Need Photographer Insurance?
We Got You.

You've spent a good deal of time and money making your passion for photography into a business you love. Do you want to protect the hard work you've invested in building your business?

At Simply Business, we offer photography insurance policies that cover the risks you could encounter while running your business. Answer a few simple questions, and we will help you compare quotes from insurers that could cover you. After reviewing your options, you can choose the one that works best for you.

The best thing of all? No more wasting any more of your time. You can get your quote in less than 10 minutes!

Get your free quote today.

Policies Available for Photographer Insurance:

• General liability insurance
• Professional liability insurance
• Workers compensation insurance

Benefits

• It can protect your business from certain claims.
• It can cover damages caused by your negligence.
• Proof of insurance can help customers feel good about your work.
• It may be legally required where you’re located.

What Type of Photographer Insurance Do I Need?

Depending on your photography business's exact needs, your insurance could include a variety of policies that help protect your business. Here are three policies that we suggest you look into when insuring your photography business:

Commercial General Liability Insurance

Commercial general liability (GL) insurance for photographers covers costs associated with third-party accidents, property damage, and bodily injury. General liability insurance can also cover some of your photography equipment if it is stolen or damaged while you’re working.

Without general liability insurance, you and your business could be responsible for covering the costs of risks that you face with owning and running a photography business. The average claim for small business accidents or property damage is $30,000. That kind of money could sink your business, so a general liability policy is definitely worth the protection.

Here's an example of how general liability insurance can protect a photography business: You're doing a photo shoot for a hotel's new website and bring props along with you for the shoot. One of the hotel guests trips and falls over one of your props and injures their arm. The guest sues the hotel and your business, asking for reimbursement of their medical expenses and for the days they missed from work recuperating.

Without a general liability policy, the money the guest is suing for would come out of your personal funds. Luckily, a general liability insurance policy would help cover the guest's medical coverage and lost wages, as well as additional fees (such as the fees you paid your lawyer for help sorting everything out and possibly defending you in court).

Curious what general liability could cover? Here's a quick summary:

• Bodily injury to another person
• Third-party property damage
• Personal and advertising injury
• Medical expenses

Here's what general liability doesn't cover:

• Damage to your own property
• Professional services
• Workers compensation or injury to your employees
• Damage to your work
• Automobiles while in business use
• Expected or intentional injury or damage
• And more

Professional Liability Insurance

As a photographer, there are a lot of moving pieces in your business that you can't control the weather, the light, what kind of mood your subject is in that day. What happens if it rains the day you're supposed to shoot a wedding and the not-so-happy couple wants a partial refund because they got only indoor photos taken?

That’s where professional liability insurance comes in!

Photographer professional liability insurance covers your business if your client claims that you or one of your employees were negligent in providing your professional services.

We know that insurance language can be mind-boggling, so let's take a look at professional liability in action.

Say you did a boudoir photo shoot for a client. Things seemed to go well during the shoot, but after the edits are finished, you accidentally send the final versions to the wrong client with a similar name. Your original client finds out and is humiliated that their photos were delivered to the wrong person. They decide to sue your photography business for mental anguish.

Professional liability insurance can protect your and your business's finances if you're sued for a mistake you made while working. Small business owners don’t intend to make mistakes, but they do happen from time to time. Because photography can expose you to risks — especially because you’re working closely with clients — it is recommended for photography business owners.

Here’s a brief recap on what professional liability can cover:

• Negligence or alleged negligence
• Legal defense costs
• Omissions or alleged omissions
• Copyright infringement
• Claims and damages
• And more

Keep in mind that PL insurance usually doesn’t cover:

• Intentional acts and omissions
• Property damage
• Medical expenses
• Bodily injury
• False advertising
• Employment matters
• Patents and trade secrets
• And more

Workers Compensation Insurance

If you have an employee (whether they're part-time or temporary), most states will require your business to carry workers compensation insurance. Commonly referred to as workers comp, this insurance policy protects your photography business in case one of your employees gets injured or sick while working for you.

For example, while moving light fixtures around a set for an editorial shoot, the assistant you hired trips over an extension cord and gets a gash in their head when they land on something sharp. Your employee has to go to the emergency room to get stitches, and the medical bill isn't cheap. Your workers compensation policy will cover the medical bills for your employee, as well as for the time both of you missed from work while being at the hospital.

Photography may seem like a relatively safe business to run, but there will always be variables to risks you haven’t considered. In 2017, work injury costs totalled $161.5 billion, with the average injury case costing roughly $39,000. These are amounts that business owners couldn't have anticipated and which could wipe out a photography business.

