Vendor insurance

[Kaizen]

A fair I am going to attend is requiring me to provide insurance for my booth. I have no idea what to look for or which company provides this service. The policy needs to have 1,000,000 worth of liability. One company that was recommended is shaninhan which provides coverage by the event, any experience with them? Any other options out there?

[menty666]

I go through these folks for my business insurance, but depending on what you make it might be a problem. They wouldn't write a quote unless I stopped making the dillies:

http://www.rlicorp.com/index.asp

[Kaizen]

Thanks for the link.

[maui greenstone]

I use RLI as well

[ALIEN!]

One company that was recommended is shaninhan which provides coverage by the event, any experience with them?


Sounds too much like "Shenanigans"

WTF kind of event requires a million in insurance? Doesn't sound worth the trouble, but I could be wong. Now Im hungry for chinese. :wes:

[Kaizen]

Music festival. I also don't get why I need that much coverage. RLI quoted me a great price for 1 million liability so I'm not complaining.

[Jeffs Pieces]

I think a mil is the standard for any vendor from my experience, Is there anyway you can be covered in a umbrella clause under their insurance? or find someone that has a dba and insurance and work with them?

[Kaizen]

They require my own insurance. I was thinking of umbrellaing under a local store but since the price was so low I'd rather get it myself.

[steven p selchow]

Most all require that 1 mil. I did the mall thing at x-mas. Was requirement to carry it, thats when I had 6 showcases and 2 towers 150 Sq. ft. Even though nobody could touch anything, Id of thought if some fell onto my booth, it would be the malls fault for not cleaning up a spill or whatever, not mine. But its a different world now, and I had Shanahan at my retail now, Am family at the mall, this was 25 years ago. Its cheap, 75 a month or 275 a year I paid with shanahan, get it, or not, Ive been told I needed it for an event, and just told them I had it, they never checked, asked for a "copy". do what feels right to you..

steve

[Greymatter Glass]

I have to carry 2 mil on my shop because I have 2 units... like wtf, the building just recently sold for $620k.... but my ins covers me where I do business, so at shows and stuff I already have insurance :)

[menty666]

I was chit chatting with the owner of one of those little motorized trains they bring in for town events, you know? Basically a tractor towing 3 cars behind it.

Here in MA he has to carry a 2 million dollar policy on that thing PLUS because they take it apart to transport it, it requires a 100.00 inspection every time they set up someplace new.

F'd up world.

[Emmett's Glass]

I won't do shows that require me to carry insurance. I'm not working for the insurance companies, fuck those bastards.
E

[maui greenstone]

I won't do shows that require me to carry insurance. I'm not working for the insurance companies, fuck those bastards.
E

That's plain stupid. You can get insurance for $200 a year and add each venue you do for $20. If I cut out all the shows I do that require insurance I would literally halve my income. The more organized shows WILL require you to carry insurance, and wouldn't you rather be part of a more organized event that has all their ducks in a row.....course if you wanna keep doing swap meets and get haggled on your cheapest items by all means ignore all events that require insurance.

Here is that basic math. $200 in insurance allows me to make about 30-40K a year extra. That's a pretty damn good return on investment.

Also this coverage includes travel to and from shows....get in a car accident on the way and they will pay for your damaged merchandise.

don't blind yourself by being pissed off at corporate types....stand back and take a look at what you are doing and where you are going. This insurance is worth having if you travel to go to your venues at all (even if said venue doesn't require insurance)

Here is another good example of how insurance can save your ass.... Little Jimmy butterfingers decides to grab some of your glass of the table with his tiny 8 year old hands, but doesn't get a good grip on it and in his fumbling manages to fling it into a nice large piece. The large piece shatters and little Jimmy gets a cut on his face that requires 5 stitches. He now has a permanent facial scar and who is held liable....That's right YOU ARE. Now you have a lawsuit on your hands to the tune of about $100k.....can you afford to pay out that kinda cheese (I know I can't), but had you popped for the $200 insurance in the first place you would have no worries.

GET THE INSURANCE IT COULD POTENTIALLY COST YOU YOUR ENTIRE BUSINESS IF YOU DON'T:wes:

[Emmett's Glass]

That's plain stupid. You can get insurance for $200 a year and add each venue you do for $20. If I cut out all the shows I do that require insurance I would literally halve my income. The more organized shows WILL require you to carry insurance, and wouldn't you rather be part of a more organized event that has all their ducks in a row.....course if you wanna keep doing swap meets and get haggled on your cheapest items by all means ignore all events that require insurance.

