Do I need insurance?

[Kim Haslam]

Hi there, I'm fairly new to Stock Photography and so was wondering what people do with regards to business insurance i.e. public liability, indemnity, etc, to protect against any potential claims/issues along the way. Do we even need insurance or does Alamy take liability? 

I'd be grateful for any advice you could give me as to what you do insurance wise.

Many thanks in advance 👍

[spacecadet]

I can't think of anything that insurance would do for you specifically with reference to stock photography. Beyond that it depends what sort of work you do. In short, if you work around anything dangerous or expensive, you may want to have third-party liability- if they're particularly dangerous or expensive, you probably won't be able to work without it.

[AlbertSnapper]

Do you use a car to go off for the day and take some stock photos ?

Check your car insurance, let them know.

You won't want the insurers to wiggle out of a claim.

 

[spacecadet]

23 minutes ago, AlbertSnapper said:

Do you use a car to go off for the day and take some stock photos ?

Check your car insurance, let them know.

You won't want the insurers to wiggle out of a claim.

 

Unless it's your profession rather than an incidental pursuit, mentioning "photography" to a car insurer is a red rag to a bull. They think you're carting starlets around- I've tried it. I believe that it doesn't affect the third-party liability anyway.

I am only a named driver on OH's insurance now and it says "retired"

Edited April 26, 2021 by spacecadet

[Michael Ventura]

As someone who lives in the U.S. and earns all his money from photography, I have the appropriate insurances to cover me and my business.  I have liability insurance and business equipment insurance...the latter covers all my camera gear as well as home based equipment such as computers, scanners etc...   The car insurance policy I have covers me for business related use of my car.  This is important, if you use your car (at least in the U.S.) while out taking photos for your business and they don't know that, they could deny your claim, if found out.  

[Robert M Estall]

It strikes me you are getting way ahead of yourself. Uploading 74 home produced photos onto Alamy does not amount to any professional activity. Even if you ventured out for a little drive in the countryside in hopes of shooting something(s) salable on a whim it is a very long way short of taking on a professional brief. It's a HOBBY! Nothing to see here as far as car insurance is concerned.

[geogphotos]

A rough and ready HMRC guideline seems to be that you need to complete a self-assessment tax return if you earn £1000 gross ( you cannot deduct expenses to reduce this figure).

 

I have myself down as a self-employed photographer on my car insurance - because that is what I am. I make use of the various tax allowances and deductions which HMRC offer. I also take out camera insurance. But as yet not public liability or indemnity insurance. 

[GeoffK]

For many years I had camera insurance as well as public liability - PL is about the cheapest insurance you can buy considering the amount it covers you for - last time IIRC was about £60 for many millions in cover...... better value than camera insurance.  I needed cover for shooting high-end houses plus a few other shoots, so it was a no brainer.  The value of camera only insurance really depends on what you are going to do with your camera kit and how easily you can afford to replace if things go wrong.  Personally I can live without insurance on my kit these days.

 

Car insurance is always worth having the cover as part business/part domestic.... it doesn't make much difference to the premium but car insurance companies have a  rep' for finding any 'get out' from paying.

 

Sadly never made a claim in decades  but PL was a requirement for shooting some stock - various studios spring to mind that required me to have liability cover as well as some large custodians of our heritage, as part of permissions given.

[MizBrown]

3 hours ago, Robert M Estall said:

It strikes me you are getting way ahead of yourself. Uploading 74 home produced photos onto Alamy does not amount to any professional activity. Even if you ventured out for a little drive in the countryside in hopes of shooting something(s) salable on a whim it is a very long way short of taking on a professional brief. It's a HOBBY! Nothing to see here as far as car insurance is concerned.

 

My home/rental insurance in Annadale, Virginia, covered cameras up to $10K and if more, didn't count it as professional unless one made some percentage of one's income from photography, but I did have to pay more in insurance when I had more than $10K in camera gear.  

 

In Nicaragua, dunno.  People have basic free medical so that's not a huge issue if someone trips over gear.  Stolen gear would be a problem unless the thieves were doing a gear kidnapping, in which case, I'd have someone negotiate, or just write the stuff off and get oriental art supplies. 

