I’m shortly going to be stocking up my new shop called Mango Tree and I’m wondering if I should get some kind of insurance. The products are small hand printed cushions filled with herbs such as lavender. Is it advisable to have insurance, in case someone gets some kind of adverse reaction. Also some of the products can be heated in the microwave - should I cover myself in case people don’t follow the instructions and burn themselves by mistake? Later in the year I may get a stall in a craft fair so will probably sort out some liability insurance for that, but do I need insurance for the acutal products when selling online? Any advise is welcome! 
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Product and Public Liability (PPL) insurance covers you for any liability of this nature. There are several companies that do it, check with your own insurer first, or have a browse through the forum posts - it’s a subject that crops up quite regularly. Not everyone bothers with product liability when selling online, but I think it’s worth having for peace of mind. I get mine with my subscription to a-n (also known as AiR) the artists website, but there are conditions that have to be met with that one. I think Direct Line do one, the Market Traders Association and a few more that I can’t recall off the top of my head.
I’m always the slightly out-of-kilter one whenever this crops up. You’re not legally required to have insurance (unless you start employing people, and folksy don’t insist on it for selling on here. Some craft fairs won’t let you book a stall without having it, some will. So fundamentally it comes down you to what kind of products you make and your attitude to risk. If i was running my craft as a full time business and my livelihood depended upon it then I’d probably get it. But running at an addition to the day job, not churning joint masses of sales and my (hopefully) relatively low risk products makes me feel disinclined to line the pockets of insurance companies. The choice really is yours! (Just watch me go and get used now for leaving a pin in a shoulder strap!)
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You should always take up public liability insurance even though it isn’t compulsory. Always put information about the product safety on the packaging and retain evidence of it. I do it on magnets and state they are not a toy, and not suitable for children under six. Any disclaimers you write have to be reasonable otherwise they will be overridden by the courts, eg Unfair Contract Terms legislation. And don’t forget there are new regulations which came in June 2014 which affect sellers, including most crafters.
The Consumer Contracts (Information Cancellation and additional charges ) Regulations 2013
There is also a government pdf file on this:
Government guidance on the new Consumer Contracts (Information Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations
All crafters need to be aware, whether they sell online or not.
Hope this helps.
Thanks so much, I’ll look into these leads!
Hi there.
I’m relatively new to Folksy and still finding my way round, but this did catch my eye.
I totally agree with Ronald with regards to public and product liability insurance. I’ve always had cover and it only costs me £72 per year for a Craft Insurance scheme.
I used to have a bricks and mortar shop and had 3 or 4 customers over the years who tried to sue me for the most ludicrous things, but it did teach me that there are those people who will always try it on if there’s even the slightest problem. You’ll be amazed what a tiny minority of people will do. I have disclaimers on all my descriptions too as I also sell on another online market place and many of my sales go abroad. I think that £72pa is a small amount to pay for piece of mind.
It’s worth looking into, without wishing to sound too glum!
Good luck with your new shop though!
Sue 
I’ve got a policy with GM Imber, it cost me about £55. It doesn’t cover sales to the US and Canada though, I think it’s quite tricky to find policies that will cover that.
Very nice . cheers 