Interior Decorator Insurance Policy Information

Interior Decorator Insurance. Interior decorators and designers work with residential or commercial clients to plan the design of an interior space, room, group of rooms, or an entire building.
The design may focus on aesthetics, functionality or both. It may be purely decorative or include practical elements such as ergonomics. The interior decorator may determine the color, style, and location of furnishings, floor coverings, lighting, walls, wallpaper, window treatments and woodwork. Some assist clients with selecting paintings or other decorative artwork.
Interior decorators may arrange the purchase of furnishings, materials, and accessories needed to complete the project. Some may have significant values in storage in commercial or industrial buildings, while others function as sales representatives for suppliers. Interior decorators often need to know about construction techniques and be able to work with engineers and architects to meet local, state, and federal codes and regulations, such as those needed to properly locate stairways and exits.
As an interior decorator, you have an eye for design. Your clients hire you to beautify their homes and businesses so that they're visually appealing, but also functional. You're an expert at what you do; however, like other professionals in any industry, sometimes things happen that are out of your control. Mishaps can happen, and when they do, you are financially responsible for any damages that may arise.
To protect yourself from the liabilities you face, investing in the right type of insurance coverage is essential. Read on to find out more about interior decorator insurance.
Interior decorator insurance protects your business from lawsuits with rates as low as $27/mo. Get a fast quote and your certificate of insurance now.
Below are some answers to commonly asked interior decorator insurance questions:
- What Is Interior Decorator Insurance?
- How Much Does Interior Decorator Insurance Cost?
- Why Do Interior Decorators Need Insurance?
- What Type Of Insurance Do Interior Decorators Need?
- What Are Interior Decorating Risks & Exposures?
- What Does Interior Decorator Insurance Cover & Pay For?
What Is Interior Decorator Insurance?
nterior decorator insurance is a type of insurance specifically designed for interior decorators and designers. It provides coverage for a variety of potential risks and liabilities that may arise while providing decorating and design services, such as property damage, injury to clients or employees, and errors or omissions in the design process.
This insurance typically includes general liability insurance, professional liability insurance, and property insurance. It can also include coverage for loss or damage to decorating materials and equipment, as well as business interruption insurance to protect against lost income in the event of a covered loss.
How Much Does Interior Decorator Insurance Cost?
The average price of a standard $1,000,000/$2,000,000 General Liability Insurance policy for small carpentry businesses ranges from $27 to $39 per month based on location, size, payroll, sales and experience.
Why Do Interior Decorators Need Insurance?

Interior decorators need insurance for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, it helps to protect their business and assets in the event of a lawsuit or other legal action. This can include situations such as accidents on the job, damage to client's property, or even claims of professional negligence.
Insurance can also provide financial protection for interior decorators in the event of unexpected losses, such as natural disasters or theft. Without insurance, a decorator could be faced with significant financial hardship in the face of such events.
In addition, insurance can provide peace of mind for interior decorators and their clients. It helps to ensure that the decorator is able to complete a project to the best of their ability, without the worry of financial repercussions should something go wrong.
Overall, insurance is an essential part of any interior decorator's business, as it helps to protect their assets and provide financial stability in the face of unforeseen events.
Damages can be quite costly. Do you have thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars to pay for repairs, medical bills, and possible litigation? Probably not; but even if you do, there's no doubt you'll suffer significant losses. That's why you need to have insurance. When something goes awry, instead of paying the costs yourself, your insurance carrier will step in and cover the expenses for you.
Interior decorator insurance could potentially save you from financial ruin; not to mention the fact that you'll need to have certain policies in place in order to be compliant with the laws in your area. Certain types of coverage are mandated for business owners, and if you don't have those policies in place, you could face stiff penalties or potentially lose your business.
What Type Of Insurance Do Interior Designers Need?
The specific types of interior decorator insurance you'll need depend on several factors; where your business is situated, the size of your company, and the number of people you employ, for example.
With that said, there are specific policies that you'll need, no matter what. Examples of the policies that interior designers should have include:
- Commercial Property - This type of coverage protects your commercial space, some of the structures that surround it, and the contents inside of it (furniture, computers, etc.) from theft, vandalism, and acts of nature. For example, if a major wind storm pulls siding off of your office, commercial property insurance will cover the cost to replace it.
- Commercial General Liability - If a client claims you damaged their property while decorating it and takes legal action, commercial liability insurance would cover the cost of litigation, as well as any damages that you may need to pay. It would also assist with the cost of any injuries third parties might sustain on your property.
- Commercial Auto - With commercial auto insurance, the vehicles you use for work will be covered in the event that they are involved in an accident. If any other vehicles are damaged in an accident with your work van, truck, or car, this policy will also help to pay those repairs, too.
