Insurance for a Permanent Jewelry Business

This is general information about what to ask, not insurance advice — cover, terms and requirements vary by insurer and by state, and you should talk to a broker who understands what you actually do.

The reason it matters here more than in most small retail: you are discharging energy through metal a few millimetres from a customer's skin, often at a venue that isn't yours, sometimes at a private party. That is a different risk profile from selling bracelets in a shop.

The cover to ask about

• General liability — the baseline, covering injury or property damage claims.
• Products liability — for the jewelry itself once it leaves with the customer.
• Professional or treatment liability — ask explicitly whether working ON a person is covered. This is the gap.
• Equipment cover — your welder is your business, and a general policy may not cover it away from a fixed premises.
• Inventory cover, including chain in transit and at pop-ups.
• Cover at third-party venues — markets, salons, private homes. Many policies exclude or limit off-premises work.

The gap most people have

A standard small-business general liability policy is written for a shop. If you spend your weekends welding at markets and in people's houses, ask your broker in writing whether off-premises work at third-party venues is covered, and whether "working on a person" is excluded. Those two questions surface most of the problems.

What venues will ask you for

Markets, malls and event venues routinely require a certificate of insurance naming them as additional insured, often with a minimum limit. Getting this sorted early is practical rather than legalistic — it's the thing that stops you being turned away from a booking you've already advertised.

Waivers

Many studios have customers sign a short intake form covering metal allergies, medical devices and aftercare. A waiver is not a substitute for insurance and its enforceability varies, but the intake conversation itself catches real problems — the customer with a nickel allergy, or the one about to have an MRI next week.