Arts and Crafts insurance – what kind and at what cost

Whenever you budget the expenses of your business, Arts and Crafts insurance must be near the top of the list because you can’t always know exactly what could happen in the future.

With the protection provided by insurance against accidents and all the other types of insurance we will tell you about, you can protect your business and yourself in case something unforeseen happens.

Like any business owner, for your Arts and Crafts enterprise, you must consider how much financial liability you are taking on.

If your Arts and Crafts business runs without proper insurance, you are taking a tremendous chance not just of losing some money but of a complete wipe-out.

This is because the laws in every state are very strict in enforcing liability on the owners of businesses for the results of their actions. 

In this article, we are giving very general guidelines for growing businesses to highlight what the main kinds of insurance that you need are, and where available, a rough guide to how much you can expect to pay.

The question is, can you afford to NOT have insurance for your Arts and Crafts business?

What this means, for any Arts and Crafts business owner, is that if some person claims that your business caused them some physical or economic damage, a court can award damages far beyond the total size of your business.

Your Arts and Crafts business is not protected by laws in the same way as states are, where legislation can place a “cap” on the maximum level of liability.

In some states, like Texas, there are specific monetary levels that limit the amount a court can award in any case against the state.

In a court case, it’s purely the duty of the jury to award whatever amount they deem appropriate, even sometimes giving a person more than they have sued for.

When you are running your Arts and Crafts operations, you can’t escape responsibility for the outcomes of your actions.

Even more importantly, unless you have spent in advance the money necessary to have your business running as a limited liability company, all of that liability belongs to you alone.

What does Arts and Crafts insurance protect you from?

For your Arts and Crafts business, the most important sorts of insurance are intended to cover the risks to your business from accidents, from unexpected events, and from mistakes.

As well there are some mandatory kinds of insurance that various states require.

In the next few paragraphs, we will describe the most important points any Arts and Crafts business owner should know when negotiating the insurance needed.

The main headings of insurance for your Arts and Crafts businesses are liability insurance, commercial insurance, asset insurance and workers compensation insurance.

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any Arts and Crafts business is dealing directly with customers, and that means you generally have the danger that some accident can happen to them themselves or else something of theirs can be damaged.

In such a case, they can demand compensation.

General liability insurance policy for your Arts and Crafts business insures you against claims coming from injury to visitors or damage to their property.

It protects your Arts and Crafts business from the claims themselves and as well to any associated court costs and legal fees of the lawsuits.

In many cases, it can also help you to qualify for extra business from city and state organizations, where contracts insist on proper liability insurance.

The usual level of general liability insurance for your Arts and Crafts business would be with a upper limit of $1 million for a single event and a total of $2 million for the whole year.

See the table in the costing section below for average prices of general liability insurance for your Arts and Crafts insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your Arts and Crafts business

In the event where a buyer alleges some negligence, errors, or omissions in how you conducted your Arts and Crafts business for them, you can quickly be involved in a court case.

Even if the case against you is ruled in your favor, the cost of defense can be high, and the impact on your reputation can be damaging.

Every small Arts and Crafts business should have enough professional liability insurance to cover an individual claim of $25,000, with annual cover of $50,000.

See the table in the cost of Arts and Crafts insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your Arts and Crafts operations.

Product liability insurance

Whatever goods you sell or advice you give about the goods, you are running a risk that customers may claim that what they received didn’t meet your description of function, or that your recommendation was basically incorrect.

You need to understand the particular laws of product liability in your own state.

For example, in California, all businesses in the supply chain can be held culpable for results caused by products claimed to be defective.

To cover yourself against any likely lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for Arts and Crafts

Only you can determine exactly how much insurance you must have.

Best advice is to contact experienced insurance agents, brokers or company representatives for help.

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your Arts and Crafts business

Be careful! – almost all policies for private vehicle insurance do not cover any occurrence like theft or accidental damage when the vehicle is being used for business purposes.

The proper way to make sure that your vehicle is insured for both its own value, and the valuable contents, is by taking out a designated commercial vehicle insurance package.

Commercial car policies cover the value of any vehicle in case of accident, malicious damage, fire, or theft.

In addition, in case of any accident, the car itself, the content and any legal bills, medical expenses, and property damage is insured if your van is involved in a crash.

Most states, other than Virginia and New Hampshire, require this type of insurance.

The necessary value of the insurance is worked-out for the depreciated value of the vehicle, and your declared level of cover of contents. 

Tools and Equipment insurance

Since your Arts and Crafts business needs unique and expensive equipment, you can appreciate how much it can cost to replace it in case of any damage, loss, or theft.

The gear may be subject to malicious damage, deliberate fire, theft, other such unpredicted acts.

In addition, acts of nature like lightning strikes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other highly damaging natural events can eliminate your whole business in one stroke.

Unless you can afford to immediately replace such specialized gear quickly out of your own pocket, you must have full-level equipment insurance so that you can immediately buy any equipment needed to keep your Arts and Crafts business running.

