Although Public Liability Insurance typically refers to covering craft fairs and events, it is still necessary to ensure that your business is protected from any other legal matters should a member of the public sue you due to an incident involving your business.
Public liability insurance for craft fairs and craft stallholders is incredibly important, as it covers you against any liability or claims made by the public in connection with your craft fair.
Do I need to register as a business to sell crafts?
When it comes to crafting, there are very few areas in which a licence is essential. If you are working with and selling alcohol, food or have a business premise that isn't your home, you may need a licence. Otherwise, it is mostly acceptable for a small business to simply register with HMRC and begin trading.
Do I need business insurance to sell on Etsy? Put plainly, no. You are not legally required to take out any form of insurance before selling your handmade crafts on Etsy. That being said, it is generally a good idea to at least consider purchasing online retailer insurance before selling on this platform.
The annual premium for £5,000,000 Public and Products Liability is £59.00. To include Employers' Liability, the premium will be £87.00. If you would like higher limits of indemnity for Public and Products Liability (£10,000,000) prices increase to £70.50 and £98.50 (with Employers' Liability).
What insurance do I need for a craft fair or farmers market?
Do I need insurance to sell homemade crafts?
Popular crafting marketplaces, such as Etsy, Folksy, Ebay and Not On The High Street, don't make it compulsory for you to have insurance in order to sell products on their websites. However, it is important to have appropriate craft insurance in place to best protect your business, your goods and your sales.
Public liability insurance can help protect your business in case of third-party injury or damage, maybe caused by a trip or slip over your stall, or injury caused by one of your products.
As touched on above, you do not legally require public and product liability insurance to sell at a craft stall. However, it is a good idea. If, for example, a member of the public trips over your stall and becomes injured, this cover will protect you.
Do I need to register my etsy shop as a business UK?
If you sell more than £1,000 in a year on Etsy, then you will need to register a self-employed business and pay taxes depending on your income. Every country has different rules regarding taxes, and you must pay on income made from an e-commerce enterprise.
Do I need to register my craft business with HMRC?
As a new business owner, you'll also need to deal with HMRC. It's important that you register as self-employed so you can pay your taxes. Then you'll need to keep up with tax deadlines for your business, filing your tax return and paying your bill on time (including corporation tax if you establish a limited company).
FACT SHEET - STREET TRADING ART AND CRAFT EXHIBITIONS DO I NEED A LICENCE? With few exceptions, any form of selling of goods or the provision of services which takes place either in the street, or on the public footway, or up to 7 metres from any street, requires a licence.
What is the Law for Selling Handmade Items in the UK? To register as a sole trader, you must be self-employed and have your own business. You don't have to register the name you are going to trade under, but if you want to stop people from trading under your business name you'll have to register it as a trademark.
There are some types of cover that all crafters should have – Public and Products Liability insurance is definitely one and, if you employ anyone, the law says you have to have Employers Liability cover too.
Regardless of what you craft, you will likely benefit from having public liability insurance. We cover a wide range of crafts which many other providers do not. These include, but are not extensive to: Cosmetics, such as Bath and Shower Products.
injury to someone else, or damage to their property, caused by you while you're working, or as a result of your craft work. injury to someone else, or damage to their property, caused by your employee (remember, if you employ people, you're required by law to have employers' liability insurance)
HMRC lets you earn £1,000 a year through websites like Etsy without worrying about income tax. If you had sales of more than £1,000 a year with Etsy, you need to submit a tax return. This doesn't necessarily mean you need to pay tax.
Will HMRC know if I sell through Etsy? Online marketplaces like Etsy are covered by the digital platform reporting rules. This means that they're required to collect information about the income that you receive from your Etsy sales, and then report this data to HMRC automatically each year.
From January 1, HMRC has instructed popular side hustle platforms - including Airbnb, Fiverr, Upwork, Uber, Deliveroo and Etsy to record how much money people are making through them and report it to the tax office.
You can sell handmade online via your own store built with a platform like Shopify, on third-party marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, with niche sites like Etsy and Big Cartel, and on social media sites like Instagram and Facebook. You can also sell handmade items wholesale to other businesses.
To run a fully protected craft workshop, you'll need Public Liability Insurance. This type of cover will allow you to be covered from legal action and large costs due to damages.
Simply take the number of hours it took you to make the product, multiply it by your hourly rate, and that's how much you should charge for the item! For example, let's say that you spend 2 hours making a pair of earrings. Using an hourly rate of $12.50, you would charge $25 for the earrings ((2 x 12.50) = 25).
Register as Self Employed with HMRC. Obtain any permits or planning permission that you may need from your local authority. Contact your local authority to find out whether you need to pay Business Rates. Contact HMRC to register for VAT if you expect to have a turnover which exceeds the VAT threshold.
With single day public liability insurance, you can get the coverage you need without committing to a long-term policy. Short-term public liability insurance is a flexible and cost-effective option that can provide coverage for a range of events and activities, including trade shows, exhibitions, and one-off gigs.