Here is that basic math. $200 in insurance allows me to make about 30-40K a year extra. That's a pretty damn good return on investment.

Also this coverage includes travel to and from shows....get in a car accident on the way and they will pay for your damaged merchandise.

don't blind yourself by being pissed off at corporate types....stand back and take a look at what you are doing and where you are going. This insurance is worth having if you travel to go to your venues at all (even if said venue doesn't require insurance)

Here is another good example of how insurance can save your ass.... Little Jimmy butterfingers decides to grab some of your glass of the table with his tiny 8 year old hands, but doesn't get a good grip on it and in his fumbling manages to fling it into a nice large piece. The large piece shatters and little Jimmy gets a cut on his face that requires 5 stitches. He now has a permanent facial scar and who is held liable....That's right YOU ARE. Now you have a lawsuit on your hands to the tune of about $100k.....can you afford to pay out that kinda cheese (I know I can't), but had you popped for the $200 insurance in the first place you would have no worries.

GET THE INSURANCE IT COULD POTENTIALLY COST YOU YOUR ENTIRE BUSINESS IF YOU DON'T:wes:

Why are the shows that require me to carry insurance less organised and more of a pain in the ass than the shows with insurance included in the booth fee? What does the insurance really cover? Just the cost of supplies on broken works or the payment for your labor. I have my car insured so my trip there & back is covered. I've done a few shows that require insurance, I didn't do any better at them than any of the other shows and each time the show wants to be included on the ryder it's another $20 or so. If a show can't add me to there blanket policy does the show really have my best intrest or are they just trying the get me to buy some dumbass policy that they won't follow through on if something does happen.
Any kid playing around my booth gets asked to leave before they have a chance to screw up. Set you display up right and pay attention to who comes up to your booth and you won't have a problem.
E

[menty666]

Take it a step in the other direction though. Say you're doing a street festival and a gust of wind comes along, and fires someone else's tent into yours, wrecking your stuff. Having an insurance policy covers YOUR damage.

Or you're inside and the lady selling custom painted bowling balls that look like celebrity heads has a shelving failure, and suddenly your glass is the center pin on this rolling look alike wave of destruction. Hurray for insurance.

[Julian]

Crazy stuff does happen at shows. There was an art show by Lake Superior a few years back that was hit by a massive storm... everyone's work got tossed into the lake! Steven Selchow was at the show and said he lost a bunch of pieces.

Liability for other people doing stupid stuff is a lot more important, though. Someone could sue you for a lot more than you're ever going to have in inventory at a show. It's not always possible to stop stupid things before they happen, it gets crazy at shows sometimes. You could even be targeted by someone trying to find someone to sue... anything can happen.

I think insurance is cheap enough that it's worth getting. Otherwise, you better be putting lots of money away just in case.

[steven p selchow]

Emmett, I understand your reasoning, as well as the others. 99% of the shows I use to do didn't require insurance, just suggested it was a good idea. I quite doing shows, 1-2 a year now Use to do 24 a year for 10 years, quite years ago, except for a few Florida ones in the winter. I got a policy long time ago, blanket that covers me where ever I go. I agree, show insurance is not a mandatory thing, home is a must.

steve

[FredLight]

I just did a 3 day show, had to get 1 million in LIABILITY insurance.

I paid $115 to Shahinian ( booth fee was $500).

I made quite a chunk of change so the insurance was paid for in the first hour or so.

Play along, get the insurance, make some money.

Oh, you'll need additional coverage if you want your inventory protected from bowling balls or wind knocking over your shelves, or thieves running off with your laptop. ASK ABOUT IT.

[maui greenstone]

I won't take to much time rebutting here as ultimately the decision lies with you....

Sometimes the unforseen happens and it can cost you your ass, for such a small investment you have protection and a wider range of venues you can do. In life we are presented with many hoops to jump through some are harder to jump than others....this is a simple hoop to clear, why dig your heals in so hard?

Also I apologize for calling your views stupid, that was uncalled for and rude, but not intended for offensive purpose.