Is customer-supplied stock and artwork covered while it is in our shop?

Not automatically. General liability commonly excludes property in your care, custody or control, and standard business personal property is written for property you own. Bailee coverage, sometimes written as a customers' property or processing floater, is the usual answer. Limits and conditions vary by carrier and form.

What covers us if a job prints wrong and has to be rerun?

That is an errors and omissions style exposure rather than a general liability one, because the loss is the customer's economic cost rather than bodily injury or damage to their other property. Some printers arrange specific coverage for reprint and rerun cost. Documented proof approval serves as both a claims defense and an underwriting question.

How should work in process be valued for insurance?

Paper cost alone understates it. By the time a job is on press it carries prepress labor, plates, press time, ink and bindery, and all of that value is lost with the run. Discuss a valuation basis reflecting added value rather than raw materials, since the policy's valuation clause governs what is paid.

Part of our guide to commercial insurance, with a local guide to business insurance in Kansas City.

Business & Commercial

Print Shop & Publisher Insurance in Missouri & Kansas

Coverage for print shops and publishers that protects the presses, the people running them, and the content you put out into the world.

Printing and publishing businesses carry two very different sets of exposures: heavy equipment and tight deadlines on the production floor, and the words and images you reproduce. A press breakdown or a fire near ink and solvent storage can stop production cold, while a misprinted run or a copyright dispute can come back as a demand for reimbursement. BluePeak helps printers and publishers put together property, equipment, liability, and media coverages that match how the shop actually operates.

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Reviewed by Yoan Leyva, AINS, licensed producer in Missouri and Kansas · Updated November 14, 2026

Who We Serve

Commercial offset and digital print shops
Screen printing, embroidery, and promotional product companies
Wide-format, sign, and vehicle wrap producers
Book, magazine, and newspaper publishers
Packaging, label, bindery, and direct mail houses

Common Risks in Your Industry

A press or finishing line fails mid-run, stalling production and putting customer deadlines at risk
A color, spelling, or layout error on a large run leads a customer to demand a reprint or refuse the job
Ink, solvent, or paper dust contributes to a fire or a spill in the production area
An employee is injured by a cutter, press, or forklift on the shop floor
Printed or published content draws a claim of copyright infringement, defamation, or unauthorized use of an image

What insurance does a print shop or publisher need?

Commercial Property, including stock, paper, and finished goods

Equipment Breakdown

General Liability, often packaged in a Business Owners Policy (BOP)

Workers' Compensation Commercial Auto for delivery and installation vehicles

Media Liability and/or Printers Errors & Omissions

An example scenario

A motor and control panel on the main press fail overnight, leaving the shop unable to run jobs for several days. Equipment Breakdown coverage typically responds to the damaged equipment, and business income tied to that breakdown may address lost earnings during the repair period, subject to policy terms, waiting periods, and limits.

Illustrative only. Whether a given claim is covered depends on the policy form, its exclusions and endorsements, the limits and the facts of the loss.

Why BluePeak Digital

Printing risks rarely fit neatly into one carrier's appetite - a shop running a multi-color press and UV curing line looks nothing like a two-person design and copy shop. As an independent agency, BluePeak can approach multiple markets, compare how each handles equipment breakdown, business income, and reprint or media exposures, and help right-size limits to your actual equipment values and revenue.

Missouri and Kansas facts

Rules and published figures that shape how this kind of organization is insured, each linked to its source.

Topic	What the source says
Defamation deadline	Missouri gives a plaintiff two years to sue for libel or slander.RSMo 516.140
Employment discrimination law	The Missouri Human Rights Act generally applies to employers with six or more employees; federal Title VII and the ADA generally start at 15.RSMo 213.010 · EEOC
Workers' compensation in Missouri	Required once an employer has five or more employees, or one or more in the construction industry.RSMo 287.030
Workers' compensation in Kansas	An employer is exempt if its gross annual payroll was $20,000 or less last year and it reasonably estimates no more than $20,000 this year.K.S.A. 44-505

A summary, not legal advice. Statutes have exceptions and change; read the source and the policy language before relying on any rule.

Underwriting this industry

Printers and publishers hold two things underwriters focus on: expensive, hard-to-replace press equipment, and other people's property. Customer-supplied artwork, stock and job files sit in the shop under care, custody and control, and the value of a ruined run is the customer's job rather than just the paper. On the content side, publishing what someone else wrote or designed carries intellectual property and defamation exposure that general liability handles poorly.

What underwriters evaluate

Equipment schedule by press type, age and replacement lead time, and whether one press carries most of the volume
Value of customer-owned property on premises: supplied stock, artwork, plates, dies and files
Ink, solvent and cleaning chemical storage volumes, and handling of oily rags and waste
Paper and substrate inventory values, storage conditions, and exposure to water and humidity
Prepress and proofing workflow: who approves the final proof and how approval is documented before a run
Content published under the company's own imprint versus printed to a customer's specification
Delivery vehicles and drivers, and whether finished work moves by employees or common carrier

Common claim types

Equipment breakdown affecting presses, dryers, folders and bindery equipment, with resulting downtime
Damage to customer property in the shop's care, including supplied stock, artwork, dies and plates
Fire loss involving inks, solvents, dryers, dust and spontaneous ignition of oily rags
Reprint and rerun exposure when a job goes out wrong, including the customer's related costs
Copyright, trademark and defamation claims arising from published content

Coverage gaps we see

Customer property in the shop excluded by care, custody and control wording in general liability
Work in process valued at paper cost rather than at value added through prepress, press time and bindery
Equipment breakdown omitted, leaving mechanical and electrical press failures outside the property form
Reprint and rerun cost assumed to sit in general liability, which addresses injury and damage to others
Media and content liability missing where the shop publishes under its own imprint rather than printing to spec

Frequently asked questions

Is customer-supplied stock and artwork covered while it is in our shop?: Not automatically. General liability commonly excludes property in your care, custody or control, and standard business personal property is written for property you own. Bailee coverage, sometimes written as a customers' property or processing floater, is the usual answer. Limits and conditions vary by carrier and form.
What covers us if a job prints wrong and has to be rerun?: That is an errors and omissions style exposure rather than a general liability one, because the loss is the customer's economic cost rather than bodily injury or damage to their other property. Some printers arrange specific coverage for reprint and rerun cost. Documented proof approval serves as both a claims defense and an underwriting question.
How should work in process be valued for insurance?: Paper cost alone understates it. By the time a job is on press it carries prepress labor, plates, press time, ink and bindery, and all of that value is lost with the run. Discuss a valuation basis reflecting added value rather than raw materials, since the policy's valuation clause governs what is paid.

Coverage, exclusions and limits vary by carrier and policy form. Requirements differ by state, operation and contract — review the applicable policy language.

Customer Content and Customer Property in Print Shops
A print shop carries two exposures a standard package handles badly: liability for the content it reproduces for clients, and the customer property sitting on its floor.
Manufacturers Insurance: Coverages & Underwriting
An underwriter's plain-English guide to manufacturing business insurance — the core coverages, the exclusions that surprise owners, and the factors that actually drive your premium.
Wholesale & Distribution Insurance: A Coverage Guide
A distributor's guide to wholesale insurance — how product liability, warehouse legal liability, stock throughput, cargo, trade credit, and crime coverage fit together, and what underwriters look at when they price it.

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