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we're currently looking for an insurance policy that covers customers work while it's being worked on (among other things). It seems easy enough to get cover for whilst it's waiting to be framed or if it gets damaged after it's framed but not while it's being worked on...which seems odd.
We're not in the habbit of damaging customers work but it's nice to know that the cover is there.
If anyone can point us in the direction of any recommended insurers/brokers we would be most grateful.
Public Liability insurance protects you from loss or damage resulting from a claim for damages by a third party arising from negligence on your part - shouldn't matter if that's while it's being worked on or not, but there might be clauses, like fire or other things that might not be negligence on your part.
So make sure there is a clause in your contents insurance - there's a term for it I can't remember, something like 'other peoples' property in your possession' and you can state an 'up to' value which can be temporarily increased if you get something in that has a value above that.
I am in the process of changing insurers at the moment, from Besso to NFU (based on positive comments on the forum), with Besso my own stock and customers work entrusted to me was grouped together. Then there was separate risk called process cover, this was a relatively low amount and covered customers work which was damaged while I was working on it, also the maximum amount of cover for loss or theft of an individual item was rather low.
As for NFU my own stock and customers work are listed separately, and I made sure that this also covered damage to customers work while I am working on it. There are also no low limits.
Roboframer wrote: - there's a term for it I can't remember, something like 'other peoples' property in your possession' and you can state an 'up to' value which can be temporarily increased if you get something in that has a value above that.
Goods in trust is the term I think your looking for
I have specific cover for customers work 'held in trust'. Never had to claim, but I would think that it the work happened to be damaged in any way it would depend on the circumstances on whether the insurance company would honour a claim. It's more to cover fires/theft/other things that you have taken reasonable steps to avoid.
Scenario 1. You have a painting on the workbench. Someone knocks a cup of coffee over it. Painting ruined... Legitimate Claim?
Scenario 2. You have a painting on the workbench. The people upstairs have a burst pipe which brings the ceiling down over your workbench. Painting ruined... Legitimate Claim?
Scenario 3. You have a painting on the workbench. A delivery man decides that is the perfect place to land a big parcel. Painting ruined... Legitimate Claim?
Scenario 5. You have a painting on the workbench. I looks a bit dirty so you try to clean it with Cillit Bang an a souring pad. Painting ruined... Legitimate Claim?
OK. You're the insurance assessor. Pick the bones out of that lot.
We are currently with Besso but always looking for a good deal. I did try the NFU but they were only able to offer me two policies, one as a retailer and one as a manufacturer and it worked out more expensive. Now having heard that some of you have insured with NFU I might try them again and see if there has been a change of policy.
Rolf Lawson GCF “I am playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order.” Eric Morecambe
We use a broker, brokers are fab, best policy at the best price and if you have to make a serious claim the loss adjuster will deal with your broker, who cannot be bullshitted, and not you, who can.
I actually switched to the NFU from a slightly cheaper deal mainly because I can deal directly with a local agent rather than an impersonal switchboard. They do a nice shop policy that can be tailored to individual needs. Buildings cover included if necessary. Also there are a lot of good extras such as goods in transit and I can increase cover on a temp basis when I need to. There was a time when some companies avoided commercial policies like the plague, but times change......
prospero wrote:
Scenario 5. You have a painting on the workbench. I looks a bit dirty so you try to clean it with Cillit Bang an a souring pad. Painting ruined... Legitimate Claim?
Certainly not. You should know never to use modern cleaning materials on an old painting. Vim or Ajax would have been much more appropriate.
WelshFramer wrote:
Certainly not. You should know never to use modern cleaning materials on an old painting. Vim or Ajax would have been much more appropriate.
A customer once brought it a hand-coloured opaline photo that she had tried to clean using that exact method. It was Ajax on a scrubbing brush if I remember right. I had to repaint it. There is quite an amusing story about how I did it, but I'll save it for the long winter nights.....
I was looking for insurance last month. Spoke to a well-respected broker who questioned me for 40 minutes on the phone, then went away, and a week later came back with a quote that sounded quite good, so I agreed. He then sent me a huge pile of paper, 27 pages, of which about half I had to fill in and post back. On page 19 in small letters it mentioned that I would need to have an alarm system of a better spec than I have .. . . .
