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A Word on Insurance for Photographers
By Tom Pickard | Wisdom and Inspiration |
Apr 1, 2007
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If you're starting a photography
business, and have questions about insurance, read on. We discussed
this topic with Tom
Pickard, president of Tom C. Pickard & Co., Inc. His agency has
been assisting individuals and
businesses with their insurance needs since 1974, and they take pride
in developing specialized business insurance packages, including
insurance for the special needs of photographers. Located in the Los
Angeles area, this agency covers about 3000 photographers nationally.
According to Pickard, these photographers specialize primarily in
commercial assignment photography, as well as those who set up photo
production for others.
When starting a photography business, one of the first basic items
you'll need—along with your business license—is insurance. There are a few agencies who write exclusive policies
for photographers who have very unique needs for coverage. The
coverage for photographers falls in the same general category as entertainment insurance.
The single most important coverage that a photographer should consider
when just starting out is comprehensive general liability and workers'
compensation (if you hire employees). Then camera gear and related
property is important.
Basic coverage includes world-wide camera and grip equipment coverage
with the ability to add rental camera gear to the policy. You will also
need an amount of coverage for your basic office equipment
(tables, chairs, fax machines, and other items—theft is included) and
computer equipment coverage as a sideline
item. These are some of the basic property coverages.
In
your policy, you should also include liability coverage (bodily injury
or property damage, etc.) if a loss occurs due to a negligent act
or accident. Coverage is usually written for $1,000,000 combined
single limit of bodily injury or property damage. In a
photographer's day-to-day operations, Certificates of Insurance are
required (proof of coverage) to be sent to locations used for shoots,
or
permits needed for a specific locations, or proof of coverage to a
rental house which requires insurance coverage. You'll need a lot of
communication with your agent (unlike many other types of businesses
that
do not
require this interaction).
Other coverages to
consider include workers compensation, an additional $150 per year
(this is necessary if you hire assistants, and have control over their
actions
when they're working for you), errors and omissions coverage for
“professional liability” losses (invasion of privacy or publicity
rights, infringement, trademark, trade name, title, slogan, false
advertising, idea misappropiation, or defamation arising out of
photography or digital imagery services), non-owned and hired auto
liability and physical damage coverage (for automobiles that you may
use on the job but don’t own), employee dishonesty coverage, and
building coverage.
At Tom C Pickard & Co., Inc., complete insurance packages for
photographers begin at $500–$700 a year, depending on your location.
Whoever you sign up with, however, it's essential that they be an
entertainment insurance agency that is familiar with the special
insurance needs of photographers.
Hopefully this will provide photographers who are considering business insurance the information you're looking for.
For more information, visit http://www.groupinsure.com
Let us know if you found this article useful, and tell us what kinds of articles you'd like to see in upcoming issues. Send your comments and ideas to the editor.
© Copyright 2010 by PHOTOWORKSHOP.COM
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Last Updated: Aug 11th, 2010 - 13:36:44
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