New policies only. Cover on an equivalent basis to ours. Excludes policies with home emergency cover added. Qualifying criteria apply. .
Over 18s, subject to eligibility.
Your quote must provide cover on an equivalent basis to ours. Applies to new policies. Qualifying criteria apply. Not applicable to Van Insurance policies, or policies where Landlord Emergency Cover, Rent Guarantee Cover or Home Emergency Cover is added. .
Get to the information you want to read quicker by using the links below.
Crafting has become big business in the UK, as more and more people are starting to make money from their creativity. Whether you make your living from your handicraft or view it as a passion project, if you sell your work, you need insurance cover.
Even if you don't see yourself as a business, you're as open to legal action as any big company. For example, if a piece came loose from one of your crafts, it could cause injury to a customer. If a claim was made against you, you could be faced with some extremely expensive costs.
Our Arts and Crafts Insurance policy can be customised to suit your business, so you're only paying for what you need.
Whether you choose to insure your products, your equipment or your premises, you'll only have to pay one monthly or annual premium, with one renewal date. It couldn't be easier.
Add any of the following cover options to your Arts and Crafts Insurance to create an insurance policy that precisely fits your business needs. These covers are subject to policy conditions and limits.
Public liability insurance covers you if you cause injury to a member of the public or accidentally damage someone's property. An example of this could include a customer slipping on a wet floor in your shop or office and hurting themselves, or causing damage while carrying out building works on a client's house.
This insurance also covers you if a customer or member of the public becomes ill or suffers an injury because of a product you have supplied. For example, if the heel snaps off a shoe someone has bought from you, causing them to fall over, or if a cupcake you sell at an event makes someone sick.
If the people in question pursued legal action against you, public and product liability insurance would cover the costs you are liable to pay. We can offer cover from £1 million to £10 million.
Employers' liability insurance is a legal requirement if you have employees. There are a couple of exceptions to this rule, which you can read more about here.
We cover you for £10 million, as standard. This covers the legal and compensation costs you are required to pay if an employee gets injured or becomes ill because of the work they do for you.
In the event of an insured event such as a flood or fire at your premises, buildings insurance will cover the cost of the repairs or reinstatement, this includes debris removal and architect's fees.
Equipment breakdown cover is included as standard, so if your equipment (that forms part of the building) breaks down, we'll cover the cost of the repair or replacing items. Equipment could include things like boilers and fire/burglar alarms, but we won't cover breakdown due to wear and tear.
Contents and stock cover is essential for businesses that supply goods or rely on specific equipment to run their business.
A seamstress would not be able to work without a sewing machine, a web designer would not be able to code without a computer and you may not be able to run your business without your trusty tablet.
Meanwhile, there will be other more general items that you might rely on for your business, like your office furniture or your shop tills. Insure your business contents so that if they're damaged by an insured event, such as fire or theft, your business keeps going.
If you sell goods, you'll want to insure your stock, whether that's raw materials or the finished article. If your goods are damaged or stolen, what have you got to sell?
Our different cover options allow you to insure your business equipment and stock at your premises, when you're on the move, or both. Whether you work at home, at fairs, in shared workspaces or visit a lot of clients, we've got you covered. And when you insure stock at your premises or home, you'll also get an extra 25% of stock covered for two months of your choice as standard, ideal for your busiest periods.
Peace of mind, if you experience a sudden and unexpected issue, which can cause damage to your home, makes it unsafe or uninhabitable, home emergency's 24-hour claims line means help is never far away. You'll have a certified contractor, such as plumbers, electricians, glaziers, locksmiths, or drainage engineers at your home within 4 hours of your claim being registered, to make the property secure or prevent further damage. In addition, you have access to gas engineers, pest control services and roofers, but these are not subject to the 4-hour response time. Extreme weather and remote locations may extend the response time.
Up to £1,500 inc. VAT per claim for call-out charges, labour costs and materials for insured emergencies, such as issues with plumbing, heating or pest infestations.
There's no excess to pay and no limit on how often you can claim.
You can add home emergency to a Direct Line business policy, so long as you run your business from home and have home buildings insurance, home contents insurance or business contents insurance on your policy. It is available on new and renewal policies, it can't be added during the policy term.
Home emergency isn't currently available on policies that include commercial premises.
For more information click here.
Depending on the type of business you run, you might work from home, in an office, at your shop, a client's premises or a shared working space. If your working premises became unusable due to an insured event like a fire or flood, business interruption will cover the costs of relocating until it's fixed. It can also cover you for any lost turnover during this time if you've insured your premises or business property with us.
