Insurance for market stall traders Insurance for market stall traders

Whether you're selling clothing and accessories or fresh fruit and veg, running a market stall comes with a variety of risks. Protect your products, equipment, customers and more with cover that's tailored to your needs.

Be quote confident. We'll beat the price of any like-for-like quote. T&Cs apply.

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Why buy insurance for your market stall business?

As a market stall trader, your day-to-day business will likely involve lots of areas of potential risk, from procuring stock to dealing with the consequences of faulty products.

Business insurance offers protection for you as well as your team, products and equipment, plus your liability to customers and suppliers.

• Tailored cover to suit your specific needs

• No itemised product list required, as long as you don't sell anything from our excluded items list

• Liability covered for injuries caused by the products you sell

• Cover included for selling your products online

• UK-based customer service and five-star rated claims support

• Make changes to your cover at any time with no additional fees

• Instant access to policy documents

Be quote confident

We're big on fairness. So if you find a lower price for a comparable quote, we won't just match it – we'll go one better and beat it.

So even better than apples to apples, apples to better apples. We're talking Galas to Braeburns.

As you'd expect, T&Cs apply.

What insurance does a market trader need?

Public and product liability insurance

Often seen as an essential cover for businesses that interact with members of the public or sell physical products, public liability insurance can protect you from third-party claims (for instance by a customer, a supplier or a member of the public) of accidental injury or property damage as a result of your business activities.

Your public liability insurance also includes product liability cover, which can cover your legal and compensation costs if a product you sell injures a customer or member of the public.

You can choose a limit of either £1 million, £2 million or £5 million for your combined public and product liability cover.

Employers' liability insurance

Employers' liability (EL) cover is a legal requirement for most UK businesses that employ people, even if you only employ temporary or part-time staff. It can pay your legal and compensation costs in the event that an employee makes a claim against the business.

With Superscript, you'll benefit from £10 million of employers' liability cover for up to eight employees.

Business equipment cover

If your market trader business relies on equipment to get the job done, such as a phone or card reader, then equipment cover can protect you if these items are damaged, lost or stolen. You can enjoy a limit of up to £10,000 of cover with a limit of £2,500 for a single item.

Stock cover

As a market trader, you rely on your stock to ensure you always have an income stream. You can choose to include stock cover in your insurance to protect your inventory so you don't end up out of pocket if your products are damaged or stolen. Simply choose one of the following limits:

  • £1,000
  • £2,000
  • £3,000
  • £4,000
  • £5,000

You'll be covered for a maximum of £100 per item of stock and in order to be covered, you must keep your stock in a 'securely locked store or compound'.

Cover for selling online

Your market trader insurance also covers you for selling your products online, as long as your annual turnover from online sales is £50,000 or less.

Personal accident cover

This optional cover will pay a compensatory benefit if someone working for the business (under 75 years of age) suffers an accident resulting in the loss of their sight, hearing, speech or a limb, death or leaving them disabled and permanently unable to work. You can choose a benefit of £2,000, £5,000 or £10,000.

Cyber insurance

Cyber security may not be the most obvious concern for market stall traders, but any business that holds any customer data, including if you use card readers, should consider cyber insurance. It can provide protection in the event that you suffer an accidental data breach or are the victim of cybercrime.

Our cyber cover also includes media liability (which protects content that you publish online) and an award-winning breach response package (with legal, PR and IT forensic support) for no additional fee.

What isn't covered by market traders' insurance?

We'd love to be able to cover every situation a market stall trader might encounter but, as with all insurance policies, there are some things we cannot cover:

  • Any costs or expenses caused by a product you sell being withdrawn from sale or recalled by the manufacturer.
  • Any market stall operating without the correct licences required by the local authority in which your stall is located.
  • Any stock left stored in the open and not securely locked within a building, vehicle or trailer.
  • Stock that is stolen from a vehicle overnight (9pm-6am), even if the van is locked.
  • Other than homemade products, any products not sourced as finished goods from a legitimate UK or EU-based manufacturer or wholesaler.

Once you've completed a quote, you'll be able to view a summary of cover. Please always refer to your policy documents for full details around exclusions, terms and limits of your customised cover. Read our guide to understanding your policy documents.

Insurance for a huge range of products

Our market trader insurance can provide cover for almost any kind of market stall that operates in the UK, as long as your products aren't on our excluded items list.

Amongst many others, we can provide cover for sellers of:

  • Fresh food produce
  • Hot meals
  • Clothing
  • Furniture
  • Homemade arts and crafts
  • Jewellery
  • Electronics
  • Phone accessories

What products can't be insured?

Unfortunately Superscript can't offer you cover for any of the following items:

  • Live animals
  • Any products that need to be medically prescribed
  • Products that don’t meet health or safety requirements in the United Kingdom
  • Any product thats sale is subject to legal age restrictions in the United Kingdom
  • Products you know to be faulty or unsafe
  • Second-hand electrical goods
  • Vehicles, aircraft or watercraft (or components of them)

Cover for selling online

Sell your products online as well as at your market stall? No problem.

Cover for your online operation is included automatically in your market trader insurance, as long as you don't exceed £50,000 of annual turnover from online sales. Easy.

Market trader insurance claims examples

The types of claims that could affect an market stall owner are many and varied, but here are a few examples of claims where the business could be liable.

Damaged stock

A careless driver crashes into your trailer as you set up at an outdoor event, damaging a large portion of your stock. Your stock cover can pay to replace the broken items so you are not left out of pocket and can continue to trade.

An allergic reaction

A customer shopping at your market stall suffers a serious allergic reaction to a product they buy, leading them to be hospitalised. Product liability insurance can cover the legal and compensation costs involved, even if you did not produce the product yourself.

