Photographer Insurance

Photography Insurance – Compare Cheap Quotes

Most wedding photographers and event photographers are self-employed, as are many photo-journalists and photographic artists, and even commercial photographers and advertising photographers are often contracted in by corporate clients rather than employed as permanent members of staff.

While that often means these photography professionals have more creative freedom, it also means they may be personally on the hook if someone is injured during a photoshoot and the photographer is held liable.

A public liability claim can prove incredibly costly in these cases, with the possibility of legal fees, court costs and compensation pay-outs (assuming the court sides with the claimant, of course), which is why many photography professionals decide to invest in public liability insurance for photographers.

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What does public liability insurance for photographers insure me against?

As the name suggests, public liability insurance for photographers can protect you against the risk of liability claims by members of the public, and can cover you whether the accident happens on your own premises or at an off-site photoshoot.

So, as an example, if you’re a portrait photographer and a portrait customer trips over cabling in your photography studio and breaks their arm, you could be sued for damages.

Similarly, if your lighting equipment falls and injures a member of the public during an on location photoshoot, you could face a costly liability claim, and would have to cover the resulting legal expenses and compensation pay-outs yourself unless you had photographer insurance in place at the time of the accident.

Being a photographer obviously isn’t the riskiest of professions (tree surgeons, builders and property developers are usually much more exposed to the risk of liability claims, for instance, because of the nature of their business, and even someone who runs a bouncy castle business probably faces a higher risk of a claim than a wedding photographer or a photo-journalist) but there’s always the risk that someone might be injured during a shoot, which is why it might be a wise idea to find cheap public liability insurance for photographers.

Is photographer insurance a legal requirement in the UK?

No, photographer insurance is a type of public liability insurance, and PLI policies aren’t legally required in the UK no matter what kind of work you do.

However, while it isn’t a legal obligation it might be a contractual one, because if you use venues as backdrops for your photoshoots it’s possible those venues might insist that you have photographers insurance in place, and even some corporate clients might require you to have this type of policy before you begin photographing in their offices.

Does photographers public liability insurance insure my photography equipment too?

No, photographers public liability insurance is only designed to protect you from the risk of public liability claims, so this type of policy usually won’t cover you if your own camera, lenses or lighting equipment is damaged.

However, it is possible to take out a separate policy to cover your photography equipment, and this type of policy will usually cover you whether your equipment is damaged during a photoshoot, in transit or at your own home. You can insure your camera here.

How much does photography insurance cost, on average?

It’s impossible to give an average figure, because insurance providers take many different factors into consideration when calculating the premium for your photography insurance, and each provider will also give each of those factors a slightly different weighting.

The best plan is to use Quotezone.co.uk’s photographer insurance comparison service to compare quotes from a range of different providers, and then go with the one that offers the best policy at the most competitive price.

Does public liability insurance for photographers cover liability claims by my own employees?

No, if you own a small photography business that employs members of staff and one of those employees sues you for compensation your public liability insurance for photographers won’t cover you in this instance.

You’d need employers’ liability insurance to protect you against this type of liability claim, and in fact if you do employ permanent members of staff employers’ liability cover is a legal requirement in the UK.

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