Art gallery insurance
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Why is insurance important for art galleries?
From world-famous sites to cutting-edge equipment, art galleries are special places. With the greatest care and attention, things still go wrong, especially where visitors are involved. Specific, tailored insurance lets everyone get on with appreciating the art, not the what-ifs.
- protection from big claims if something is damaged
- support for your gallery if an unexpected event happens
- cover for the specifics from accidental damage to employee injuries
What does art gallery insurance cover?
No one knows your gallery better than you. That’s why we give you control over what goes into your policy. It could be accidents on the exhibition floor, legal disputes with a dealer or company laptop theft – you choose the cover that's right for you.
Public liability insurance
In case you or your gallery staff injure someone or damage their property.
Employers’ liability insurance
In case something happens to a gallery employee while they’re working for you.
Business and office equipment insurance
In case something happens to your gallery equipment or office supplies.
Legal expenses insurance
In case you’re faced with legal costs while running your gallery.
Personal accident insurance
In case you or anyone you’ve covered has an accident, at your gallery or somewhere else.
Public liability insurance
In case you or your gallery staff injure someone or damage their property.
What’s typically covered by public liability insurance for an art gallery?
Claims against your business for:
- damage caused by your gallery to someone else’s property (excluding any third party-owned art)
- injury caused to someone else while in your gallery – or because of work at your gallery
- accidental damage or injury caused by your gallery employees (excluding any third party-owned art. Remember that if you employ anyone, you’re required by law to have employers’ liability insurance in place.)
For example:
- someone comes into your gallery and slips on a wet floor because you forgot to put a sign up after cleaning
- someone accidentally knocks a sculpture over and it injures a member of the public
What you’ll need additional cover for
- hosting events or exhibitions – you’d need a specific events insurance policy to be covered for these
- any third party-owned art would need to be covered separately
Read more about public liability insurance
Employers’ liability insurance
In case something happens to a gallery employee while they’re working for you.
What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?
Claims against your business for:
- a gallery employee, including a temp or casual worker, suing you after falling ill because of being employed by you
- an employee suffering an injury and suing you, as a result of working for your gallery
**Employers’ liability insurance is required by law if you have people working for you. Without it, you could be fined up to £2,500 a day for each employee.**
For example:
- an employee falls off a stepladder and is injured, while hanging a piece of art in your gallery
- one of your gallery assistants trips on a raised floorboard, injuring their knee
Business and office equipment insurance
In case something happens to your gallery equipment or office supplies.
What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?
- accidental loss, damage or theft of the equipment you use to run your gallery, like your laptop
For example:
- someone breaks into your gallery and steals your company laptops
- there’s a fire in your building, damaging all the display units and other equipment in your gallery
What you’ll need additional cover for
- the artwork in your gallery’s care – you’ll need specialist cover for this, such as artwork insurance or fine art insurance
Read more about business and office equipment insurance
Legal expenses insurance
In case you’re faced with legal costs while running your gallery.
What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?
- legal expenses resulting from your day-to-day business activities, like a dispute with a gallery employee
- the cost of legal claims relating to property damage, nuisance or trespass
- HMRC investigations, and tax or compliance disputes
- your cover includes a tax advice helpline and crisis PR support, helping you protect your gallery’s reputation
For example:
- if you’re investigated, or selected at random by HMRC, this cover could help with tax enquiries on the gallery, and on you personally
- defending your legal rights if you dismiss an employee from your gallery
Read more about legal expenses insurance
Personal accident insurance
In case you or anyone you’ve covered has an accident, at your gallery or somewhere else.
What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?
- injury or death at work – or outside it – for anyone covered by your gallery’s policy
- lost income, medical costs and hospitalisation benefit
For example:
- you trip and fall over a customer’s bag, breaking your ankle
- a gallery employee shuts their hand in the car door on their way to work
Read more about personal accident insurance
How much does art gallery insurance cost?
Find out how much you’ll pay by comparing prices from a range of trusted insurers. You choose what goes into your policy, so you only pay for what you need.
Prices start from £3.19 per month
Get your quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.
Get your tailored quotes in 7 minutes
10% of our customers paid up to £38.32 a year for a public liability insurance policy between 1st April 2023 - 30th June 2023. Equivalent to £3.19 per month based on a monthly cost when paying for the policy in one annual payment. Paying monthly is usually more expensive as you'll pay interest. Most customers pay more than this but some pay less.
