Interior Design Insurance Policy Information

Interior Design 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.
You work hard as an interior designer to revamp the look of your clients' spaces, but with each interaction you have with your clientele, you put yourself at risk of financial disaster. Today's society is nothing if not litigious, and having the right interior design insurance in place is paramount to running a successful interior design business. Whether you work out of a retail space, design studio, office or your own home, you need to have the right coverage in the right amount in place at all times. A trusted agent can help you determine how much and what types of coverage you need, but the tips below can also help.
Interior design 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 design insurance questions:
- What Is Interior Designer Insurance?
- How Much Does Interior Design Insurance Cost?
- What Does Interior Designer Insurance Cover?
- Do Interior Designers Need Professional Liability Insurance?
- What Are Interior Designers Risks & Exposures?
- What Does Interior Design Insurance Cover & Pay For?
What Is Interior Designer Insurance?
Interior designer insurance is a type of insurance coverage specifically designed for interior designers to protect their business and personal assets from financial loss. This coverage typically includes liability insurance, professional liability insurance, property insurance, and business interruption insurance.
Liability insurance protects the designer from lawsuits resulting from damage to a client's property, while professional liability insurance protects against errors and omissions in the design work.
Property insurance covers damage to the designer's own equipment, materials, and office space, while business interruption insurance protects against lost income in the event of a covered interruption.
How Much Does Interior Design Insurance Cost?
The average price of a standard $1,000,000/$2,000,000 General Liability Insurance policy for small interior design firms ranges from $27 to $39 per month based on location, type of services offered, sales and experience.
What Does Interior Designer Insurance Cover?
No matter where you conduct your business, you face a variety of different perils that can lead to harm for your business' future. Interior design insurance help protect against the following:
- Injuries at your workplace such as slips, falls, and trips
- Employee or vendor injuries
- Damage to property belonging to another
- Professional mistakes
- Negligence
- Weather events
- Vandalism
- Fire
- Breach in cyber security
- Work-related motor vehicle accidents
Do Interior Designers Need Professional Liability Insurance?
General liability coverage is not enough for the interior designer. You should also take out professional liability coverage.
Also known as errors and omissions insurance, this type of coverage protects you in the event that you do not provide the type of professional service expected of you, such as when you make a mistake in your duties, fail to finish a project to specifications, measure inaccurately when fitting a home with expensive carpeting or drapes, or other potential negligent errors.
Business Owners' Policies (BOPs) For Interior Designers
The BOP is a bundle of insurance products (often at a discount) that provides essential coverage without buying multiple policies. This convenient type of policy is designed especially for the small interior design businesses, but not all are eligible. When deciding whether to write a BOP policy for you, insurers look at an array of factors, such as:
- Liability limits needed
- Business type
- Business property size
- Off-site activity of the business and its owners
If your business qualifies for a BOP policy, the premium you will pay for coverage is based on your business' location, the financial prowess and stability of your business, the security features your business has in place, the type of construction that houses your business, and any apparent hazards, such as fire or falling hazards.
Property coverage provides valuable protection for your business, including the structure where you do business and any contents inside the business, such as office furniture, computers, design samples and material, fixtures, furnishings, office equipment and drafting tables.
This includes both leased and owned items, and the interior design insurance policy reimburses the business for any lost or damaged property when the loss results from a covered peril, such as storms, lightning and other weather-related events, vandalism, theft, and more.
BOP policies may also include business interruption coverage. This important coverage repays the business for any income loss that arises from a covered event under your policy. This includes income for operating expenses or for relocating the business after an event such as a tornado or fire.
Liability coverage is a type of interior design insurance that pays out money for claims of property damage or bodily injury during covered accidents or other events. For instance, if a client falls on your premises and becomes injured or an employee damages property belonging to your client, then the policy has you covered.
If you face a lawsuit, the liability coverage will also usually pay the cost of hiring an attorney to represent you in court as well as any judgement or settlement rendered against you or your business. Depending on the policy, it may also pay claims resulting from purported slander or libel or advertising liability claims against your business.
What Are Interior Designers 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.
Other Coverage Types to Consider
In addition, your interior design coverage should include 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.
Buying a commercial auto policy is important too when you use your vehicle in the course of doing business or if you own a business vehicle. Be sure to cover both owned and non-owned vehicles with an adequate amount of auto insurance.
Additional Interior Designer Insurance Coverage Types
- Commercial umbrella policies. These policies protect your business from claims in excess of your business insurance's declared limits.
- Flood insurance. This is an important policy if your business lies in a declared flood zone.
- Worker's compensation. Most states require that you maintain this coverage on any employees.
- Employment practices policies. Guard yourself against claims of discrimination or wrongful termination with this type of policy.
What Does Interior Design Insurance Cover & Pay For?

There are several reasons why interior designers may face legal action or be sued, including:
Design errors or omissions: If an interior designer makes a mistake in their design or leaves out important details, such as structural or safety issues, they can be held liable if their client suffers injury or damage as a result.
Breach of contract: Interior designers may be sued for breach of contract if they fail to fulfill their obligations as specified in their contract with a client, such as delivering work that is of poor quality, not completing work on time, or going over budget.
Copyright infringement: If an interior designer uses copyrighted material without permission, such as images or designs, they may be sued for copyright infringement.
Misrepresentation: If an interior designer makes false claims or misrepresents their abilities or services, they may be sued for fraud or misrepresentation.
To protect against these risks, interior designers can purchase professional liability insurance, also known as errors and omissions (E&O) insurance. This insurance can help cover the costs of legal defense and damages in the event of a lawsuit.
For example, if an interior designer is sued for design errors or omissions, their E&O insurance can help pay for legal fees and any damages awarded to the plaintiff. If an interior designer is sued for breach of contract, their E&O insurance can help cover the costs of legal defense and any damages awarded to the plaintiff, up to the policy limit. If an interior designer is sued for copyright infringement, their E&O insurance can help cover legal defense costs and damages up to the policy limit. And if an interior designer is sued for misrepresentation, their E&O insurance can help pay for legal fees and damages awarded to the plaintiff.
In addition to E&O insurance, interior designers may also choose to purchase general liability insurance, which can help cover the costs of property damage or bodily injury that occurs on their premises or as a result of their work. This can provide further protection against lawsuits and legal expenses.
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 Design Insurance - The Bottom Line
As you can see, interior design insurance is a complex insurance product. Work with your agent to determine the amounts and types of coverage that will work best with your particular business structure.
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.