Photographers employ their skills to transform images into works of art that are often cherished for decades. However, there is much more to the commercial aspect of photography than just taking a few photographs. Photographers must have insurance that protects their property, which often consists of expensive cameras and other equipment.
Regardless of your experience as a photographer, you will require photography business insurance. Consider a scenario in which your camera breaks or falls during a session. Imagine a scenario in which your photography equipment is stolen. In such situations, photographers will need business insurance.
With professional photography insurance, you should be able to safeguard yourself from such unforeseen occurrences. Given that most insurers allow you to tailor your photographer insurance, you should be able to create a policy that meets your specific requirements.
However, how much does insurance for photographers cost? This article will provide you with all the answers that you need.
- How much does photographer insurance cost?
- What is the average photographer insurance cost per month?
- Where to get photographer insurance quotes?
- What are the factors that affect the cost of photographer’s insurance?
- How to find cheap photographer’s insurance?
How much does photographer insurance cost?
The average cost of a general liability insurance policy for photographers is $32 per month, or $394 per year. Most photographers pay from $16 to $72 per month.
Photographers may need more coverage such as commercial auto insurance, commercial property insurance, professional liability insurance, and workers comp insurance. The more coverage you have, the more you’ll pay for your photographer’s insurance.
What is the average photographer insurance cost per month?
Below are the average costs of different coverages of the photographer insurance:
| Photographer insurance coverage | Average costs |
| General liability insurance | $32 per month |
| Professional liability insurance | $35 per month |
| Commercial auto insurance | $128 per month |
| Commercial property insurance | $53 per month |
| Workers comp insurance | $82 per month |
These are just the averages. Your rates will be different. Be sure to get quotes from a few companies or work with a broker like Simply Business or CoverWallet to compare several quotes to find the cheapest one for you.
Where to get photographer insurance quotes?
The following are some general liability insurance quotes for photographers that we obtained from CoverWallet, Next Insurance, and Simply Business for your reference. It only takes less than 10 minutes to obtain these quotes on their websites.
If you are looking for comprehensive photography insurance that covers everything from liability to coverage for your photography studio and commercial vehicles, you should be prepared to pay a much higher premium. This type of insurance typically costs significantly more.
Here is a breakdown of the possible policies you may need and their average costs
General liability insurance cost for photographers
The average cost of general liability insurance for freelance photographers and videographers is $32 per month, equivalent to $364 per year.
General liability insurance is the most common coverage that photographers use. This insurance coverage protects professionals in the photography and videography industries from liability for advertising injuries and property damage to third parties.
For instance, when taking photographs of staged houses for a real estate business, your tripod falls over and damages a glass table. Your policy might cover the expenses of replacing the table (property damage).
Commercial property insurance cost for photographers
Commercial property insurance costs vary with your location, the type of building you have, and the worth of your equipment. In most places, photographers pay between $400 and $700 annually for this policy.
Commercial property insurance is a first-party policy that protects your buildings and their contents. You might cover a studio, a showroom, and furnishings with this insurance, or you may restrict coverage to your equipment.
Even if you operate your photography company out of your house, you may still need this policy. The reason is that most homeowner’s insurance policies do not cover commercial operations.
Typically, these insurance policies come with a blanket restriction, meaning that there is a single limit for all property at the designated location. For most insurers, the restriction is about $35,000. However, you may request an extended limit if you want more but at a higher cost.
Business owner’s policy (BOP) cost for photographers
A typical business owner’s insurance for photographers and videographers would cost about $45 per month, which is a yearly premium of $504.
The general liability and property insurance policies included in a BOP are often purchased at a reduced cost. Pricing will be primarily determined by the worth of your company property and the services you provide.
This plan could include business interruption insurance, compensating for revenue lost when a company is forced to temporarily close its doors due to unforeseen circumstances.
Professional liability insurance cost for photographers
For professional liability insurance, videographers and photographers pay a median cost of $35 per month, which comes to $779 per year. The price will be based on your services and other important considerations.
This kind of insurance often called errors and omissions insurance, shields companies from the financial burden of customer claims that assert the company’s work was substandard, careless, incomplete, or delivered late.
For instance, your contract guarantees that you will record a baby shower flawlessly. However, when the parents-to-be got the photographs, they weren’t so happy that you did not cover some important family members or left out some happy moments. This insurance policy may cover any resulting claims or lawsuits.
Workers’ compensation insurance cost for photographers
Insurance premiums for workers’ compensation that are paid by photographers and videographers
Workers’ compensation insurance for photographers and videographers costs a median of $82 per month, or $984 per year, for these creative professionals. Costs for insurance policies may be quite different from one state to the next.
