Public Liability Insurance for Market Trader?

babybones

Hi,

I want to start selling my home made cookies/biscuits etc at local craft fairs and markets.

Someone has said I need public liability insurance.

Does anyone know any more about this? I have tried to get a few quotes but don't know what to call my "Business Type" - mobile food? cake making/decorating? I don't know!

I won't be making/cooking or preparing any food products at the markets, all that is done at home. I will only be selling the products at markets. Is there a difference between Public Liability and just plain Liability Insurance? Do I need two types? Help!

It's a one man operation - just me, if that makes any difference!

paulwf

Hi babybones, on the Up Your Income board there is a long thread about baking for profit somewhere, it's worth finding it and having a read.

I'm sure someone experienced will be able to help with your insurance Q, I think there are cheap polices for farmers market type businesses.

Anyway I thought I'd post to check if you've registered your kitchen with your local environmental health department? Have you also got a food hygiene certificate? Have you read the FSA guidelines on allergy labelling? Have you registered as self employed with HMRC and are you keeping records of all your expenses (preferably using a separate bank account but not compulsory) to offset against tax?

Sorry for the long list...you've probably covered them but it's always worth a quick mention.

Jo_F

Try Ian Wallace at http://www.craftinsurance.co.uk/ very helpful guy, my public and product liability is with him, and he doesn't sell you anything that you don't want or need.

martindow

The National Market Traders Federation ( nmtf.co.uk ) offers public liability and product liability cover as part of their membership fee. Might be worth a look.

theesel1994

babybones wrote: »

Hi,

I want to start selling my home made cookies/biscuits etc at local craft fairs and markets.

Someone has said I need public liability insurance.

I would have thought that it was the organiser of the craft fair or market that would need the public liability insurance. Just my opinion - not based on anything other than my own logic.

iamana1ias

theesel1994 wrote: »

I would have thought that it was the organiser of the craft fair or market that would need the public liability insurance. Just my opinion - not based on anything other than my own logic.

Your logic is screwed.

When selling homemade food there is a risk you could poison someone. The market/craft fair owner is merely renting you space, and has little say over what you sell or how it is created. They could not be held responsible if someone were to be ill as a result of consuming food made by a stall holder. The person making the food needs a certified kitchen, food safety certificate and insurance in case they ever need to be sued.

theesel1994

iamana1ias wrote: »

Your logic is screwed.

When selling homemade food there is a risk you could poison someone. The market/craft fair owner is merely renting you space, and has little say over what you sell or how it is created. They could not be held responsible if someone were to be ill as a result of consuming food made by a stall holder. The person making the food needs a certified kitchen, food safety certificate and insurance in case they ever need to be sued.

I would have thought that would come under product liability insurance. The public liability insurance I thought was if you were injured on someone's premises. Hence the organiser of the craft fair/market.

scousemanblue

Try the Market Traders Association as they give you more than just Liability cover for an annual fee of about £75 I think.

A word of warning though, you may need to check on your kitchen set up as you are preparing food. I dont know the full details of that but a friend of mine wanted to make cakes at home and she needed 2 separate sinks to be installed - one for utensils and one for washing hands. I know that sounds a bit way off but it certainly put her off from starting up the venture.

paulwf

theesel1994 wrote: »

I would have thought that would come under product liability insurance. The public liability insurance I thought was if you were injured on someone's premises. Hence the organiser of the craft fair/market.

I think you are thinking of it from a customer point of view. If a customer fell over and injured themselves because a trader left a crate in a stupid place then the customer might be able to sue the organiser, whether or not the trader had separate insurance.

However the issue is that the organiser's insurance company would then in turn sue the trader, if the trader hasn't got insurance they are screwed. It's a bit like if a customer sues a shop for a defective product, the shop insurance company would then pass it up the line to the wholesaler who would then pass it up again to the manufacturer. It's important every step in the chain is a legitimate fully insured business, and why grey imports or imitation products are best avoided by retailers.

zodiacgirl27

Dear Babybones,
Hi. My friend and I have recently started trading at markets ourselves and found the following 2 websites really helpful...
The National Market Traders Federation website has lots of info about becoming a market trader you can become a member for around £75.00 and their benefits include a public liability insurance package. (nmtf.co.uk) They've also got info on various markets & fairs around the country.

However if you dont fancy joining up then check out the Combined Market Traders Insurance Asssociation (cmtia.co.uk) they offer a policy for £47.00...this has been the cheapest one we've found so far.

Although not all markets require it, the majority do. You should only need one policy, I dont know if your terms will be the same as ours, as you will be selling food...

Anyhow hope this has helped. Once you've got it sorted at least you'll have peace of mind and can get on with the task of building your business...Good luck honey and remember have lots of fun doing it!!

zodiacgirl27 x