- Business Interruption - What if a fire broke out at your office and you have to shut down operations for a while? You'd probably lose a good bit of income; but, if you have business interruption insurance, you won't have to worry, because this policy replaces any income you would lose when your operation needs to shut down for an extended period of time.
- Workers' Compensation - As an employer, you are responsible for providing your employees with a safe work environment; that includes covering the cost of any injuries or illnesses that they may sustain while they're on the job. Workers comp will pay for any medical bills and lost wages that are associated with work-related accidents and injuries your employees sustain.
In addition to these policies, there may be several other types of Interior decorator insurance coverage you might want to invest in - such as cyber liability insurance, especially if much of your business is conducted online. This coverage protects the business if any of your customer's sensitive information becomes targeted by cyber attackers who retrieve things like credit cards numbers from your files.
What Are Interior Decorating Risks & Exposures

Premises liability exposures are generally limited at the interior decorator's office due to lack of public access. If there is a showroom or retail sales, customers may slip and fall over displays. If the decorator acts as a general contractor and hires subcontractors on behalf of the client, the liability exposure increases. Poorly written contracts can result in liability hazards not anticipated for this classification.
Workers compensation exposure is generally limited to an office. Workstations should be ergonomically designed to prevent repetitive motion injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome. If there is delivery of goods or installation of furnishings or wallcoverings, workers can incur hernias, sprains and strains from lifting, be injured in automobile accidents, by falling objects, cuts, falls, and awkward positions. If the interior decorator hires subcontractors, the workers compensation exposure increases unless all subcontractors carry their own insurance.
Property exposures may be limited to an office, but some will have storage or sales of furniture, home furnishings, and wallpaper. Electrical wiring should meet current codes for the occupancy. Fire can occur from overheating or malfunctioning of equipment. Property in storage facilities can be damaged by fire, smoke and water. Flammables kept on site should be properly labeled, separated and stored. Storage facilities can be targeted by thieves. Appropriate security controls should be taken including an alarm system that reports directly to a central station or the police department.
Crime exposures are from employee dishonesty. Background checks, including criminal history, should be performed on all employees handling money. All ordering, billing and disbursement should be handled as separate duties with reconciliations occurring regularly. Physical inventories and annual audits should be conducted.
Inland marine exposures may include accounts receivables if the interior decorator offers credit to clients, audio and visual equipment used for presentations, computers for office use, contractors' equipment and tools, fine arts, goods offsite, in transit or at exhibitions, salespersons' samples, and valuable papers and records for clients' and suppliers' information. There may be a bailees' exposure if the interior decorator purchases items on behalf of a client and stores or transports goods until delivered and installed.
Clear documentation of ownership is important. There may occasionally be an installation exposure. Decorative items and furnishings may be expensive and targets for theft. They may be highly susceptible to breakage, marring or scratching, smoke, temperature change, or water damage. Appropriate security controls should be taken including an alarm system that reports directly to a central station or the police department.
Professional packers may be used to reduce the potential for breakage and theft losses while the items are in transit.
Business auto exposure is generally limited to driving to and from clients' premises. If the interior decorator delivers goods, the exposure increases. MVRs for drivers must be run on a regular basis. Random drug and alcohol testing should be conducted. Vehicles must be well maintained with records kept in a central location.
What Does Interior Decorator Insurance Cover & Pay For?

Interior decorators can be sued for a variety of reasons, some of which may include:
- Design or installation errors: If an interior decorator makes a mistake in the design or installation of a project that causes property damage or personal injury, they may be sued by the client.
- Failure to meet client expectations: If the decorator does not meet the expectations of the client or if the project is not completed on time or within budget, the client may sue for breach of contract or negligence.
- Copyright infringement: If an interior decorator uses copyrighted materials without obtaining the necessary permissions or licenses, they may be sued for copyright infringement.
- Misrepresentation: If an interior decorator misrepresents their skills, qualifications, or experience to a client and the client suffers damages as a result, they may be sued for misrepresentation.
- Discrimination: If an interior decorator engages in discriminatory practices, such as refusing to work with clients of a certain race, gender, or sexual orientation, they may be sued for discrimination.
Insurance can protect interior decorators from many of these risks. Here are some examples of how insurance can help pay for lawsuits:
Professional Liability Insurance: This type of insurance, also known as Errors and Omissions insurance, can protect interior decorators from lawsuits related to professional negligence, design errors, and failure to meet client expectations. If a client sues the decorator for any of these reasons, professional liability insurance can help cover the costs of legal defense and any damages awarded.
General Liability Insurance: This type of insurance can protect interior decorators from lawsuits related to property damage or bodily injury caused by their work. If a client or a third party is injured or suffers property damage due to the decorator's work, general liability insurance can help cover the costs of legal defense and any damages awarded.
