Whether you are a professional photographer or a passionate amateur looking to make your hobby into a career, working as a photographer is never dull. From weddings and events to editorial shoots on location, you’ll often find that both you, and your equipment, are required to operate in some pretty interesting places. 

Exciting as this might sound, however, if your camera or equipment is damaged or stolen on a shoot, or even at home, you will have to pay to repair or replace it. Photographer’s insurance can help to protect your livelihood from such unforeseen expenses. 

To help you understand exactly what kind of insurance you need and how to protect against some of the other unexpected issues photographers often face, read our freelancer’s guide to getting the most from photographer’s insurance. 

Protecting Against Property Damage

As a professional or semi-professional photographer, your equipment is the lifeblood of your business. Depending on the type of photography services you offer, here are just some of the items you might own multiple cameras, various lenses, extensive lighting equipment, sophisticated editing software or darkroom and film processing kits. 

Alongside your expertise, this equipment is essential to your career, so any damage could hit you hard in terms of lost earnings. Not only that – repairs or replacements can be costly, which is why taking out specialist insurance is vital.  

This ensures that if your equipment is broken, lost, or stolen, you’ll be able to get up and running with replacement kit as quickly as possible, minimising disruption to your scheduled bookings. 

Why Photographers Need Public Liability Insurance

With your equipment insured, you might think you have everything covered, but as anyone working with the public knows: people can be unpredictable.  

As a photographer, you’ll likely spend much of your time surrounded by the public where, unfortunately, accidents can happen. Maybe someone trips over your tripod, or perhaps you drop a bag of heavy lighting equipment onto someone’s foot. If they decide to take legal action as result of their injury, you could be liable for compensation costs.  

Public liability insurance helps to protect you against the legal fall-out from any such claims made by a third party, whether that relates to injury or property damage that occurs as you go about your photography business. 

How Professional Indemnity Insurance Helps Your Photography Career

Regardless of the type of photography in which you specialise, as a freelance photographer, you’ll often enter into a contract to supply images according to a specific brief. Naturally, you’ll work closely with customers to set out a clear contract, but occasionally things don’t go to plan. 

Fortunately, professional indemnity insurance provides financial protection in the event that you are sued for any errors, omissions or creative differences with clients. 

Imagine, for example, that you are hired to photograph a wedding but accidentally delete photos from the ceremony. Should the couple decide to sue for emotional distress and loss of their precious memories, professional indemnity insurance would cover the cost of your legal expenses and any potential compensation to the couple. 

With cover for all kinds of customer contract, professional indemnity helps protect your reputation and your finances in the event that a client finds fault with your work. 

Budgeting For Specialist Photographer’s Insurance

Just like any other business, setting up as a freelance photographer involves some financial outlay. To create your initial budget, begin by considering startup costs such as investing in reliable camera equipment, funding promotional marketing, or furnishing a studio facility. 

Next, you’ll need to project any monthly expenses, which, unless you’re setting up a home-based studio, will probably involve paying for rent, utilities, and transportation. 

Finally, be sure to include the cost of purchasing appropriate insurance. Finding the right insurance for your photography business will involve looking at the various types of cover available and thinking carefully about the risks you might face. In some cases insurance may even be a legal requirement whereby a wedding venue stipulates that you must have insurance before you can work on their premises. 

The Value of Photographer’s Insurance

Working as a photographer is anything but dull and unlike a regular 9 to 5 job, no two days are the same. No matter whether you are a wedding, sports, fashion or wildlife photographer, your job is always interesting because your subject matter is constantly changing. 

In order to ensure you are fully protected in every scenario, it’s a good idea to discuss your insurance requirements with a specialist insurance provider. Different types of cover are available and it’s important to remember that not all photographer’s insurance is the same. 

For example, you may want to check that your policy includes overseas travel, or that it covers any equipment in your studio such as computers used for photo editing, in addition to any equipment you take out on location. 

By talking with a specialist insurance provider, such as OBF Insurance, you can ensure coverage is tailored to your exact requirements, often making it more cost effective than an umbrella insurance policy.  

With over 50 years’ experience, OBF is on hand right now to help you find the right photographer’s insurance for your business – capturing protection that provides complete peace of mind. 

To find out more and get a quote, talk to one of our specialists on +353 (1) 660 1033.