Dear Milt,
I have some product liability but it’s part of a total liability
package. I was concerned with the possibility that a customer might
get “poked in the eye with one of my brooches,” but I was even more
concerned that a customer might trip over a power cord in my booth at
a show or something like that.
I bought a liability package designed especially for “Crafters” from
a company called Connell (which no longer offers the policy, but more
on that later). It includes $1,000,000 liability for "crafters
selling merchandise from temporary booths in malls and craft shows"
and also provides “product liability protection, once your product
leaves your hands” but, as I discovered when I asked, only for product
sold at shows.
The policy also covers replacement cost coverage up to $5000 for
business personal property, not including losses from theft. This is
not something I particularly wanted but it came with the package. In
fact, as I discovered in my research, where insurance is concerned
everything is part of a package. It’s almost impossible to get just
the coverage you want at an appropriate price. The package I bought
costs $500 a year and is underwritten by Allstate.
After two years of coverage, I got a letter from Connell saying they
were no longer offering the plan. While I was trying to decide what
to do, I got a call from Allstate asking if I wanted to renew directly
with them and I did. The policy is called “Business Package” on the
Allstate receipt I received and you probably could contact them
directly about it if no one else has a better suggestion. Good luck
Beth