I was just puzzling over this scenario, and whether it was possible to upgrade my alarm system rather than install a new one, when the NFU chap called in to see me. We had a chat, and a cup of tea, and it is all sorted. £50 a year more expensive than the other quote, but no need for a new alarm system, and they charge virtually nothing extra to pay by monthly installments. And the cover is slightly higher on each item. Sorted!
I know this is an old thread, but I'm currently faced with the dilemma of looking for appropriate insurance. Based on all the positive feedback from this forum I've contacted NFU who were swift to visit us, but then took over two weeks to get back with a proper quote. And that quote is extortionate!
We also have a quote from NatWest who we bank with and they are almost £300 cheaper than NFU per year!
We dont have a retail shop, only a workshop / studio so I'm not sure why this is so expensive. Somehow I would have thought insuring a workshop is less expensive than a retail shop. Could it be postcode dependent?
If anyone can recommend other insurers please let me know so I can give them a ring.
Picture framing is an odd category, and this can cause wild discrepancies with insurers.
If they have classed you under "wood-working" the premium will be huge, particularly if it is a workshop policy for wood-working, as opposed to a retail policy for picture framing.
it is important to be truthful with your insurer at the outset, otherwise you will find that you are not covered when you need it. However, I had quite a discussion with NFU on this point, and explained to them that most of my work was with mountcutting, dry mounting, assembling etc, and about 10% was related to woodworking, which is a non-powered morso. They went and talked to their underwriters, and the quote came back much much lower.
Keep pushing them, and you will get there. If you want more specific advice, PM me with the premium they are asking for, and I will tell you if that is reasonable.
We found the same problem with the local NFU office. They could not understand what we did and kept concentrating on the fact that we "manufactured" frames and then "retailed" them, so we were two businesses and needed two policies, which were very expensive.
As we are Guild members, we are currently insured through Besso, but we review that every year. We haven't found a better quote yet for us and our location, and they at least understand the business we are in.
As Jim says it is always worth going back to them again and try using the explanation he has provided.
Rolf Lawson GCF “I am playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order.” Eric Morecambe
I have just had a quote from NFU and it did take a couple of weeks for them to get back to me but they came in at £8 more than my current insurer for basically the same thing. I have yet to check the complete details but I feel the NFU figure may be for slightly better cover.
They will take the premiums over 12 months if I want as opposed to my current insurer who take them over 10 months (two premium free months at the end of the year).
Their chap came and visited us and I got the impression they fully understood our business and the only stipulation regarding woodworking was that all shavings/sawdust are collected into a non combustable container each night.
They do not include employers liability as standard but that does not affect me.
I may well go with them if only to make my current insurers keener to regain our business next year.
Thanks. That's all very interesting. Naively I thought being a workshop without retail it would be cheaper. I will take your advice and phone them tomorrow and see if there is any room for movement.
Jim, I will PM you right now. It would be great to get an experienced opinion on the figures I've been given. They are so wildly different I simply don't know what's realistic and what's not.
Just done the renewal and went with NFU. It appeared we were not as well covered as we should have been for a certain new aspect of our business and when I asked our current insurers to look into it they upped their price by 50 quid.
Looks like NFU are getting the from forum members.
I know it depends on a lot of factors but I'd like just a rough idea of contents insurance for a framing workshop and gallery (nothing too expensive) are we talking hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of pounds?
You need to consider a total loss scenario. If you had to replace all your equipment so you could get up and running again, how much cash would you need? The bigger the figure you state, the bigger the premiums. Of course you don't have to insure your kit at all. You may never claim and save a bit of dosh. And if you do have a total loss, it's just your hard luck.
But the main area that you should not neglect is work held in trust. If that's not covered, you could find yourself right in the brown stuff. Tricky, because it will vary. But you should have a good idea of value of the "other peoples stuff" that you hold most of the time. I use a base figure of 20K. If I should have to hold a extra valuable painting for a while, I ring the NFU and arrange temp cover.
from forum members.