As the popularity of Farmers Markets continues to grow – the USDA estimats there are approximately 7,175 markets in 2010 – farmers market associations and market managers are starting to insist that all participants have a commercial general liability insurance policy. Unfortunately, not many insurance companies specialize in this coverage, and farmers market managers and vendors do not understand much of the insurance industry’s jargon.
A basic market or vendor insurance policy is structured to give a wide range of coverage in order to protect the market or vendor against lawsuits. The main component of a short term policy is liability coverage. This form of insurance pays for damages if someone is injured or if there is damage to property belonging to someone attending the event. Additional insureds can also be added to policies to protect the organizer, venue, etc., from claims arising out of the operations of the market or vendor.
Liability insurance policies cover the market or vendor in the event that an attendee is somehow injured from the vendor’s display or products or damage is caused to the venue by the vendor. Read more…