Public & Products Liability Insurance
While public & products liability cover is not a legal requirement, it is crucial, and it is a contractual requirement when trading with us. Proof of adequate insurance that meets our requirements is required if you wish to trade with us.
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Public Liability insurance is required by most professionally organised markets and protects the market trader from liability if your customer or another trader, happens to get injured due to your business activities provided the trader has taken the steps necessary to reduce risks.
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Product liability insurance can also protect the market trader from liability associated with the products that he or she is making and selling, provided the trader has taken the steps necessary to reduce risks.
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It is a vital means of protecting your assets if you are operating their own business and dealing with the public. Without this insurance, a trader could find themselves in serious financial trouble should an accident occur.
Quite often traders send us the incorrect documents when showing proof of their public and products liability insurance, or the insurance cover provided does meet our requirements.
Below is some information about our requirements, what you should be showing us when needed, along with some FAQ.
It’s important to remember that requirements and level of cover from other event organisers/markets may be different
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Requirement
That all traders hold the required level of Public and Products Liability insurance for their business while trading at the market.
The onus is on the trader to ensure the insurance documents you provide us provides proof that the public and product liability cover meets our requirements. If the documents don’t they won’t be accepted.
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Level of Public & Products Liability Cover Required
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Art/Craft/General Artisan Food - minimum cover required is £2million
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Art/Craft/General Artisan Food traders using their own canopy/generator or other added risk factor - minimum cover required is £5million
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Hot Food/Drinks (street food) - minimum requirement £5million
Type of cover required
Public AND products liability
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Providing us with proof of cover
When providing proof of cover the document/s should show the following information
The document/s provided should show:
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Your name or business name (this should be the same person/business operating from the market)
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The type of cover (it should specify public AND products liability)
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The level of cover provided (It should meet our level of cover required)
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The start and expiry date
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Name of insurance company or broker providing the cover along with a policy number.
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The business activities listed on the insurance should incude the activity carreid out at the market.
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The policy should provide public and products liability cover while you are trading at markets/craft fairs etc
Usually this information will be contained on one document, the 'schedule of insurance' but sometimes the details are split between multiple documents. If the information required is split between multiple documents we need to see all the relevant documents
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Note: If your insurance is part of a wider business insurance or linked to a business premises we may require the full policy to ensure it is extended to provide public and products liability cover when your operating away from your usual premises (ie at a market) - quite often insurance linked to a business premises won't cover business activities off those premises unless it's been specifically added onto a policy. This is something you will have to check with your insurance company if it’s not mentioned on your policy.
The important question to ask yourself is 'Have you informed your insurance provider that you intend to trade at markets/craft fairs etc and does the cover provided include this activity?'
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Often if public and products liability cover is not automatically extended to provide cover when trading at markets unless it is added and it can sometimes be cheaper to purchase a separate Public and products liability insurance from an insurance company that specialises in market trading, than to get your current policy extended.
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It's your responsibility to understand the insurance you are purchasing and ensuring it covers your individual and fuller business needs. We only confirm proof of Public and products liability insurance. See our traders handbook for further details on insurances (Pg 10, section 11)
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Most of our traders have acquired public and products liability insurance for around £60 - £100 per Year.
It is the trader’s responsibility to ensure the insurance they acquire is adequate for their business and their activities/products.
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We cannot recommend insurance companies, but below are a few companies used by other traders for their public and products liability insurance at markets (there are many other providers out there also)
https://www.cmtia.co.uk/
https://www.nmtf.co.uk/
https://www.mobilers.co.uk/
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This information is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal or other professional advice or an opinion of any kind. Traders are advised to seek specific advice by contacting their insurance companies regarding any specific insurance issues/queries with their market or wider business insurance issues. It’s important to note that it is each traders individual responsibility to ensure that appropriate insurance is in place and in ensuring their cover is adequate both for their wider business needs and while attending our markets.
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Basic Public and Products Liability insurance alone is not adequate to cover your entire business insurance requirements.
We recommend that you have adequate insurance for all your employees, vehicles, stock, fixtures and fittings and any other valuables you bring onto the market. We do not ask for proof of this additional recommended cover.
All traders must accept the agreement below as a condition to accepting a trade pitch:
(agreement will be made at registration and pitches are only offered where this agreement has been made)
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To indemnify NNCG from all claims, injury, damage, loss, expenses andcosts
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howsoever caused, including those sustained through explosion, fire and theft, or the cessation, interruption or alteration of the market, unless negligence on our behalf is shown.
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To accept responsibility for the cost of repairing or making good any damage made by you, your employees, assistants or agents to market fixtures and fittings, other market property, or any fixtures, fittings, property that belongs to any of our hosts (grounds/building providers).
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That NNCG will not be held responsible for your losses, damages or injuries.
You can find additional general business insurance advice HERE.
FAQ
Do you accept a receipt of payment or a quote as proof of insurance?
No - A receipt of payment shows that you have paid for insurance, but doesn't usually tell us anything about the insurance you have purchased or if it meets our requirements. A quote is simply a quote, and does not provide proof of insurance.
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Do you accept Employers liability as proof of insurance?
No - Employers liability is not the same type of cover as public and products liability. We only require proof of adequate public and products liability insurance. (employers liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ staff or volunteers, just like your vehicle insurance is a legal requirement, we do not need to see proof of this)
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Is Public Liability insurance adequate by itself?
No - We require Public AND Products liability insurance. (briefly and not a full legal definition - public liability insurance helps cover you if your general business activities injures a member of the public, products liability helps provided cover if the products you have made cause harm)
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Another organiser accepted what I sent you, why are they not suitable?
Short answer – they possibly have different requirements. We only reject documents if they don't provide us with proof that your business holds the required public and products liability cover to trade at our market.
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Do you accept a membership card of an organisation that provides insurance as proof of insurance ?
Usually Not by itself - unless the membership card specifies the details listed above, usually the insurance details linked to the membership will be detailed on a separate document, if that's the case we need that document along with the membership card.
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I have public liability insurance for my B&B (or any other business not related to the market business), will that cover me?
No, the insurance provided must be specific to the activity it is insuring, the products you sell at markets and be in the name of the person/business trading at the market.
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I've added new products/activities to my line up, does my insurance still cover me?
That's a conversation you need to have with your insurance provider. It depends on the cover you have taken out and what information you provided the insurance company at the time, but you should update your insurance company of any additional or new activities/products that weren't included when you first obtained the insurance.