caused on your property, by your equipment or at an event. Even if it’s not your fault, it will cover legal costs and any compensation owed. For example, events could conspire together for a particularly vulnerable visitor to collide with a slip or trip hazard with a resulting injury. Our public liability insurance would cover you financially. We often call it our sleep easy insurance, in that it allows you to have peace of mind over the unforeseen and thus pour your energy, time and talent into what is most important; producing, exhibiting and selling beautiful artwork.

If you run a gallery, it might be that you employ staff or have volunteers helping out during exhibitions. In this case, you will need to get Employer’s liability insurance. This is a legal requirement for anyone who employs staff or hosts volunteers, even if they are family members. It too covers you for any accidents or harm caused to your employees or volunteers while working for you, with compensation or legal fees.

Professional indemnity Insurance covers you in the unlikely event that a commissioned piece of work is not considered satisfactory. Art, obviously, is subjective and while you would do your best to ensure that you are fulfilling your client’s instructions there is, as is said, ‘always one’ who may put a spanner in the works and not like your completed work. A dispute would take up a chunk of time which could be used for better purposes, as well as potentially cause damage to your reputation. Professional indemnity insurance would cover you for such a circumstance, again saving you money and stress. Professional indemnity insurance also covers you if you unknowingly make a mistake. For example, if you use an image protected by copyright without permission, or even if you breech the restrictions of a royalty free

image. With the extensive use of social media, however careful you are, a copyright breech is not impossible.

Another arm of insurance which you might consider, is Business items insurance. This is also one which is not legally required but which many artists and crafters choose to take out. It insures you against loss, damage or theft and can include raw materials, tools, saleable finished products and items related to your business eg laptops, card readers or cameras. We quote individually, around your unique requirements, so you don’t need to pay for something you don’t want.

If you google fine art insurance near to me, you will find a variety of options and insurance companies. We have been providing art and craft insurance for over three decades, so our service comes with generational experience. We know we are nothing without our clients, so we communicate directly with each one of you. When you contact us, it will either be Sam or Naomi who answer your query, so no long call queues. We have zero excess on public and product liability insurance, and our professional liability insurance covers you for teaching and demonstrating as well as selling your work.

So, take a look at our website and then drop us a line or give us a call. We look forward to hearing about your fine art business, be it large or small, and tailoring an insurance quote around your specific needs and requirements.