Insurance For Art Galleries & Dealers

If you run an art gallery or buy and sell artwork, you will need insurance to protect your business. This section is your guide to art gallery insurance coverage. We will cover the types of art gallery insurance, factors that influence the cost of art gallery insurance, and where you can get coverage for your art gallery or dealer business.

Why Art Gallery Insurance is Necessary

Before we jump in, why do you need to insure your art gallery business? Here are some examples of situations where insurance could come to your rescue.

• One of your paintings or sculptures is stolen. Art gallery insurance may compensate you for the cost, up to the policy limit.

• A painting on display is damaged by a visitor. Your insurance may help cover it the costs when the artist sues.

• A visitor in your gallery slips and falls on a wet floor, and sues you for medical costs. Your insurance can help pay the bills.

Types of Art Insurance Coverage

Here are types of insurance that are important for art galleries and similar businesses.

• General liability insurance: General liability insurance is the most basic type of insurance that any business needs. It protects other people and their property. This is the type of coverage that can pay out if a visitor to your gallery gets injured while on your premises. It can also pay out if their property (such as art displayed in their gallery that belongs to them) is damaged or stolen.

• Commercial property insurance: This is the type of insurance you can get to protect your own commercial property. This could include, for example, the art you own and are displaying or selling, the frames, the displays, etc.

• Inland marine coverage: You can get this type of coverage for insuring artwork in transit.

• Workers’ compensation: If your business has any employees, you are required by law to buy workers’ compensation. If your workers become sick or injured on the job, workers’ comp will help cover medical bills and time out of work.

• Employment practices liability insurance (EPLI): Say one of your employees sues you for something related to your employment practices. Maybe they claim you wrongfully terminated them, for example, or that another of your employees harassed them. You can use this coverage to pay for legal fees.

• Employee dishonesty coverage: It isn’t just visitors or thieves in the night who might steal from your gallery. Your own employees could do it too. This type of coverage protects you if one of the people who work for you steals artwork or any other commercial property from your premises.

• Business interruption insurance: If your gallery floods, or there is fire damage, or some other issue arises that forces you to temporarily close, business interruption insurance can pay out, helping you stay afloat.

How Much Does Art Insurance Cost?

The amount you pay for art gallery insurance can vary based on a range of factors. At the lower end, you can expect to pay around $49 a month if you have a small gallery or art-related business. Here are some of the factors that can drive art gallery insurance costs up or down.

• The size of your gallery and how many works of art you have to insure.
• Whether or not you own the artworks yourself.
• The nature of the art in your gallery, and the value of each piece.
• Where your art gallery is located.
• The value of other commercial property you may need to insure.
• The specific types of art gallery policies you get.
• How large your payroll is.
• The sizes of your deductibles and policy limits.
• Your prior insurance claims record.
• Any savings you might qualify for due to bundling, etc.

Get Art Gallery Insurance

If you are looking for insurance for art shows & exhibitions, an art dealer business, or any other type of business in the art world, you need quality coverage. We recommend shopping for art gallery insurance with Tivly. Tivly is experienced working with art-related businesses, and can connect you quickly and easily with the policies you need to protect your business.