Insurance-Liability/Accidental Damage

C

clarencest

Member
Hello Everyone-

I've tried searching online for this information but don't seem to be getting a consensus from what I've read. Also, my long time insurance provider does not seem able to fulfill my needs. Hoping you all can help.

I'm looking to insure about $20k worth of field production gear, from monitors to tripods to a camera. I'd like it protected from theft and accidental damage from handling. If my camera falls in a river or I snap the lens off while chasing a tiger or something, I don't want to be out 15k.

I've heard some people mention Commercial Inland Marine policies. If that's the way to go, does anyone have a suggestion of a good company to use? I've also heard that there are some organizations (Mobile Entertainers Group) that offer insurance. Any ideas there?

Also, it is my understanding that I need to carry liability insurance should a light set something on fire while on location. In my past job, I've had people request fax copies of such a policy before allowing us on site. Any recommendations there?

Again, I've tried to search but am just not finding what I need and I'd like to get this done. Thanks in advance for any help.

Cheers,

Clarencest
 
Clarencest,

Your info is correct. The key is to use an agent oriented towards business, not a homeowner type like Farmers or Allstate. Usually you start with a general liability policy, then add your "contents" coverage. inland marine is contents coverage specific to being away from your place of business, so decide how much coverage you need and where, since the inland marine coverage is significantly more than contents coverage. So usually you will have both coverages. I split mine roughly down the middle since I would rarely travel with everything I want to cover. Also, many companies will cover your auto also. I pay only about $100 more per year to carry commercial auto when done this way. The more coverage you can get without writing additional policies is usually the best thing as you pay for the overhead of each policy. Another good company is Ohio Casualty which was purchased a few years back by Liberty Mutual.

Hartford or Liberty Mutual will be well known by any business brokerage.

There are several levels of documentation you might be required to provide for site work:
A certificate of insurance shows that yes indeed you have coverage and the limits. I carry one of these with me always.
Another type is a certificate of insurance that names an additional insured. For example this might be supplied to the property owner or business where you intend to shoot. Your broker will issue this directly to the company at your request. Most brokers will do this for free or a very nominal charge, say $25.

Grant
 
I actually insure through Film Emporium. After a lot of searching and getting quotes from different places, they offered the best coverage and price. They handle pretty much ALL kinds of insurance and cater specifically to the Film and Video industry. That's pretty much all they do. They're based in NY and CA.

You can find a full list of insurance types and applications here: http://www.filmemporium.com/insurance-applications.html

Really very happy with their service. Let us know what you end up going with.

Edit: This is from memory, but I seem to recall you can get about $20,000 of Inland Marine which covers you world wide for your owned equipment, and $5,000 for rental (a lot of rental places require you to have this coverage) for under $400 (this includes the broker's fee). You have to provide them with a schedule of the equipment that is covered if it is valued at over $2000. Under $2K and you don't need to list it (I think it was $2K, maybe it was $1K). One other thing to note, they do have a minimum coverage amount. So say you need $15K in coverage. The price could be the same as if you got $20K of coverage. You can probably get a little more than the $20K you need for the same price.
 
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ggrantly said:
Clarencest,

inland marine is contents coverage specific to being away from your place of business, so decide how much coverage you need and where, since the inland marine coverage is significantly more than contents coverage. So usually you will have both coverages.

Grant
Click to expand...

You are only partially correct here. Inland marine covers your equipment regardless of where it is (either U.S. or International depending on what you want), even at your place of business. What it does not cover are the other things in your office that always stay in your office, like furniture, fax machines, files.... For that kind of coverage for those kinds of things you are right, you should have contents coverage. Note however, that contents coverage doesn't include accidental damage, it only covers those "fixed" assets from losses like theft and fire. So contents coverage will never cover a dropped camera. But Inland Marine will, regardless of where you drop it, and it will cover your camera against fire and theft.

Here are a couple of definitions from the web:

Inland Marine Coverage: A group of property insurance coverages designed to insure exposures that cannot be conveniently or reasonably confined to a fixed location.... Many inland marine coverage forms provide coverage without regard to the location of the covered property....
Click to expand...
Wikipedia: The property that is insured under inland marine coverage is typically one of the following:
  • Actually in transit
  • Held by a bailee
  • At a fixed location that is an instrument of transportation
  • A movable type of goods that is often at different locations
Click to expand...
 
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Keylight,

You are correct, and I should have stated such more clearly. what is important is to define what you are going to cover with each type of insurance, as inland marine is quite a bit more. IM coverage is around 2%/yr and contents as around 1%/yr.

This whole topic is brought up so often that there should be a sticky.

Grant
 
I used a company called Hill & Usher that used the Hartford as the underwriters. Great service and the price was just about what I expected but the coverage is better than expected.

Cole
 
Just as a side note Fractured Atlas provides year-long liability insurance for under $500/year. Equipment coverage, workman's comp, etc. are in addition to that.
 
Snazzy Flapper said:
Just as a side note Fractured Atlas provides year-long liability insurance for under $500/year. Equipment coverage, workman's comp, etc. are in addition to that.
Click to expand...


Yep. When I shopped around, these guys responded the quickest and had good rates. I have workers comp and liability with them and I'll add gear coverage when necessary. Film Emporium does not provide workers comp. I really like the idea of not having to go to multiple companies to get all the coverage I need.
 
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