Stolen laptop

A burglar breaks into your locked home at night and steals the laptop with all your business accounts and stock orders on from your home office. Your business equipment cover can pay to replace this key item so you suffer as little business downtime as possible.

Cyber attack

As you also sell your products via your website, you suffer a denial of service cyber attack, interrupting your business. Your cyber cover can pay a website recovery service provider’s costs to get your online presence back up and running.

The examples above are indicative and, as with all insurance policies, some terms, conditions and exclusions apply. You can see all the details in your full policy documents.

Meet our claims team

This is Laura, a qualified insurance lawyer and our Head of Claims here at Superscript. Hi, Laura!

If you are making a claim for lost, stolen or damaged equipment, then Laura and her expert team will ask you as little as six quick questions, such as 'when and how was the item damaged?' and 'do you have proof of purchase?'.

Once you've answered the questions, they can then begin to resolve your claim and send your payment for processing that very same day!

If your claim is for legal or compensation costs, then Laura and her team will handle the process for you and keep you updated every step of the way.

How do insurance claims work?

The below is a good guide to the process and timescales you can expect when you need to make a claim under your policy.

If you’re ever unsure whether you can or should claim, it’s best to get in touch and we can let you know.

1

Notify us of the claim

Contact us by email at claims@gosuperscript.com, by 24/7 freephone on 0800 772 3059 or by logging in to your customer portal.

Ideally this should be done as soon as possible and within 30 days of you becoming aware of anything which you think may be covered by your insurance.

A good indicator of whether or not to let us know is if there’s an issue which may require a payment to be made on your behalf.

2

We'll get on the case

We’ll acknowledge your claim within 24 hours, and sometimes in as little as 30 minutes! This means you’ll receive email confirmation of your claims reference and contact information should you need to speak to us.

We will then reach out to you within 48 hours to request any extra information we need to progress your claim.

We’ll keep you updated on the next steps as the claim progresses.

3

A decision is made

We’ll let you know if your claim is successful or not. If your claim isn’t covered, we will always try to point you in the right direction and support you as best we can in getting back to normal.

Read about the most common reasons claims aren't paid.

If your claim is successful, once we have all the documents we need, we will aim to settle claims such as accidental damage, theft and lost equipment within five working days.

Market trader insurance FAQs

What is market trader insurance?

Market trader insurance is designed to protect sole traders and businesses that sell products at market stalls in the UK from claims and damage that could cause them financial loss. There are a few types of cover that are relevant for market stall traders, including public and product liability, equipment cover, stock cover and cyber insurance.

The types of claims covered include accidental injury or property damage to a member of the public, theft or damage of stock or key business equipment such as phones or laptops, as well as downtime or fines due to a hack or data breach.

Do I need business insurance for my market stall business?

Most business insurance isn't legally required. The only exception to this is employers' liability, which is legally required for most businesses that have any employees.

In addition, many businesses choose to buy covers as a duty of care and to protect their business. This can include product and public liability and business equipment to protect their them from potential claims that could arise.

Market stall traders may find in many cases that the owners and operators of market fairs will insist on the vendors having public liability insurance as a condition of running a stall.

How much does market trader insurance cost?

The cost of your premium will vary depending on several factors, including the type of cover you want, the level of cover selected and your location.

What is covered by public liability for market stall traders?

Your public liability insurance will cover your liability for paying legal and compensation costs in the event of a claim made against your business by a member of the public (including customers) if they are injured – or their property damaged – by your business's activities.

Your insurance from Superscript includes both public liability and product liability cover, meaning that you're also covered if a member of the public is injured – or their property damage – by the products you sell, even if you did not manufacture them yourself.

Will I be covered for selling hot food at my market stall?

Yes, you can choose to include cover for selling hot food at your market stall in your public and product liability insurance.

Will I be covered for selling my products online?

Yes, you can sell your products online as well as at a market stall provided that your annual turnover from online sales is £50,000 or under.

Are there any products that cannot be insured as a market trader?

Unfortunately Superscript are not able to offer you cover for any of the following items:

  • Live animals
  • Medical devices or pharmaceuticals, or any products that need to be medically prescribed
  • Products that don’t meet health or safety requirements in the United Kingdom or that cannot otherwise legally be sold in the United Kingdom
  • Any product that's sale is subject to legal age restrictions in the United Kingdom (including but not limited to e-cigarettes/liquids, fireworks, knives, axes, crossbows, weapons, solvents, butane)
  • Products you know to be faulty or unsafe or you know are subject to a product recall or safety notice
  • Second-hand electrical goods
  • Vehicles, aircraft or watercraft (or components of them)

Will I be insured to sell homemade products at my market stall?

You will be covered when selling most homemade products from your market stall. However, there are certain homemade products that cannot be covered:

  • Cosmetics, toiletries or sanitary care products (unless made only from natural ingredients and supplied with guidance for use)
  • Dietary supplements or vitamins or orthotics, or any products primarily intended to improve, prevent or treat any health condition
  • Products containing any substance known to be poisonous or cause irritation either when ingested or in contact with the skin or eyes
  • Products intended for use by or with children under 36 months of age (other than 100% cotton clothing)
  • Sex products (including but not limited to sex toys, lubricants and contraception)

Will my stock be covered at a third-party warehouse?

No, unfortunately we cannot cover stock that is stored at a third-party warehouse. Your stock must be stored in a securely locked in your own building, vehicle or trailer, or be in transit via road, rail or UK waterway.

Can I increase the level of cover for my stock at busy times of year?

Yes, you can adjust the level of cover you have for your stock at any point, with no additional fees. The maximum level of stock cover you can opt for is £5,000.

Will my chilled or frozen stock be covered in the event of a power cut?

Yes, your stock can be covered up to £5,000 and this includes perishable goods.

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