To give you a rough idea of how much insurance costs, we've gathered some sample quotes below. Your quotes will be based on your own business needs.
 |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|
Cost per month | |||
Public Liability | |||
Excess | |||
This covers your stall for things like someone getting injured at your stall and third-party property damage e.g. your gazebo knocking down the neighbouring stall.
If you have a market stall, portable stock (or contents) insurance will cover your items or food when they are being transported to the market.
Let's say that you leave a piece of art in the main walkway for a moment and someone trips over it and breaks their ankle. You could be held responsible for the incident due to negligence, and have to pay for their medical costs, and/or the cost of replacing their income while they are unable to work. It may seem unfair, but you still have the responsibility to deal with the consequences if something goes wrong. Most festivals and events won't even allow you to register without first obtaining public liability insurance for your market stall.
Regardless of whether you’re running a regular stall at your local market or travelling to several markets across the region to build a bigger customer base, you’ll still be exposing yourself to a wide range of potential risks.
Markets can be busy, unpredictable and hazardous places, and unexpected accidents can happen at any time. If something goes wrong and a claim is made against you, the financial consequences of paying any compensation or damages could be substantial. This is why it’s essential to make sure you have the right market stall insurance cover in place before you open for business.
Below are some of the key risks you could face. Insurance may be able to help with some of them, but the more precautions you take the less you have to worry! Here are some tips:
Getting the right insurance in place can help you manage these risks. In fact, many market organisers require you to get insurance for your stall. It's likely you'll need both public liability and product liability insurance. Market stall insurance is a great way to ensure that your stall is covered properly with both.
Although many market organisers offer insurance as part of the registration fee, you should look into what's covered; it is often very basic and fails to adequately cover you should something go wrong.
There are two main types of insurance that market stall operators should consider buying to mitigate their risk:
This type of insurance helps cover legal and compensation costs when you're found legally liable for personal injury or property damage suffered by someone related to your stall or its operation. Typical limits on policies include $5 million, $10 million, or $20 million, and includes cover for incidents and events you may not even consider like sickness or disease, false arrest and even assault and battery.
Many insurance providers will also offer both public liability and product liability cover under the umbrella of one policy.
This type of cover is also usually a mandatory requirement at many markets.
Under Australian consumer law, retailers and distributors of products have a duty of care to their customers. For example, if you sell a product that has been poorly designed, has various defects or improperly labelled, it could cause harm to one of your customers, which product liability can financially cover. If you're selling physical, manufactured products you can't vouch for 100%, you should strongly consider this kind of protection. Product liability insurance is particularly important for any market stall owner who manufactures and sells food or drink products because, under Australian Consumer Law, people who suffer loss or damage due to safety defects in goods they buy are entitled to seek compensation.
Most business insurance providers won’t cover theft or damage of your stock while it's actually at your market stall.
If you regularly operate a market stall it’s still a good idea to consider portable stock cover, which covers stock while in storage and while in transit to and from the market.
Available as part of a business insurance policy, portable stock insurance provides cover for fire, theft and a range of other risks. It’s also possible to cover the loss, theft or damage of business money to provide added peace of mind.
When shopping around for public liability insurance, it pays to compare multiple quotes. However, keep in mind that there are a number of factors that can influence how much your insurance will cost. These include:
If you regularly run stalls in high-risk locations, you can obviously expect to pay more for cover. In order to work out exactly how much cover your business needs, you'll need to take the time to consider the risks you face on a regular basis and what the consequences would be if those risks were to become reality.
Just like with any other type of insurance policy, a number of exclusions apply to public liability cover. These may differ from one insurance provider to the next, but cover will generally not be provided for:
If you run a cleaning business or if you run cleaning services as a sole trader then you'll need the right business insurance. Find out more.
Does your business run events? Public liability insurance is an important step for both one-day and regular events.
Hi. I want to sell some products I have made and purchased at a local country market. Can you help me decipher this insurance info?
Hi Allison,
Thank you for getting in touch with finder.
Many market organisers require you to insure your stall in case things go wrong. You may need both public and product liability insurance to make sure you’re covered. You might also consider professional indemnity insurance.
– Product liability insurance covers you for any damage or injury caused by a product you sold.
– Public liability insurance protects you against claims for property damage and bodily injury such as a product you’ve sold negligently causing a fire.
– Professional indemnity insurance protects you if your client suffers a loss as a direct result of advice you gave.
Some insurance providers will sell insurance packages specifically for market stall holders (sometimes called ‘Market Trading Insurance’).
If the market you’re intending to sell your goods at offers insurance as a part of the registration fee, make sure you understand exactly what you’re covered for. You may feel more comfortable obtaining your own insurance in addition to the insurance on offer from the market. You should also make sure that your set up and pack down time is included as a part of your insurance package.
I hope this helps.
Have a great day!
Cheers,
Jeni
Hi We are planning a market and are having trouble with people regarding insurance, do people who run charity stalls need insurance? or people who only make a small profit eg. senior person selling knitted items? This is turning people off participating.
thanks,
Sue
Hi Susan,
Thanks for your question.
Yes, if you’re running a market you will generally need to have stall insurance. If you would like to speak with a broker about the best options for you, please enter your details into the contact form for a market stall insurance.
Please make sure to read the eligibility criteria, features, and details of the policy, as well as the relevant Product Disclosure Statement of the policy before making a decision and consider whether the product is right for you. If necessary, speak to the insurance brand to verify any details.
I hope this was helpful,
Richard
Hi can you tell me who is liable if i trip over some market stall framework, the organiser or the owners of the stalls?
The trader had packed up and gone, It was dark and i didn’t see the metal frame work bars although the canopy was still on the roof and back (no sides)
I tripped over and damaged my clothing. No harm to myself thankfully.
Regards
John
Hi John,
Thanks for your question. finder.com.au is an Australian website so the laws and relations may be different here than that in the UK. You would need to contact the event manager to find out who would be liable.
Thanks,
Richard