Workers compensation for photography business owners can cover:

• Medical Payments
• Lost Wages
• Rehabilitation expenses
• Death Benefits

How will Photography Insurance impact my business?

Starting a photography business isn't easy. It's not as if you simply take a smartphone and digital camera, shoot a photo, and send it to a client. To get the big picture (pun intended!), you have to zoom out to see the many moving parts that go into building a successful business: a quality camera and associated equipment (lighting, props, etc.), marketing materials, a sales strategy, and more.

It takes a chunk of money to acquire and build those things in a way that sets you up for growth, so it's understandable that you'd want to cut costs where you can. In the case of photography insurance, though, that's quite the risk.

What you pay for a monthly photographer insurance premium is well worth the protection against what you could pay if a claim were to be filed against you. Small business owners pay amounts that could put their personal and family finances in jeopardy. The average costs for some claims include:

• $30,000 for property damage or accident claims
• $39,000 for work injury claims
• $50,000 for reputational harm claims (e.g., in cases of slander or libel)
• $20,000 for a client slip-and-fall case

With these prices, claims may seem rare, but they're surprisingly common: 43% of small business owners have been involved in some kind of civil suit.

A client doesn’t necessarily need a valid reason to make a claim against your business. Whether or not you made a mistake, a client can use any type of dissatisfaction as a reason to sue you. If they make a claim against your business and you don't have insurance, then the cost of defending your business and all you've worked for could come out of your own pocket.

Even if they're impressed with your portfolio and are interested in hiring you, not having insurance can deter your business from moving forward with different opportunities to grow. Here are some examples of when having proof of insurance could benefit you:

• Renting out a room or space for your practice
• Convincing other photographers to collaborate on bigger projects
• Earning clients' confidence
• And more!

When you purchase insurance through Simply Business, we provide you with a certificate of insurance (COI) so you can provide proof of coverage to anyone who asks about it.

Photographer Insurance FAQs

• Is photography business insurance required by law?

  Whether or not you'll need to purchase photography business insurance depends entirely on the state where you live and perform your business. If you have part-time or full-time employees, there's a good chance you'll need to invest in workers compensation insurance. However, determining if you'll need general liability insurance or need to have insurance in order to have a photo shoot will depend on the state where you’re located.

• Is photography insurance tax-deductible?

  When it comes to filing your business taxes, you can deduct the cost of your photography business insurance premiums. If you're interested in learning more about what deductions you can claim for your business, we recommend speaking to an accountant or tax professional.

• How much photography insurance do I need?

  The exact type of policy coverage you'll need will depend on several factors, such as:

  • The size of your business
  • Your business’s location
  • Your annual revenue
  • And more

  Our quote form is designed to recommend a specific level of coverage based on the questions you answer regarding the details above. If you have any questions about what policy may be best for you, our licensed agents are available and happy to help.

• What should I consider before buying photography insurance?

  You have a lot on your plate, so we want to be able to provide a quote for you as quickly as possible. We recommend having the following information on hand when requesting a quote:

  • Annual revenue estimates
  • Payroll estimates
  • Information on any previous claims
• Does photography insurance differ by state?

  Yes, different states can have different requirements for photography business insurance. When you fill out our quote form, we'll be sure to let you know which policies your state requires. If you have any questions about how your specific state requirements may impact your business insurance, our licensed agents can help.

• What does photography insurance cover?

  If you invest in photography insurance that's comprehensive and includes coverage for general liability, professional liability, and workers compensation, then it can cover:

  • Bodily injury
  • Accidents and damages
  • Employee injuries
  • Unintentional mistakes
  • And more
• How much does photography insurance cost?

  Several factors determine how much photography insurance will cost, such as:

  • The state and region you serve
  • How many employees you have
  • The types of projects you specialize in
  • And more

  Interested in seeing how much your photography insurance would cost? Answer a few questions about your business to get a free quote.

• What if I perform multiple activities as a business?

  If your business provides more than one service, then our licensed insurance agents can help you find a policy that protects the work you do.

Why choose Simply Business?

Simply Business is an online insurance brokerage and one of the fastest-growing providers of insurance for small businesses. Thousands of customers rely on Simply Business to provide them with the top insurance and protection for their business.

Why did they choose us? It's simple:

We're quick and affordable. You have a lot to focus on, like managing your business. Our policies are fast, affordable, and ready when you are.

We're flexible with coverage. Whether you need to update your policy because you opened a second location or need a COI for a new client, we're here to help.

We get your business. No business is the same, so no insurance policy should be either. Get the protection your photography business deserves, when you need it most.

You've worked hard to build your business and we're here to offer the best coverage to protect it.

This content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is not intended to provide legal, tax, accounting, investment, or any other form of professional advice.