Wedding Photography – What insurance do I need?
Wedding photography can one of the most lucrative of all the genres of professional photography. However there is no doubt it can also be one the most dangerous. As technology marches on it becomes ever more complicated and beneficial to us but at the same time it also becomes more fraught with potential legal action against the photographer.
It should never be forgotten that of course there is the ever present small percentage of the public ready to pounce using “Where there’s a blame there’s a claim”.
No two wedding photography businesses are alike so doesn’t it makes sense to get your insurance cover tailored exactly to your business? So what then are the absolute insurance essentials we should be thinking of for our wedding businesses?
Professional Indemnity
Professional Indemnity covers your liability for failing to produce work to what your clients consider a professional standard. It basically protects your business against the cost of settling or defending a client’s claim concerning the work you have done for them. Professional Indemnity insurance can protect you if you face a claim for some form of financial compensation; don’t forget that even though some of these claims can be quite false or unfounded you will still need to pay to defend yourself with legal fees so Professional Indemnity insurance is vital.
Memory cards can fail, cameras can play up or clients can simply think your work is not good enough. It’s not your fault if it rained all day but trust me someone could well think that it is.
Public liability
Public liability insurance is designed to protect you against the cost of paying or defending a compensation claim made by a member of the public for personal injury or damage to their property; they don’t have to be your clients by the way, they could just as easily be a passerby!!
These claims can be brought against you whether the fault was directly or indirectly yours and there are records of UK photographers being sued for millions.
Can you imagine what would happen if someone tripped over a wire or your camera case and broke a leg? Or you moved a piece of furniture to “get that shot” not knowing that in the process you were scratching the floor and that the floor itself would costs thousands to get repaired?
How about you slipping on a wet pavement and your tripod scratches the wedding car and you get sued for the paint work repairs? These examples are just the tip of the iceberg, there a hundred things that can happen and if you’re not covered you could be taken to the cleaners never mind the courts.
Accidents are going to happen no matter what precautions you take. You will however have peace of mind when working at a wedding if you’re protected by these two types of insurance. If you have the support of an insurance policy in place you won’t be spending sleepless nights worrying about your home and business being taken away from you.
Call us on 020 3633 2280 for more advice or if you have a specific question.
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