Public liability insurance for market stalls

How to approach the cover

There is no shortcut in the business description. It should cover the routine jobs and the less frequent work that can carry more risk.

The quotation should describe the risk and the policy should reflect that description. Keep both sets of documents so you can compare them.

Look beyond the value of the invoice and consider: a display falls onto a visitor; a customer trips over stock or a tie-down; and food or a product causes harm later. None of these situations has an automatic insurance answer. They are useful prompts for checking the scope of the quotation.

Write down the facts rather than estimating them in a rush: indoor or outdoor markets and frequency; products sold and where they come from; and cooking, heating or demonstrations. Where the position varies between jobs, explain the usual work and the exception.

Use the policy summary as an introduction, then turn to the schedule and endorsements for the details that affect the work. Query any uncertain point while other quotations are still open to you.

Jobs and situations to mention

Run through these situations against the jobs you accept:

• A display falls onto a visitor
• A customer trips over stock or a tie-down
• Food or a product causes harm later

The policy response depends on the full circumstances. A short list on a webpage cannot replace the wording.

Think about the point described as “a customer trips over stock or a tie-down”. Would the job record show what had been agreed, who was present and how the work area was left? Those records can matter as much as memory later on.

The second example, “food or a product causes harm later”, may need a different precaution. Check the endorsements for instructions linked to the method of work, not merely the occupation.

The answers should make sense to somebody who has never visited the business. Avoid shorthand that only people in the trade would understand.

Details to gather for the quote

Write down the answers to these points before opening the form:

• Indoor or outdoor markets and frequency
• Products sold and where they come from
• Cooking, heating or demonstrations

Confirm “indoor or outdoor markets and frequency”, “products sold and where they come from” and “cooking, heating or demonstrations” with the customer, organiser or contractor where necessary. Written details are easier to check than a remembered telephone conversation.

Where a contract has prompted the purchase, keep its insurance clause beside the quote. That makes the required limit and dates easier to check.

Two reminders from this page are “products cover may sit with public liability but check” and “weather limits can close a market”; keep them beside the documents when you check the quotation. If the policy takes a different approach to “indoor or outdoor markets and frequency”, ask about it before the cover is needed and retain any written reply.

Read the finished form once more before sending it. A missing activity is easier to correct at this stage.

What the certificate does not show

• Products cover may sit with public liability but check
• Weather limits can close a market
• Keep organiser requirements on file

Read the schedule and endorsements beside the main wording. Important restrictions are often shown there.

A final check against the real work

Check the work diary for tasks involving heat, height, water, digging, treatment, advice or products. These are easily forgotten when they are not done every week.

Where an answer is an estimate, note the figures used. Update the provider if the eventual position is substantially different.

If a customer has set the insurance requirement, send the certificate only after checking it. The legal name, dates and limit should match what the customer reasonably expects to see.

The page has one more practical caution: keep organiser requirements on file; check how this affects the jobs you accept and ask for clarification if the policy takes a different approach.