Insurance, and what your policy excludes

The moment money changes hands, the framing your insurer has been using stops matching what you are doing.

Three different risks

Product liability. Someone becomes ill or is harmed by the product. For an acidified food this is the one that matters most and the one a wholesale buyer asks about by name.

General liability. Someone is hurt at your stall, or your canopy blows into a neighbor's table.

Property. Stock, equipment and ingredients lost to fire, theft or a failed freezer. A freezer full of a season's peppers is a real exposure.

Your homeowner policy is not the answer

Most homeowner policies exclude business pursuits, and selling at a market even in small amounts is usually enough to trigger the exclusion. It applies to the product claim as well as the stall one.

It very likely excludes anyone helping you, paid or not, and excludes stock held off the premises. Ask in writing and keep the answer, because this is exactly the kind of claim where the policy language is read closely.

What a market or buyer asks for

Markets commonly require a general liability certificate naming the market as additional insured before you can book. Wholesale accounts require product liability and send their own requirement.

Both arrive with a deadline attached, and a certificate takes days to issue. This is a common reason a producer misses a first market or a first listing.

Getting it in place

Look for a food or small manufacturer policy rather than a general small business one, and be specific: acidified food, where it is made, who helps, which channels. Under-describing the operation to get a lower quote is how a claim gets denied.

Ask whether the policy covers product recall expense, which is separate from liability and is the cost that actually lands first.

References