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The Business of Knife Making A forum dedicated to all aspects of running, managing and legal operational issues relating to the custom knife making and custom knife selling industry.

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Old 04-01-2003, 05:13 PM
Roger Gregory's Avatar
Roger Gregory Roger Gregory is offline
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Insurance for knifemakers

Following on from one or two other threads which mention insurance, I thought I'd start off a general thread, not devoted specifically to liability or shows.

I am very surprised that some US broker or intermediary hasn't put together a policy for knifemakers and placed it with one of the big insurance carriers. Buy a magazine devoted to fishing, photography or stamp collecting and you will have pieces of card falling around your feet offering to insure you......

In the UK you might buy a 'Trader's Combined' policy with all sorts of sections depending on the size and nature of your business. The USA must have something similar. I've been handling insurance claims for 20 years so I'm not always sympathetic when people don't buy adequate cover

Property Insurance
Is your shop properly insured? Don't expect your household policy to cover your business. Make sure the building is covered and all the contents. You want Reinstatement cover. Reinstatement means 'new for old' rather than Indemnity which means 'what it is worth'. Make sure all your tools are covered, all those valuable handle materials, your computer, your finished knives, customers' knives sent to you for appraisal, sharpening or repair.

Do you have cover for tools, equipment and products away from the shop? How about those knives on your display at a show?

Business Interruption Insurance
'Loss of Profits' is another term you will see. If your shop burns down, how long will it take you to get yourself up and running again? What if you miss a major show as a result?

Liability Insurance
In the USA this might be called a Comprehensive General Liability policy. You want to be covered for a visitor to your shop walking into your grinder, some idiot at a show cutting themselves , perhaps a customer cutting himself or even an apprentice or shop-sweeper tripping over that new anvil....

Goods in Transit Insurance
Get something like this and take all those worries about Fedex, UPS or USPS away. The first recorded insurance contracts in the world were those of Phoenecian merchants insuring their cargoes and that is what Lloyd's of London started out doing, so there is a fair old track record . You will have to keep good records but I am sure the cover will be available and will save all that frustrating admin and banging your head against a brick wall trying to obtain compensation for lost parcels. Would you rather spend 20 hours trying to track parcels and obtain compensation or pay a premium to an insurer and make knives for 20 hours?

Any other thoughts?

Roger


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Old 04-03-2003, 10:46 PM
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Bob Warner Bob Warner is offline
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Since tomorrow is my last paid day at my job and I am now entering the world of the unemployed, I need some info on insurance and where to get it.

As of Saturday, I guess I will be a full time maker.


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