A craft business is a manufacturer, however small the workshop. The moment an object is sold it carries the maker's liability with it, and that is a different and longer lived exposure than anything happening at the stall.
Products liability follows the object
Products liability answers when something you made injures somebody or damages property after it has left you. For makers this is the central cover: candles, cosmetics, children's items, jewellery with clasps, wooden toys, food products and anything electrical all carry a realistic path to harm. The claim can arrive years after the sale, so continuity of cover matters, and the policy that responds is normally the one in force when the injury happens.
Markets, fairs and the certificate at the gate
Craft fairs, Christmas markets, farmers markets and school events almost universally require a public liability certificate before allocating a pitch, typically at a stated limit, and many now ask for it weeks in advance. Public liability here covers the stall collapsing, a customer tripping on a cable, or damage to the venue. It is a separate question from products liability, and a policy sold for market trading may carry one and not the other.
Where regulation meets the policy
Some craft categories carry their own compliance regimes: cosmetics need safety assessments and notification, toys need conformity marking and testing, electrical goods need standards compliance, food needs registration and labelling. Insurers ask because the regulation is also the defence. A maker who cannot show they met the applicable standard is harder to defend and, under some wordings, may find cover conditional on having done so.
Stock, equipment and the workshop at home
Most makers work from home or a small unit. Finished stock, raw materials and equipment are usually excluded or heavily limited by a household policy, and kilns, hot working and resin work are things a home insurer would want to know about. Stock taken to a market is away from the premises and needs cover that travels. None of this is expensive, and all of it is routinely discovered after a loss rather than before.
Questions people ask about craft insurance
Do I need products liability as a maker?
Yes, if you sell what you make. It answers for harm caused by the object after it leaves you, which public liability does not.
What do craft fairs ask for?
A public liability certificate at a stated limit, usually in advance. Some also ask for products liability and evidence of compliance for regulated categories.
Is my stock covered at home?
Rarely under a household policy. Stock, materials and equipment used for a business normally need a business policy, and stock taken to markets needs cover away from the premises.