Home owner's insurance for a knife maker???

[birdog4]

Good advice here!
Each state has their own insurance rules. State Farm does not have commercial insurance in Pennsylvania. YMMV
Do it right to start out and you won't be on the stinky end of the stick if something happens!

 

[jdm61]

One other thing. There is a little known but well extablished piece of insurance law that allows an insurance company not just to deny a claim, but void your entire policy "ab initio" (from the beginning") if you "misrepresent" anything on the application, even if it was an honest mistake. The theory is that had the insurer been aware of all of the facts at the start, it could have altered their decision to insure you. About the only exception is if you accidentally don't tell them about some traffic violations, etc, because any insurer can pull a motor vehicle report and if they don't, they are just being lazy or cheap, so that option gets cut off after a couple of months of the policy being in effect to prevent companies from going back and trying to void the policy after a claim comes in.

 

[S R Floyd]

Ok I just checked with my agent and my umbrella policy does cover replacement of all of my equipment except for one tractor which has it's own policy. Maybe because my business is set up as a farm it is different. I have my standard home insurance , I have a liability policy which covers me at markets and shows, and I have a policy which covers all of my property( including my shop ).

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

What kinds of features ?

Things like:
Piping the propane in from outside....and putting a master shut-off solenoid on the tank end.
Metal propane rack, outside and away from the shop, for the portable tanks......with a locked cage door.
Storing flammables in the old shop, away from electrical and flame issues.
Safety shields on hot, sharp, and dangerous tools and signage marking these areas.
Double stud walls with cancelling insulation to attenuate outside noise.
Extra heavy upstairs floor joists (everything I store upstairs will probably be heavy).
Hand rails on both sides of the stairs ( mostly for my benefit, not the authorities).
Vent hood, plenum, and fire supression system over forge area.
Spark trap on vacuum system.

 

[cosmophonic12]

My wife has homeowners insurance on the house, I have a commercial policy for my business with another agent that covers me for theft, fire etc. and a 1 million dollar liability per incident 2 million agregate, it costs me somewhere around $400 per year. I was absolutely truthful with my commercial insurance agent about what I do, even that I make fencing swords (yes I make swords that people hit each other with, since I do not make the actual blades for those, he didn't see it as an additional liability concern)

-Page

You need Product liability insurance for it to extend to another party. If you manufacture something and it fails in the care, custody control of another party, your GL policy won’t extend over. Call the agent who sold you the policy and specifically ask them the question. I don’t want you to be mislead

 

[AKHammonds]

Hi. I am AKHammonds daughter, and let me start off by saying that I am an underwriter for an insurance company, so I am familiar with all of this, and let me add to that by saying that I can only answer for California, since every state has different laws, regulations, and definitions of "business" and "personal" property. Your policy is the final say in what is covered and what is not: DO NOT RELY ON YOUR AGENT TO KNOW WHAT IS AND IS NOT COVERED. READ YOUR POLICY AND MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND IT.

That being said, your personal property under a homeowners policy is just that- your personal property, not "Business Property", so if you are selling in any respect, the insurance company would have the right to deny coverage. If you are not selling and it is Personal Property, sometimes companies will have coverage for things like machinery and "hobby shop" type stuff, but will have a cap on a limits, like $2500 for machinery but no more than $500 per item or something like that. Sometimes property like machinery is not covered at all- it depends on the carrier. Your best bet is having a homeowners policy and a separate property policy for just that machinery. Most likley you will have to schedule the machinery and equipment and it will be on an actual loss sustained basis, meaning that the insurance company will pay to replace the equipment minus depreciation (versus Replacement Cost, which is the cost to replace the equipment without depreciation- try to go for replacement cost if it is available). The premium for that will be based on the value of the equipment.

If you are selling, you need a Buisiness Owners Policy, or a BOP (which covers your liability as a business and your property). Not a lot of companies are going to be willing to write your business, and if you find one it is going to be a surplus lines carrier, and is not going to be cheap (premium will be based on your annual receipts, subject to a minimum premium, around $1000-$1500, and WILL BE AUDITED by the carrier). My suggestion would be to call an insurance broker, not an agent, and have them look for you. You may have to call several.

Always be honest with your broker or agent: fibbing or omitting can only hurt you- it doesn't hurt the company since they can simply deny coverage because of it, and you are the one left without coverage and out all the premium you have paid.

Good luck. If I find any carriers willing to extend coverage I will post the info.