Damage to customer-supplied garments
Customer-owned blank garments can be damaged by fire, water, or a production error.
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Screen Printing Company Insurance
Your customer may supply the blanks, but the printing stage still determines how custody and processing terms apply. Protection for those garments should distinguish covered damage from a wrong color or placement, alongside your own presses, screens, and dryers.
The Southern Agency can help you protect your shop equipment, customer garments, and operational liability.
Industry overview
You decorate apparel and garments, often working with high-heat curing equipment and customer-owned items. A dryer fire can damage your shop, while a production mistake might delay a client's critical event.
The Southern Agency can review your shop's workflow and equipment to help select appropriate insurance. For example, we can examine bailee terms for client goods alongside property coverage for your own presses and dryers.
Risks worth discussing
Misprinted or mis-sized orders
Wrong color, placement or sizing can spoil a customer’s order and force a reprint.
Trademark and copyright disputes
Printing customer-supplied logos or characters can lead to a rights dispute.
Dryer heat and fire exposure
Hot conveyor dryers operating near garments and inks can create fire exposure.
Chemical handling and reclaiming
Screen-reclaiming chemicals and inks require safe handling and disposal.
Press operator injuries
Manual and automatic presses can cause pinch, repetitive-motion, or burn injuries.
Coverage worth discussing
Policies to ask about. Which ones fit depends on your operations, your contracts, and the carrier’s forms.
- Inland Marine InsuranceMay help with covered damage to customer garments while you hold them for printing. The custody, processing, and peak-stock terms determine which goods and losses qualify.
- General Liability InsuranceMay defend a covered visitor injury or physical-property-damage claim at the shop. A misprint or rights dispute needs different applicable wording.
- Commercial Property InsuranceMay pay for covered physical damage to listed presses, dryers, screens, inks, and owned stock at insured locations. Client goods need their applicable property terms.
- Product Liability InsuranceMay defend a covered claim alleging bodily injury or physical property damage caused by finished apparel. A print defect, infringement claim, or reprint bill is not automatically covered by this form.
- Business Owners PolicyMay combine eligible shop property with premises liability at a listed location. Customer goods, equipment breakdown, and product/media claims need separate review.
- Workers Compensation InsuranceMay pay eligible benefits for covered employee injuries under applicable workers’ compensation rules.
- Equipment Breakdown InsuranceMay help pay repairs after a covered sudden failure of listed presses or dryers. Lost income and reprint costs have separate terms.
Situations to think through
These hypothetical examples are not agency claim results. Whether a loss is covered depends on the facts, policy terms, and applicable exclusions.
Hypothetical: Misprint on a customer's team order
A color and placement error ruins a customer’s supplied jerseys before an event. Inland-marine or bailee coverage may pay for eligible physical damage if the garments, printing work, cause, and limit fit the policy; a routine reprint is not automatically insured.
Hypothetical: Infringement claim over a printed logo
A rights holder claims that a printed team logo infringes its mark after the customer supplied the artwork. General-liability coverage may defend some advertising-injury claims only when the policy’s definition, offense, and operations fit; do not assume every rights claim is included.
Hypothetical: Dryer fire among garment racks
A conveyor dryer malfunctions and ignites nearby shirts, damaging the print area. Property coverage may pay for covered physical damage to insured equipment and stock at the listed location.
Before you talk to an agent
Questions to raise
- Estimate the peak value of client garments held and compare it with any care/custody property limit.
- Review artwork permissions and the actual liability wording for advertising injury or infringement claims.
- Describe dryer heat, garment storage, and chemical reclaiming controls for property and environmental review.
- Check what failure triggers equipment-breakdown coverage and treat reprint costs separately.
Contract terms to check
- Review customer terms for who supplies artwork, who approves proofs, garment ownership, and responsibility for errors.
- Keep permissions for logos, team marks, and other designs with the job.
- Compare customer insurance requests with the actual policy and the goods or services insured.
What the agent conversation looks like
Start with the work you do and the questions your current policies leave unanswered. Carrier options depend on your location, risk, and underwriting. Explore our approach.
- ListenReview your operations, current coverage, and past claims.
- AssessIdentify potential hazards and discuss ways to reduce risk.
- BuildDiscuss policy and carrier options, premium costs, and audits.
- SupportReview changes and help you plan ahead as your needs develop.
Questions owners ask
Are customer-supplied shirts covered while in my shop?
Inland-marine or bailee terms may cover physical damage to customer garments while they are in your care. Check covered causes, the work performed, and the limit for property held for others.
What if I print artwork that turns out to infringe a trademark?
Printing supplied art can still lead to an infringement claim. Some liability wording may apply to a defined advertising injury, but check the exact offense and services rather than assuming every rights claim is covered.
Is my conveyor dryer a fire risk underwriters care about?
Yes. Hot dryers near garments and inks are a fire concern. Describe dryer placement, maintenance, and fire controls when reviewing property terms.
Do I need product liability for printed apparel?
Product-liability coverage may defend a covered claim alleging injury or property damage from finished apparel. Misprints and rework costs are different losses.
Is a business owners policy enough for a screen printer?
A business-owners policy may provide a base of shop property and premises liability. Customer goods, mobile gear, worker injuries, and machinery failure may need other applicable coverage.
How is a screen printing shop priced?
Cost can reflect customer garment values, presses and dryers, sales, order turnaround, artwork, chemicals, fire controls, and payroll. Insurers decide whether to offer terms.
How do I get a quote?
Prepare customer-goods values, equipment, annual sales, artwork and licensing practices, chemical controls, payroll, and prior losses for an insurer’s review.
Talk through your screen printing company coverage
Bring your questions, current policies, and relevant contracts. An agent can review coverage terms, exclusions, and the information carriers ask for, then explain the options available to you.