Example art gallery insurance quotes, real prices
£8.81 /month
£68.08 /year
Small art gallery that deal in the purchasing and sale of artwork
- 1-2 years' experience
- Sole trader
- No employees
- Based in Solihull
Public liability
£1,000,000
Employers’ liability
Not included
Contents/business equipment
Not included
£34.27 /month
£304.61 /year
Small art gallery registered as ltd company with 2 members of staff
- 5+ years' experience
- Limited company
- 2 employees
- Based in Salford
Public liability
£2,000,000
Employers’ liability
£10,000,000
Contents/business equipment
£20,000
How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 13/10/2020). They’re based on a range of factors, like employees and location. Your own quote will be based on what you tell us about your business. Prices may go up or down from day to day, so the prices you’re quoted may differ to the ones you see here.
What kind of excess should I expect?
An excess is an amount you pay towards any claim you make on your insurance. For example, if your excess is £250 and you make a claim worth £1000, your payout will be a maximum of £750.
Insurance cover | Lowest excess | Highest excess |
|---|---|---|
Public liability | £100 | £2500 |
Employers' liability | No excess | No excess |
Business and office equipment | £50 | £750 |
The figures above are for guidance only and any excess applying to your quote may differ. You’ll get a breakdown of the excesses for each quote when you compare with us.
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How do I choose insurance?
Making sure you have the right type and level of business insurance can be the difference between getting a claim paid and having to cover the cost of an expensive accident yourself. Read our tips for guidance on what to consider when buying a policy.
Which type of workers do I need insurance for?
Does art gallery insurance cover my work correctly?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?
Which type of workers do I need insurance for?
Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ people.
If you have people working for you, including bona fide subcontractors (BFSC), labour-only subcontractors (LOSC), part-timers, or full-time staff, employers’ liability insurance is required by law.
Read on for our simplified guide to the difference between labour-only subcontractors and bona fide subcontractors.
Does art gallery insurance cover my work correctly?
Make sure you're picking the right cover to protect you properly. It's important to know that if you have another trade or job, you'll need additional cover. For example, do you need to consider artists studio or artist insurance?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
If you provide other services, make sure you’re covered:
Other types of insurance
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?
Think about the maximum possible loss your business could face in the event of a claim, and make sure you take legal fees and damages into consideration. You can choose from three levels of coverage – £1 million, £2 million, or up to £5 million.
Talk to an expert
Our team of UK-based insurance experts are here to help, Mon 09.00am - 05.30pm, Tues 09.00am - 05.30pm, Weds 09.00am - 05.30pm, Thurs 09.30am - 05.30pm, Fri 09.00am - 05.30pm, Sat 09.00am - 02.00pm
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How do claims work?
Unlike price comparison websites, we take the hassle out of claims for you. We know how important it is to get your business back on track quickly – and with a minimum of fuss. That’s why you get access to your dedicated claims any time, day or night. Call them on 0333 207 0560 or claim online. They’ll do their best to be fair and supportive. The figure below is rounded across our range of products. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis.
£39 million in claims paid out in 2022
Paying 80% of settled claims within 24 hours in 2022
Chosen by 900,000 small businesses and landlords
We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then with 900,000 customers across 1,500 trades now trusting us to provide their business insurance.
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Rated 4.7/5
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Art gallery insurance FAQs
Whether you’re new to buying business insurance or you’ve been trading for a while, here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about art gallery insurance. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.
You can choose the payment type that suits your business and cash flow best. Some customers prefer to pay in one go, while others prefer to pay a regular monthly amount, like you do with lots of other bills. Simply Business offer three ways to pay for your policy:
- one-off credit or debit card payment
- BACS payment
- Direct Debit
If you choose to pay by Direct Debit, our credit provider, Premium Credit, pays Simply Business the full amount for your policy up front. You then repay Premium Credit in 10 monthly installments.
This will depend on whether you have employers’ liability insurance in place. Public liability insurance is designed to protect your business against the consequences of legal action brought by members of the public for injuries or damage to their belongings. But when it comes to your employees causing injury or damage, this protection only activates if you also have employers’ liability insurance.
If you employ people, you’re required by law to have employers’ liability insurance.
There’s one exception here. Family businesses that aren’t incorporated as a limited company are not legally required to have employers’ liability insurance. The government defines a “family business” as one where all your employees are closely related to you (as a spouse, civil partner, sibling, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, step-parent, stepchild or half-sibling). So if you run an unincorporated family business and you choose not to get employers’ liability insurance, it’s important to know that your public liability insurance wouldn’t cover you against damage or injury caused by your team.
We create this content for general information purposes and it should not be taken as advice. Always check policy documentation for details and seek professional advice. Read our full Terms and Conditions
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