Cyber Liability Insurance: This type of insurance can protect interior decorators from lawsuits related to data breaches or cyber attacks. If a client's personal information is compromised due to a data breach on the decorator's website or computer systems, cyber liability insurance can help cover the costs of legal defense and any damages awarded.
Employment Practices Liability Insurance: This type of insurance can protect interior decorators from lawsuits related to discrimination or harassment in the workplace. If an employee sues the decorator for discrimination or harassment, employment practices liability insurance can help cover the costs of legal defense and any damages awarded.
In conclusion, insurance is an important tool for interior decorators to protect themselves from the risks of lawsuits. By obtaining the right types of insurance coverage, decorators can help ensure that they are financially protected in the event of a lawsuit.
Commercial Insurance And Business Industry Classification
- SIC CODE: 7389 Business Services, Not Elsewhere Classified
- NAICS CODE: 541410 Interior Design Services
- Suggested Workers Compensation Code(s): 8742 Salespersons or Collectors - Outside, 9521 House Furnishings Installation NOC & Upholstering
7389: Business Services, Not Elsewhere Classified
Division I: Services | Major Group 73: Business Services | Industry Group 738: Miscellaneous Business Services
7389 Business Services, Not Elsewhere Classified: Establishments primarily engaged in furnishing business services, not elsewhere classified, such as bondspersons, drafting services, lecture bureaus, notaries public, sign painting, speakers' bureaus, water softening services, and auctioneering services, on a commission or fee basis. Auctions of used cars and agricultural commodities, such as livestock and produce, are classified in Wholesale Trade.
- Agents and brokers for authors and nonperforming artist
- Apparel pressing service for the trade
- Appraisers, except real estate appraisers
- Arbitration and conciliation services
- Artists' agents and brokers, except performing artists
- Auctioneering service on a commission or fee basis
- Authors' agents and brokers
- Automobile recovery service
- Automobile repossession service
- Automobile shows, flower shows, and home shows: promoters of
- Bartering services for businesses
- Batik work (handprinting on textiles)
- Bondspersons
- Bottle exchanges
- Bronzing baby shoes
- Business brokers (buying and selling business enterprises)
- Charge account service (shopping plates) collection by individual
- Check validation service
- Cloth: cutting to length, bolting, or winding for textile distributors
- Contractors' disbursement control
- Convention bureaus
- Convention decorators
- Copyright protection service
- Correct time service
- Cosmetic kits, assembling and packaging
- Cotton inspection service, not connected with transportation
- Cotton sampler service
- Coupon redemption service, except trading stamps
- Credit card service (collection by individual firms)
- Decoration service for special events
- Demonstration service, separate from sale
- Directories, telephone: distribution on a contract or fee basis
- Divers, commercial
- Drafting service, except temporary help
- Drawback service, customs
- Drive-a-way automobile service
- Embroidering of advertising on shirts, etc.
- Engrossing, e.g., diplomas and resolutions
- Exhibits, building of: by industrial contractors
- Field warehousing, not public warehousing
- Filling pressure containers (aerosol) with hair spray, insecticides, etc.
- Fire extinguishers, service of
- Firefighting service, other than forestry or public
- Flagging service (traffic control)
- Floats, decoration of
- Florists' telegraph service
- Folding and refolding service: textile and apparel
- Fundraising on a contract or fee basis
- Gas systems, contract conversion from manufactured to natural gas
- Handtool designers
- Handwriting analysis
- Hosiery pairing on a contract or fee basis
- Hotel reservation service
- Identification engraving service
- Inspection of commodities, not connected with transportation
- Interior decorating consulting service, except painters and paper
- Interior designing service, except painters and paper hangers
- Inventory computing service
- Labeling bottles, cans, cartons, etc. for the trade: not printing
- Laminating of photographs (coating photographs with plastics)
- Lecture bureaus
- Lettering service
- Liquidators of merchandise on a contract or fee basis
- Mannequin decorating service
- Map drafting service
- Mapmaking, including aerial
- Message service, telephone answering except beeper service
- Metal slitting and shearing on a contract or fee basis
- Meter readers, remote
- Microfilm recording and developing service
- Mounting merchandise on cards on a contract or fee basis
- Music distribution systems, except coin-operated
- Notaries public
- Packaging and labeling service (not packing and crating)
- Paralegal service
- Parcel packing service (packaging)
- Patent brokers
- Patrol of electric transmission or gas lines
- Photogrammetric mapping service (not professional engineers)
- Photographic library service, still
- Photography brokers
- Pipeline and power line inspection services
- Playwrights' brokers
- Post office contract stations
- Presorting mail service
- Press clipping service
- Printed circuitry graphic layout
- Process serving service
