Craft Fair Season is Here! Essential Insurance Tips for Crafters and Artists 

Spring is here, and that means the craft fair season is in full swing! As a crafter or artist, selling your handmade goods at fairs and markets is an exciting way to showcase your work, connect with customers, and grow your business. 

However, before sallying forth to set up your booth, it’s important to make sure you have the right insurance in place. From protecting your inventory to covering potential liability issues, having the right coverage can save you from unexpected financial losses. Here is a short breakdown of the essential types of craft insurance we offer to individuals, hobbyists, craft clubs, and registered businesses to stay protected and stress-free this season: 

If you go out and about to sell, teach or demonstrate your crafts, anyone can make a claim against you if they believe you or your employees/volunteers are responsible for them being injured or for damaging their property. They can also claim against you if they believe that your handmade product has injured them or damaged their property. 

Public and Product Liability Insurance for Crafters 

If, in the unlikely event that this happens, public and product liability insurance will cover the legal defence costs and compensation you owe.  

Public and Product liability insurance for crafters isn’t a legal requirement, although many event organisers will insist that you have cover.  Even if no one has asked you for cover, it may be something that you want to consider, as things could happen that you just can’t second-guess. Public and Product Liability Insurance for crafters includes the following: 

• Cover for either £1,000,000; £2,000,000; £5,000,000; £10,000,000 

• Cover for legal defence costs and compensation you owe. 

• Zero excess 

• Worldwide cover 

• Cover for USA/Canada included up to annual turnover of £25,000 incl. at no extra cost. 

Limit of Liability is capped at £500,000 in the aggregate 

• Cover applies to any events when you are selling, teaching, demonstrating your craft 

• Covers online sales, rent a shelf scenarios and having your crafts stocked by other retailers. 

How to go about setting up an insurance policy with Craft Insurance.  

Thankfully, the whole process is extremely straightforward and, for your peace of mind, Naomi and Sam at Craft Insurance are available at the end of the line, ready to guide you through it. There are a couple of points to bear in mind before you call:  

I) You must be a permanent resident of the UK, Isle of Man or the Channel Islands to be able to have a Craft Insurance policy. Having said this, the policy will cover you to sell worldwide, with some limitations if you wish to sell to USA/Canada*. 

ii) You will have to complete an online application.  Regrettably, we cannot receive applications by any other means or complete applications on your behalf. So you will need a valid email address and access to the internet to set up a policy. 

iii) If you want to organise a craft fair or market, our policies will not cover you, you will need to take a separate policy with a different insurer for that. 

iv) We will not be able to advise on the limit you will need.  Some event organisers will be specific if they want you to have a certain limit of cover.  Ultimately, it is your choice which limit to go for and what you feel comfortable with. 

Ways to pay 

Our policies can be purchased with credit/debit card, internet transfer or cheques. It is also possible to pay for the policy with an interest-free direct debit facility over 12 installments rather than paying for the whole year up front, however, you can’t set up direct debits on our website, so you will need to phone us to do this. 

Employers Liability Insurance 

Another important consideration to make is that if your craft business or club has any employees or volunteers, they could make a claim against you if they fall ill or are injured as a result of what they do for you. 

The cover doesn’t just apply to permanent employees – you could have a claim made against you by self-employed contractors, temporary staff or even volunteers. Having Employers’ Liability Insurance in place means you’re covered if anyone makes a claim against you. 

For sole traders, limited companies, or even craft clubs, if you have employees and you do not hold Employers’ Liability cover, you may be in breach of legal requirements. 

Limited companies that have employees and/or more than one director require compulsory Employers’ Liability cover, regardless of whether they are family businesses or the directors are husband and wife. 

Employees include volunteers, assistants, helpers, or work experience students, paid or unpaid, full time or part time, who are working under your supervision, direction or control. The policy includes the following: 

• £10 million protection as standard (The legal minimum is £5 million) 

• Covers legal costs and compensation for illness and injury claims made by employees. 

• The price will be based on the number of employees/volunteers that you have.  

• Zero excess  

If you need to make a claim, the claims team can be contacted Monday to Friday, 09.00 to 17.30, on +44 (0)1206 773 899 (please select option one or two as appropriate).  

For all new property claims, please use property.claims@hiscox.com and for all new liability claims, you should email liability.claims@hiscox.com.  

All that said, we wish you all the best as you head out to sell your unique, handcrafted wares on the craft fair circuit, and we look forward to hearing about your adventures.   

*Providing that your estimated annual turnover to USA/Canada does not exceed £25,000 cover is automatically included, however, the limit of Public and products liability is capped at £500,000 in the aggregate including defence costs. 

The policy covers goods sold, supplied or distributed anywhere in the world, but claims must be brought against you in the United Kingdom or Ireland.