If you have an injury while on the job, workers’ compensation may reimburse you for any associated medical expenses and missed income. This policy is a must-have if you have employees, as most states in the US mandate it.
It will help reduce the financial burden on your employees if they fall sick or get injured on the job.
Even if you do not have employees, it is worth buying the policy to protect yourself. This is because the job of a photographer is physically demanding. To get the fantastic shots you want, you could have to climb a ladder, or you might have to traverse a crowded photoshoot while you are behind the camera.
If you get injured while doing any of these, your policy will cover your medical bills.
What are the factors that affect the cost of photographer’s insurance?
The price of photographer insurance may be affected by a variety of factors, the most common are as follows:
Deductibles
Deductibles Your deductible is the amount of money you agree to pay if an incident occurs. Usually, you have to pay this fee before your insurer can pay your insurance claim. Generally, if you are prepared to pay a bigger deductible, your insurance rate may drop. However, the downside is that you will pay more when an incident happens.
For example, if you have an insurance policy with a deductible of $400 and you accidentally damage a camera lens that costs $1,000. That means your insurer will reimburse you for $600 after you pay the deductible of $400.
Coverage limits
Your coverage limit describes the maximum amount your insurer will pay for a claim. As your coverage limits increase, so with the cost of your premium. Be careful you choose a sufficient amount of coverage since the price of cameras and lenses may soon add up. A smaller limit will likely increase your risk exposure.
Claim history
If you have a record of making insurance claims in the past, this may result in a higher rate for you.
Work classification
You may have a more significant premium depending on the type of photographs or videos you take. For instance, if you are a wildlife photographer, you may pay more than a street photographer since the risk is more.
Similarly, if you take aerial photographs with drones, take pictures of models, you may also pay more for your premiums.
Storage
Your insurer will likely want to know how you keep and preserve the prints, negatives, and personally identifiable information of your clients. If you do not have good storage facilities, you will likely pay more for your premiums. The reason is you are likely to have problems with your clients.
Location
Location is a significant factor in determining the total cost of your annual insurance premiums for your photography company.
Crew size
If you are operating a small unit of camera-clad warriors, you will pay higher rates to insure each team member. This is particularly true for worker’s comp and general liability insurance. This is because the risk of having an accident or liability issues is higher when more people are involved. Moreso, workers’ comp insurance is usually valued per employee.
Coverage duration
The length of your coverage affects the total cost of your insurance policy. Because photography is often a freelance sector, you may have the option to obtain insurance coverage for just the projects and shoots that you are doing rather than for the entire year. This may be an option offered by certain insurance companies.
Of course, paying per job means you only get to spend when you have jobs. It might be cheaper, depending on how you look at it.
How to find cheap photography insurance?
Photography insurance isn’t too expensive. But you don’t need to pay too much unnecessarily. Below are a few tips to save on your premiums:
- Shop around to compare several quotes for the best value. Get quotes from a few companies, brokers, or agents and compare them to find the right coverage for you at a reasonable cost.
- Take advantage of discounts. If they’re not offered when getting a quote, ask about them, whether you’re buying online or through an agent.
- Only get the coverage you need: You don’t need to buy all policies, only get the coverage that you need for your photography business
- Manage your policy details: Reducing the coverage limits and increasing deductibles can help reduce the policy’s premiums
Taking these steps will help ensure you’re not paying too much for your photography coverage.
What is usually not covered by photography insurance?
The majority of photographers will benefit from having insurance coverage in the vast majority of the scenarios they may face. However, insurance will not cover everything that may possibly go wrong.
This implies that if you are a photographer, and you commit fraud or have a significant accident because of your carelessness, you may not be insured. As an illustration of fraud, consider the scenario in which a photographer sells their services, receives payment from the customer, fails to provide the services, and does not return the customer’s money.
Generally speaking, most policies exclude the negligence of the photographer. This can be a little complicated to define, but in essence, it indicates that the photographer did not do something that they should have done, which resulted in the problem. You should examine the tiny details of your insurance policy since there are several ways that negligence might be excluded from coverage.
It is possible that the insurance coverage held by your photographer does not cover certain kinds of events or activities. If you are interested in high-risk photography that might affect the security of your property, such as maritime or drone photography, then you will need to ensure that your coverage covers these types of activities.
Because of this, you could be required to get a whole other sort of coverage, such as inland marine insurance or drone insurance, which come at an extra cost.