If your main supplier or customer suffers damage to their premises and can't trade, we'll cover you for the loss of business you'll suffer. Equally, if a market or fair that you regularly attend suffers a fire, we'll cover the lost turnover for the time you can't trade there. Business interruption will also cover you if key equipment that you use to run your business, like a laptop, is damaged or stolen, meaning you can't trade.
Our business interruption cover can insure you if you or one of your key employees becomes seriously disabled and is unable to continue work. We will cover the incurred costs, up to £25,000, to minimise any interruption to the business.
Theft of Takings covers cash or cheques stolen from you in transit, from a safe or on you while you're working at other premises, such as your clients' homes. Maximum limits apply.
If you hold sensitive customer data, process payments online or just want peace of mind, Cyber cover should be considered. Because cyber criminals can be clever. Catching you off-guard and tricking you in to doing something you shouldn't, like opening an attachment in a fake email, or finding a way through your cyber-security. If this happens and they get their hands on your data or access to your bank account, the impact on your business could be devastating.
But, with our Cyber cover, you can call the experts, 24/7. They'll be on it, helping you to stay in business and recover in three ways:
Read more on Cyber cover here.
Available on new and renewal policies only. For Retail and Office & Professional customers only.
This covers the legal costs of providing specialist lawyers and taking action against many common legal problems, for instance disputes with suppliers or clients. Legal expenses cover can only be used if there is at least a 51% chance that the claim will succeed.
Personal accident cover provides payment if anyone in your business between the ages 16-75 is unable to work because they've been injured in an accident, whether in a business or personal capacity.
We'll pay a lump sum of £50,000 if there is an accidental death, accidental loss of limbs or sight, or if someone in your business becomes permanently disabled following an accident.
If someone in your business is unable to work due to a temporary injury, then after 7 days we'll pay their normal net weekly earnings up to £500 for up to 104 weeks.
You can choose Personal Accident as an add-on once you've completed your quote.
If you have commercial premises, you can extend your cover, for an additional premium, to include property damage as a result of an Act of Terrorism. We'll cover you up to the maximum sum insured on your policy for buildings, contents, and business interruption (depending on which covers you have taken).
This includes:
If you choose business interruption cover, you can extend this to include cover for reduced turnover and the costs of setting up elsewhere, due to damage to your premises resulting from an Act of Terrorism. It will also cover you not being able to access your premises as a result of an Act of Terrorism within 1 mile of your business.
Acts of Terrorism are defined as damage caused by someone acting on behalf of, or in connection with, any organisation which uses force or violence to overthrow or influence the UK government.
Terrorism cover is only available for properties located in England, Wales and Scotland.
Terrorism insurance is optional, so an additional premium will apply.
You can include Terrorism cover on your policy by adding it online or by calling us on 0345 301 5066 when you take out your policy or at renewal, as it cannot be added to your policy mid-term.
If you have an existing quote or policy with us, you can view and download your policy documents from the My Account page.
We tailor all our policies, so your documents only show what you've chosen to cover.
Here is a summary of a generic policy, from 24 April 2024 onwards, which shows the main covers and exclusions in our policies.
If you're making and selling crafts from home then you are most likely not covered by your home insurance. If your workspace or specialist equipment was damaged or destroyed by fire or flood, you would be unable to claim for them under your home policy.
If you add contents or buildings cover to your Direct Line for Business Arts and Crafts policy, you will be able to recover your building repair costs and replace expensive items like sewing machines, pottery wheels and looms following an insured event such as a fire, flood or theft.
Craft fair organisers will often ask to see proof of stallholder insurance before they allow you to pitch your stall. What this means in practice is that you need to have public and product liability on your policy. When you take out your insurance policy with Direct Line for Business, you can download evidence of your cover instantly so you can provide proof of cover minutes after you sign up for it.
If you employ anyone to help you at the craft fair, even on a casual basis, then you are legally required to have employers' liability insurance. There are some exceptions to this rule and further details can be found here.
We don't provide stallholder insurance for one day events. This is because if someone is injured because of your product, you need to be covered for the day the damage occurred, not just the day of purchase. We can cover one day events as part of an annual policy, but not on a one day policy or short period policy.
Our virtual assistant is ready to answer your questions.
Start a WhatsApp chat and get the help you need wherever you are. You can make many policy changes directly on WhatsApp.
