Insurance

[Mark von Kanel]

Hi do any of you Uk photogs carry professional insurance? im currenty insured by Aduki a broker based out of Oakhampton in cornwall, whom i met at focus on imaging last year.

the cover is good £10000 all risks on my equipment anywhere in the world, professional indemnity and public liability cover and the premium isnt bad at £300

so why the post? well the shower at Aduki have got to be the most inefficient lazy bunch of good for nothings ive ever had the misfortune to deal with, and i havnt even claimed yet! The dont answer emails, they get policy details incorrect.......

are there any other companies that i can try? Please dont bother advising me to add the cover on my house insurance because i will look into this as well now that i actually have a house, but i dont think this can be done because of the liability and indemnity cover.

thanks all

mark

[Manfred M]

Hi do any of you Uk photogs carry professional insurance? im currenty insured by Aduki a broker based out of Oakhampton in cornwall, whom i met at focus on imaging last year.

the cover is good £10000 all risks on my equipment anywhere in the world, professional indemnity and public liability cover and the premium isnt bad at £300

so why the post? well the shower at Aduki have got to be the most inefficient lazy bunch of good for nothings ive ever had the misfortune to deal with, and i havnt even claimed yet! The dont answer emails, they get policy details incorrect.......

are there any other companies that i can try? Please dont bother advising me to add the cover on my house insurance because i will look into this as well now that i actually have a house, but i dont think this can be done because of the liability and indemnity cover.

thanks all

mark

Mark - I don't know UK laws or policies, but I suspect that you are leaving yourself wide open in a society that is getting more and more litigeous.

Most professionals I know carry three levels of insurance.

1. Basic loss of equipment -loss / theft / fire / water damage. Covers of the cost of replacement or repair of damaged equipment (including rental replacement while you are getting things straightened out). Generally covers your gear and studio.

2. Basic liability - your client trips over your light stand and breaks a leg and wants compensation; and

3. Professional liability - errors & ommisions - client is not satisfied with your work and goes after you because you did not deliver on their expectations. This is more that potentially a reshoot - if you are working with an advertiser and your "lack of performance" affects their add campaign. Client doesn't like the image of their great grandfather and he has now departed to the afterlife, so chances of a reshoot are rather slim. Deliveryed images fade more quickly than anticipated, you get the drift...

There is a fourth level of insurance that not every one carries, but tends to be related to loss of income.

[Nigel]

Mark
have a look at:
www.morganrichardson.co.uk
Nigel

[Geoff F]

Non commercial use photographic equipment can certainly be covered under household insurance for an additional premium; and theft from the house or damage caused by fire/flood may well be automatically covered subject to total valuation etc.

Usage away from home usually requires extra payment which I decided against as any claim would affect my future insurance costs and in order to get cover at a reasonable price I have to accept the first £1000 of any claim.

As you say, Mark, professional cover is a bit different so would probably require specific insurance, at increased costs.

There are a number of insurance brokers around the Plymouth area so I would start by getting some quotes on comprehensive commercial insurance which covers you for someone falling over your tripod along with any claim for 'ruining their wedding' in an attempt to get the photos for free!

[James G]

Mark, this is likely to become another interesting thread.
Can't comment about cover for professional purposes, but I would warn against 'holiday cover' provided as additional services with premium i.e. fee paying accounts, provided by certain banks.

I'm in the process of raising a complaint, to the insurance ombudsman. I took a house for a few months over in Carlingford (Irish Republic), last Sept. We were considering moving over. In the past, I have taken out specific short term cover from specialist insurers, for my camera gear, particularly when traveling to Africa, America, Cuba etc . This time I checked with my bank that the kit was covered as part of a premium services package associated with my account, and proceeded to the Emerald Isle.
All went well until at a remote location on the Cooley Mountain my car was broken into via the rear window and my camera case with about £2000 worth of lenses was stolen. (Insult to injury, I realised 48hrs later my favourite hiking jacket, which usually sat on top of the camera case in the boot when not on me, went.) So claim submitted via the Bank 'help' line. Next thing find out I can only e-mail the underwriters, and after a long wait (4 weeks and a number of increasingly irate requests for update), the claim was rejected for the following reasons ....
"Exclusions:
Valuables or your passport left unattended at any time unless in a hotel safe, safety deposit box or in your locked accommodation

Baggage contained in an unattended vehicle unless locked out of sight in a secure baggage area (please refer to ‘Definitions’ in the policy wording for the definition of ‘Secure Baggage Area’) and evidence of entry into the vehicle by forcible and violent means is available.

While taking photograph in the country park, you were absent from your car.

I found it very helpful to know that any cover was negated because I should not have left my car unattended while on a photoshoot and that it was necessary to have secondary secure storage area in the boot for valuable items!

Since then , despite numerous emails, and referral to the bank, (who are sympathetic, but say it is an issue for their underwriters to address), I have hit a brick wall.

So lesson appears to be: -
1) Stick at all times with specific specialist insurers,
2) check they have face to face, and telephone contacts in addition to email.
3) check out if the policy is being cascaded to secondary underwriters and if so ensure they can be contacted.

best of luck, James

ps my bank says that I am covered on home insurance since I had the appropriate additions to the policy extending cover for valuable items to theft /damage outside the property....... go figure!

[Mark von Kanel]

Hi guys, thanks for you input.

Manfred, im at a loss as to what your trying to say, i deliberately have professional insurance that covers me in all these areas as stated in my original post. i fully understand that as someone who earns some money from my hobby that i need to treat it as a business. What astounds me is that people that shoot on a non chargeable basis think that they dont need to insure correctly. i wonder what would happen if they knocked a studio light over in someones house and set it on fire where the liabilty would lay....?

Nigel i will take a look, thanks

Geoff, DOH!!! didnt think of trying a normal broker! been scouring photog mags for providers!

James, my cover covers theft from an un attended vehicle, the policy is actually quite good, i just need somebody i can rely on to give a good support service to the policy. Im sorry yo experienced you difficulties but my travel insurance just would not even begin to cover the cost of a body and 2 lens's . bank insurance policies are something to be very wary of in my experience!