Clay Times Back Issues Vol. 3 Issue 12 • Sep/Oct 1997 | Page 19

Insurance for Clay Artists

Part Two of Two
BY STEVE BRANFMAN

Choosing An Insurer
We must understand the difference
between an insurance company and an
insurance agent. An insurance company
is the actual body that issues your policy and is responsible for coverage and
payments to you or others as you may
direct. Everybody who has insurance of
any kind deals with and is connected to
one or more insurance companies. You
may, within your present insurance situation, already be dealing directly with
an insurance company as millions of
people do.
An insurance agent is the individual
that you deal with who represents the
insurance company. There are agents
who are exclusive to a single company
such as Allstate or Aetna, and there are
independent agents that may represent
and sell the products of several different insurance companies. Which is better? There are those that will extoll the
benefits of one over the other ad infinitum. In my own experience (having
done both), the services of an independent insurance agent are indespensible.
Conceptually, an independent will try
to locate the best company and policy
for your needs. He or she is not tied to
the possibly limited products that only
one company may have to offer.
However, in practice, the most significant advantage of an independent
agent is one-on-one, personal, committed service. An independent agent is
likely to be either a business owner just
like yourself or someone who works for
one. These agents have a greater affinity for their clients and will often put in
the extra effort to provide you with
quality service. Of course, the most critical aspect of this service isn’t put to the
test until you have a claim or problem.
Many people can go through years or
even entire careers without a claim. But
it just takes one situation, one accident,
loss, or claim of any kind for you to
know whether or not you made the
right decision.
Another reason to consider the services of an independent agent is the
fact that our needs as craftspeople often
fall out of what may be considered the
norm in comparison with other more
mainstream types of businesses. From
the objects we make and how we market them to the type of exposure (in
insurance terms) we exhibit, it often
takes a special individual with more
far-reaching resources and knowledge
to identify and provide us with ade

quate, affordable insurance coverage.
Our needs may not fall neatly into the
corporate-designed packages that an
agent representing a single company
may have to offer.
Now, to be fair, I don’t mean to
paint all insurance agents with the
same color, whether they represent one
company or one hundred companies.
There are those from both varieties that
are wonderful, compassionate, personal, well intended, and will go to whatever lengths are necessary to provide
the correct product for your needs.
Ultimately you are the one who has to
make the choice. Ask your friends, ask
other craftspeople who you may know,
inquire to a regional or local potters’ or
crafts guild or association. Attorneys
and accountants can often recommend
insurance agents. Be resourceful and
make an educated and wise choice.
If you find yourself totally bewildered or otherwise less than enthusiastic about investing time and energy in
researching agents or companies, there
is a relatively simple alternative. Many
craftspeople forego the insurance company or agent route altogether and opt
for an insurance package offered
through a craft association or guild.
These policies are well designed for
craftspeople, are usually simple and
basic in their coverage, are generally
very affordable, and are usually offered
in the areas of fire/theft, liability, and
personal health and accident insurance.
They are, as a rule, excellent choices for
individuals starting out who may have
limited exposure, financial resources,
and experience. These policies are
affordable due to the buying power of
the group and you can gain access to
them by joining a group such as The
American Craft Association or any
number of other specialized art and
craft associations. Some local and
regional associations offer group policies as well. Perhaps the greatest service that these types of policies are able
to provide is access to health insurance.
Although affordable access to health
insurance is indeed difficult to find and
these policies make it possible, they
should not be looked at as long-term
solutions to your health insurance
needs. Primarily, these policies lean
toward the catastrophic variety and not
the day-to-day health maintenance type
of coverage that is just as important
and critical. Read the fine print and
know what you’re buying.

While these group policies generally
provide good overall coverage in the
most important areas, they are not the
end all in insurance packages and they
do tend to fall short when compared
with custom packages that an independent agent may be able to assemble for
you. In order to make these packages
affordable, the coverage is often limited
in scope and the deductibles tend to be
high. For instance, there may be a very
low limit as to what you may claim if
your vehicle is broken into or if your
wares are in a location away from your
studio. You may not be able to get coverage for work or equipment belonging
to others that may be in your workspace. If you have a claim, the amount
paid to you for that claim often reduces
the value remaining on the policy.
However, the most important deficiency for me in purchasing a group policy
of this type is the fact that they are
more than likely going to be administered by an out-of-state company with
no local agent or representative with
whom you can maintain a one-to-one
relationship. Claims can take a long
time to resolve and can be very frustrating to follow through. Questions or
concerns about your personal situation
will probably not be given the kind of
consideration that you need, and every
time you contact the company there
may be a new voice on the other end of
the line.
Despite the apparent deficiencies
and disadvantages I have outlined, you
would nevertheless be wise to investigate the availability of these types of
insurance packages in your area of the
country. When I began my career, a policy offered through The American Craft
Association was the only one that I
could a