Insurance for the Bladesmith and his/her facilities have always been difficult to obtain, and expensive..... but over the past decade or so have become nearly unobtainable, and when it is, it's way spendy (as you mentioned).

Most companies will simply refuse coverage when you mentioned "Knifemaking" or "Bladesmithing", and/or "liability" for a Knifemaker".

Essentially you have two options.... 1. Pay out of this world premiums for shoddy coverage IF you can find it. 2. Take your chances without insurance.

Unfortunately, Most Knifemakers/Bladesmiths have to choose the latter, because we simply cannot afford the coverage on a Knifemaker's pay. Some would argue that you can't afford to be without insurance.....but if you can't pay the premiums....

When it comes to coverage for a Bladesmithing shop/tools, the only place I have found that will even offer insurance is The Hartford company, and only if you are a member of ABANA, and do it through their "group" policy.

Speaking only for myself, I've learned that if you even mention "Knifemaker","Bladesmithing", or "Forge" to those who hold your homeowner/property policies, you will either be dropped right away, or worse, be slapped with a lawsuit for failure to disclose required information to an insurer.

To the question of a customer suing, it's happened once to me.... an individual showed up at my shop with a Buck 110 folder he wanted sharpened, and I did. Later that evening I got a call for someone who said they were "XXXXXXXX attorney at law", and asked if I'd sharpened a knife for XXXXXXX. At first I thought it was someone pranking me.....but soon realized it was for real. I was being sued for medical bills, and pain/suffering.

Here's the kicker..... this guy and a friend were drinking/drunk, and were playing with the knife I'd sharpened..... and the guy slapped the open edge of the knife on the palm of his hand...... and took 14 stitches for his stupidity! So that goes to show it doesn't matter how stupid the individual(s) is/are, they will try to get money! In this case it was the guy's wife who initiated the suit, and called in a lawyer.

Luckily my Mrs. played city league volleyball with one of the town's prominent attorneys. She told him, he called me and asked if I'd said ANYTHING about not being responsible if the guy cut himself. And I had....as he was walking out the door, I said.. "I'm not responsible if you cut an arm off with that thing!" Between that, and the Attorney, it saved my butt!! Next volleyball game, he had me show up with a pad and pen....and he sat on the bleachers of the Salvation Army gym, and wrote out a "Waiver of Liability" for those who work in my shop, and/or those I sharpen knives for. Is it a pain? Sure, to have anyone who wants a knife sharpened sign a Waiver of Liability, but it's far better then loosing everything you own from a possible lawsuit. I actually had a student who cut himself during a class and made the comment.... "Oh! I'm gona own your shop now!" To which I replied..."Good thing I have that signed Waiver!" They way his face dropped, I honestly believe he would have attempted a lawsuit.

For those I sharpen for routinely, I keep a signed waiver of liability on file for each, including businesses that I sharpen for.

The bottom line concerning insurance and knifemaking/knives is that it's difficult to find, out of this world expensive when you do, and there are so many "cracks" in liability coverage that it's not worth what you're forced to pay for it.

I'd love to hear what others have to say on the subject/share their experiences.

One thing that you might consider would be to form a corporation, like an LLC, to limit damages to the business as opposed to your personal assets. I'm not an attorney, so I can't say exactly how much protection that offers or if it is the best solution, but I think it's worth investigating. I did inquire about the process in the past and, if I recall correctly, in my area it was going to be approximately $500 to have an attorney draw up the paperwork; a bargain compared to $5,000/yr. Paying an attorney for an hour of their time to discuss the best approach is probably money well spent. I've only delayed in doing it myself because I've not made any attempts to sell my work or provide services to the public thus far. As I work on wrapping up construction of my shop, those steps are high on my to do list. Unless advised differently, I anticipate utilizing an LLC and a waiver as Mr. Caffery suggested. In the end, we can't prevent ourselves being sued, but we can take steps to limit the possible reward to anyone considering doing so. I figure if the pot of gold at the end of the lawsuit rainbow is some old tools and piles of steel, most folks can find better ways to amuse themselves.

I looked into the LLC route years ago, had the papers all written up, and then saw the monthly accounting requirements and decided it would never work with my organizational skills. Already it seems that every year just to sell stick of gum the requirements on small business become less discernable from a major corporations. Soon to run a lemonade stand, you will either need a degree in business or a whole crew of accountants and attorneys.

Pay very close attention, and take heed, to what Ed said about your homeowners insurance should they get wind of you running a business in your back yard. Your home is what they will use as a tool for extortion as they will tell you that your homeowners insurance will be cancelled if you do not buy separate business insurance for which they will be happy to quote you a price. Unless a maker is really serious about going all out into the knife business it is best to do whatever you can to stay classified as a hobby, and NEVER, under any circumstances, allow your home to become a store front that has customers visiting the property, or the insurance company will do whatever is necessary to see to it you are fully covered as a business.

I have been fortunate in this area and have learned a few things along the way. The same magic words that Ed mentioned applied in my state for me- say the word “Forge” to any insurance agent and you better provide images of a rivet forge in the center of a 100-acre open field or they are done talking to you. It is best to have an agent that has worked with you for years that you can really talk to and work with, starting cold with a new agent will be a lot of educating that they won’t want to give much time to. Once you got them listening and understanding that they can help keep you in business and get your money, rather than drive you under and lose it, multiple policy discounts can be your best friend.

Having your home, auto and business, all through the same company can get you some reasonable coverage and there is a very simple reason for this beyond the fact that one company is getting all of your money. Should something happen with your business on your home property, and you have two separate companies, the blame game and finger pointing will begin immediately as both companies do everything they can to avoid paying out by dropping the claim in the other company’s lap. If everything is through one company, they got nowhere to pass the buck to.

That being said, don’t be surprised if every claim you make gets denied through some little loophole in the policy dealing with the business. In the end you are still really just paying protection money to keep Big Brother ignoring your audacity in daring to try to make a honest buck as a small business.

Wow, thanks for asking the question Aubrey. And thanks to Ed, Jacob, and Kevin for the info and perspective.

This has been eye-opening for me.

I am in a slightly different position from Ed and Kevin, I am part owner in my shop, we have a large industrial space with a lot of equipment and we teach out of that space. we have been an LLC for close to 15 years. our policy started through ABANA hartford but we have adjusted it as needed. we are insured for liability and fire. we changed our policy a few years ago to also specificity insure classes. If you teach in your shop make sure that you are insured for students no waver in the world will help you if you are not. (we have a waver we use for classes as well for all it is worth) I am also specifically insured for demos. and retail sales.

I believe the ABANA program is no longer active, the group policies are grandfathered in with no new policies being written.

MP