[GeoffK]

9 minutes ago, MizBrown said:

 

In Nicaragua, dunno.  People have basic free medical so that's not a huge issue if someone trips over gear.  Stolen gear would be a problem unless the thieves were doing a gear kidnapping, in which case, I'd have someone negotiate, or just write the stuff off and get oriental art supplies. 

 

PL is for when they have serious injury, perhaps life changing....or in my case if I burned down (accidently) one of the places I was shooting. In the UK we have free healthcare but we don't have free ongoing total care if I was found to have caused those injuries. It's a very small risk. If I were in a more litigious country it would be first in my priorities.

[MizBrown]

9 minutes ago, GeoffK said:

 

PL is for when they have serious injury, perhaps life changing....or in my case if I burned down (accidently) one of the places I was shooting. In the UK we have free healthcare but we don't have free ongoing total care if I was found to have caused those injuries. It's a very small risk. If I were in a more litigious country it would be first in my priorities.

 

One of the expat women had let her motorcycle insurance lapse at the time a Nicaraguan woman decided to play insurance roulette.  Case went to court and nobody's witnesses were willing to testify.  The victim was pretending to have been more hurt than she was and even her family members were telling the gringa that she did what she could to avoid hitting the Nicaraguan woman.   Judge said that unless someone was willing to testify one way or the other, the case would be thrown out in a year, which apparently did happen.

 

I don't drive here.   I walk or take cabs in town.

 

[Betty LaRue]

50 minutes ago, MizBrown said:

 

One of the expat women had let her motorcycle insurance lapse at the time a Nicaraguan woman decided to play insurance roulette.  Case went to court and nobody's witnesses were willing to testify.  The victim was pretending to have been more hurt than she was and even her family members were telling the gringa that she did what she could to avoid hitting the Nicaraguan woman.   Judge said that unless someone was willing to testify one way or the other, the case would be thrown out in a year, which apparently did happen.

 

I don't drive here.   I walk or take cabs in town.

 

I’ve always heard, true or not, that it’s dangerous for an American (or European?) to drive in countries south of the U.S. Many poor people who are desperate to make money, legally or not. Scams.

I used to occasionally see videos or stills of those scams here in the US, where people swerve in front of someone’s car and slam on their brakes. Then claim serious injury from being rear-ended. Usually, whoever hits someone from behind is at fault. These days, there are so many security cameras about that it’s probably put a damper on those scams.

I don’t have liability business insurance. 

[MizBrown]

4 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

I’ve always heard, true or not, that it’s dangerous for an American (or European?) to drive in countries south of the U.S. Many poor people who are desperate to make money, legally or not. Scams.

I used to occasionally see videos or stills of those scams here in the US, where people swerve in front of someone’s car and slam on their brakes. Then claim serious injury from being rear-ended. Usually, whoever hits someone from behind is at fault. These days, there are so many security cameras about that it’s probably put a damper on those scams.

I don’t have liability business insurance. 

 

Basically, staying on the  major highways and not driving at night is pretty safe.  People get in trouble with cops sometimes, and there are lots of people, dogs, horses, and cattle wandering around.  Easy enough to hire a driver with a rental car.   Mercados have lots of sight obstructions so people can sort of suddenly dart out.  

[sb photos]

I first decided I should have public liability insurance after I was walking/trotting backwards shooting the front of a moving march. I had been doing this for years when I accidentally trod on a woman's foot. The eyes in the back of my head must have been closed that day. I apologised profusely and that was accepted. That started me thinking, and I investigated quotes. Then when applying for a media pass for some 10K runs public liability insurance was required. Back then £2M was sufficient and economical. More recently £5M was required for some events, but I haven't increased it yet as things have been quiet. Now I'll up it when I renew next month.

[geogphotos]

57 minutes ago, David Pimborough said:

 

 

If you are working with the public i.e. portaits, weddings, parties, news then I would recommend publice liability and professional indeminity insurance.

 

However you question is to vague to make any kind of real suggestion.

 

That publice liability sounds itchy. 😀