- Produce weighing service, not connected with transportation
- Product sterilization service
- Promoters of home shows and flower shows
- Racetrack cleaning, except buildings
- Radio broadcasting music checkers
- Radio transcription service
- Recording studios on a contract or fee basis
- Redemption of trading stamps
- Repossession service
- Restaurant reservation service
- Rug binding for the trade
- Safety inspection service, except automotive
- Salvaging of damaged merchandise, not engaged in sales
- Sampling of commodities, not connected with transportation
- Scrap steel cutting on a contract or fee basis
- Shoe designers
- Showcard painting
- Shrinking textiles for tailors and dressmakers
- Sign painting and lettering shops
- Solvents recovery service on a contract or fee basis
- Speakers' bureaus
- Sponging textiles for tailors and dressmakers
- Styling of fashions, apparel, furniture, and textiles
- Styling wigs for the trade
- Swimming pool cleaning and maintenance
- Switchboard operation of private branch exchanges
- Tape slitting for the trade (cutting plastics, leather, etc. into widths)
- Tax collection agencies: collecting for a city, county, or State
- Tax title dealers: agencies for city, county, or State
- Telemarketing (telephone marketing) service on a contract or fee basis
- Telephone answering, except beeper service
- Telephone solicitation service on a contract or fee basis
- Textile designers
- Textile folding and packing services
- Time-share condominium exchanges
- Tobacco sheeting service on a contract or fee basis
- Tourist information bureaus
- Trade show arrangement
- Trading stamp promotion and sale to stores
- Trading stamp redemption
- Translation service
- Water softener service
- Weighing foods and other commodities not connected with
- Welcoming service
- Window trimming service
- Yacht brokers
Interior Decorator Insurance - The Bottom Line
Consult with a reputable agent that has experience in commercial insurance to find out exactly what type of coverage you should have, as well as the suggests limits on your policies that will best protect you and your decorating business.
Additional Resources For Arts & Recreation Insurance
Read up on small business arts and recreation commercial insurance.
- Amusement Parks
- Archery Ranges
- Artist
- Athletic Fields
- Ballparks
- Ballrooms
- Billiard And Pool Halls
- Bowling Alleys
- Carnivals
- Cave Tours
- Dance Studio
- Disc Jockey DJ
- Drive-In Theaters
- Entertainers And Performers
- Event Planning
- Fairs And Fairgrounds
- Film Production
- Fine Art
- Guides & Outfitters
- Handball & Racquetball Courts
- Horse & Dog Racetracks
- Indoor Sports Complexes
- Interior Decorator
- Interior Design
- Motorsports Racetracks
- Musicians
- Photo Booth
- Photographer
- Recording Studio
- Recreation Centers
- Riding Stables
- Roller Sakting Rinks
- Shooting Ranges
- Skateparks
- Skeet & Trap Shooting Ranges
- Ski Resorts
- Stadiums
- Talent Agency
- Tennis Centers
- Theaters
- Video Arcades
- Wedding And Special Event
- Specialty Arts And Antiques
- Specialty Clubs And Leisure Time Activities
- Specialty Entertainment

The arts and recreation industry is a vital part of our society and culture, providing entertainment and enjoyment for people of all ages. However, as with any business, there are inherent risks and potential liabilities that can arise. This is where insurance comes into play.
One of the main reasons the arts and recreation industry needs insurance is to protect against financial losses due to accidents or injuries. For example, if a performer is injured while rehearsing or performing, their medical bills and lost wages could be significant. Without insurance, the cost of these expenses could potentially bankrupt a small arts organization.
In addition to protecting against accidents and injuries, business insurance can also cover damages or losses due to weather events, natural disasters, and other unexpected circumstances. For example, if a theater is forced to cancel a performance due to a power outage or extreme weather, insurance can help cover lost income and expenses.
Another important aspect of commercial insurance for the arts and recreation industry is liability coverage. This type of insurance can protect against legal claims and lawsuits if someone is injured or becomes ill while attending an event or using facilities. For example, if a patron slips and falls at a theater, they may file a lawsuit against the venue for damages. Liability insurance can help cover the costs of legal fees and any settlement or judgement.
Overall, the arts and recreation industry needs insurance to protect against financial losses and legal liabilities that can arise in the course of business. Without commercial insurance, small arts organizations and recreational facilities could be vulnerable to financial ruin in the face of unexpected events or accidents.
Minimum recommended small business insurance coverage: Business Income with Extra Expense, Employee Dishonesty, Money and Securities, Accounts Receivable, Commercial Articles Floater, Computers, Valuable Papers and Records, General Liability, Employee Benefits Liability, Umbrella Liability, Hired and Non-owned Auto Liability & Workers Compensation.
Other commercial insurance policies to consider: Building, Bailees Customers Floater, Money and Securities, Cyber Liability, Employment-related Practices Liability, Business Auto Liability and Physical Damage and Stop Gap Liability.