Insurance for Artists
For any work you will be undertaking in public, you will need Public & Products Liability Insurance cover. You can make contact with an insurance broker, outline the work and the situation, and they will provide you with a quote for Public & Products Liability Insurance cover. If you are at the application/proposal stage you can include the quote in your budget, and if you are successful in your application, you can get back into the insurance broker to arrange the insurance they quoted you for.
Insurance for Commission
When working on projects like public art commissions, you may need to consider if you need other types of insurance in addition to Public & Products Liability Insurance. For example, if you are bringing in a third party contractor or someone to do work on your behalf – to install or build something, you will need to add Employers Liability Insurance to your policy. Sometimes working with a developer or private client, they will require you to have Professional Indemnity Insurance cover. Or if you are delivering workshops as part of the project, you may need to add cover for this. You can explain the project to the insurance broker and they can help you decide what kind of cover you need.
The standard insurance required as part of a commission contract is €6.5M for Public Liability and €13.5M for Employers Liability. A commission contract will usually outline that the artist is responsible for insurance up to the point of installation, afterward the commissioner is responsible for insuring the artwork.
Insurance for Exhibitions
If you are having an exhibition in a gallery or venue and they have their own insurance cover, an artist should still be sure to have their own Public & Products Liability Insurance to cover their own liability – for example if someone was to trip or injure themselves on one of the artworks, this may not be covered by the venue’s insurance and would be the artists’ responsibility.
Insurance Overseas
Most insurance cover will only take effect in the country it is issued in. For example, if you have Public & Products Liability Insurance with a broker in Ireland but you will be exhibiting in London, you will need to have additional insurance with a broker in the UK. It is best to query this with Event Insure or your broker.
Insuring Works in Transit
Most Public & Products Liability insurance policies don’t cover works in transit, particularly for international transport, this should be queried with your broker. Sending works with an art handler or courier is generally the best way to insure works while in transit.