It is impossible to advise how much equipment insurance you need – it’s essentially dependent on how much you have invested in your Arts and Crafts business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

Any Arts and Crafts business that owns or rents space in a building must have a commercial property insurance policy.

If you own the space, you may already have a substantial capital investment, along with a big liability if there’s a mortgage.

Every physical building location must carry insurance coverage for the value of the premises and contents against accidental occurrences like fire and storms, and against deliberate damages like theft and vandalism.

If your Arts and Crafts business operates in areas of high risk, like California or South Carolina, extra coverage may be needed for earthquakes and hurricanes or tornadoes.

In other states like Illinois, where unlimited cold snaps can cause damage to outer coverings of Arts and Crafts business premises, there is a need for more additional cover than in warmer climes.

Whereas the level of cover depends mainly on the value of the property, it’s not possible to say what cover your need, but we have been able in the table in the cost of Arts and Crafts insurance section below to give some idea of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your Arts and Crafts business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your Arts and Crafts business

Is your Arts and Crafts business working part-time or casually, or is the level of business fluctuating?

Using short-term insurance makes excellent sense. Business insurance by the month, day, or week – temporary insurance for Arts and Crafts – are special policies where you can cover a nominated period when you want to be covered.

By only paying for that period of cover, you will save by having reduced premiums but still having the same risk cover.

The essential feature of short-term insurance is that you pay for the cover for a defined period – a specific date, or a week or month starting on a specific date, for example for 30 days beginning on the specified date.

When you are expecting periods of larger business activity, get the existing cover increased.

Talk to your insurance agent, broker or the company’s representatives to see what options you have.

Business Owners Policy BOP for your Arts and Crafts business

You have the chance to combine a few of the important kinds of small business insurance in one policy that is known as the business owner’s policy – BOP.

A BOP integrates commercial property and public liability insurance by incorporating these coverages into one insurance policy, which can save you money.

BOP insurance will shield you if any claims of injury or property damage are made.

It is mostly the right choice for small and medium-sized Arts and Crafts businesses, such as yours.

There are some limits that will determine whether BOP is suitable for your own business.

BOPs will not cover your professional liability or commercial vehicle policies.

Also, the size of your business will determine whether you are allowed to take out BOP cover.

The typical business that is allowed to take a BOP policy must have no more than one hundred employees, and under five million dollars in annual turnover.

Plus, you must separately take out the required worker’s compensation, health and disability insurance as determined for your state.

Workers Compensation insurance for your Arts and Crafts business employees

In most states, it is mandatory to have workers compensation insurance when your Arts and Crafts business has one or more employees.

Workers compensation insurance covers the business against any costs that arise if an employee experiences an injury or becomes sick as a result of work.

The benefits provide for medical expenses, death benefits, lost wages, and vocational rehabilitation.

Failure to meet a state’s laws in this regard can leave you as the employer obliged to pay penalties levied by the states.

Some states, such as North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming only authorize coverage from the government-run monopoly state funds.

In these states, you can’t obtain your workers compensation obligations from private insurance providers.

Workers compensation charges are worked out based on the employee’s pay, and usually come out at around $1.00 per $100 per month.

However, you must consult the relevant authorities in your state.

Average costs of these types of insurance

Although every Arts and Crafts insurance need is unique, there are enough examples of usual quotes from insurance companies for us to give approximate guidelines, including what are the cheapest rates offered.

Of course, you should always check with an insurance representative what’s relevant for your business.

The list below is of annual premiums we have researched for the main types of insurance your Arts and Crafts businesses needs.

Cost of insurance for your Arts and Crafts operations depends on many different factors.

We have calculated these figures for small self-employed Arts and Crafts businesses.

In larger states like New York, premiums are generally about 20%-30% higher than national averages, whereas in smaller states like Oregon, they can be about 20%-30% lower.

The location and size and type of your Arts and Crafts business can have a big effect on the cost of different policies.

You should discuss with professional insurance agents and brokers, or insurance company representatives.

In addition you can let the internet do the work for you by looking for insurance companies near where your business is located.

Another reliable source of information is the local Better Business Bureau in your suburb.

FAQ

What is small business insurance for Arts and Crafts operations?

This is a wide term used to describe standard insurance policies designed to protect Arts and Crafts business owners from risks like bodily injury, property damage, claims of negligence.

Does my Arts and Crafts business have to have insurance?

Some of the kinds of insurance are not mandatory for you to operate your business, but they can protect you from risks in your business operations.

Some other forms are required by state law, such as workers compensation and vehicle insurance.

What does a small Arts and Crafts business insurance policy cover?

Liability insurance provides coverage against lawsuits or claims filed by a third-party for bodily injury, property damage, or negligence.

The exact cover will vary based on your own operations.

See the table in the costing section above for average prices of the most common policies for Arts and Crafts insurance.

How much will Arts and Crafts business insurance cost?

As well as the size of the business, several other factors, such as location and claims history, are used to determine your policy’s cost.

You should discuss with professional insurance agents and brokers, or insurance company representatives.

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