At a glance
If your photography business employs any staff, you must have employers’ liability cover.
Public liability insurance can cover you against injury or property damage claims.
Professional indemnity insurance can cover photographers against claims due to mistakes or bad advice.
You can also include cover for your vital photography equipment.
What insurance do photographers need?
If you’re a self-employed photographer, you’ll need the right insurance in place to make sure you’re protected.
Business insurance policies can often be tailored to fit the needs of your work, so you can get just the cover you need as a photographer.
Here are the types of business insurance you might want to consider.
Public liability insurance for photographers
Public liability insurance covers you if someone is injured or their property damaged as a result of your work.
Whether you’re photographing celebrities, schoolchildren, or weddings, this is a safety net you’ll want in place.
If you cause an accident, you may end up with more than angry clients to deal with. It’s possible you’ll face a hefty bill, too.
Public liability insurance could help protect you from claims made against your business and cover compensation. But you should always check the terms to see what circumstances you’ll be covered for.
Public liability limits start at £1 million. If you need to, you can increase your cover to £2m, £3m, £5m, or even more. The more cover you want, the higher you can expect your premiums to be.
Employers’ liability insurance
If you employ staff – even just one person – you’re required by law to have employers’ liability insurance. This can cover employees’ compensation if their work causes them an illness or injury.
There are only a couple of exceptions to this rule. One is that you don’t need it if you only employ a family member. The other is if you’re employing someone based outside of England, Scotland and Wales.
Your policy must cover you for at least £5 million, and must come from an authorised insurance provider.
The law also requires you to display a copy of your employers’ liability insurance certificate where your employees can easily read it. If you don’t, you could receive a £1,000 fine from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
It’s worth knowing that you could be fined £2,500 for every day you don't have employers’ liability insurance in place.
Professional indemnity insurance
As a photographer, it’s also worth considering professional indemnity insurance. This can cover your costs if a client thinks you’ve been negligent and makes a legal claim against you.
For example, imagine the memory card you’re using stops working and you lose all the photographs of someone’s wedding – a nightmare scenario! If your client blames you for failing to deliver the photos, this type of cover could help protect your business in the case of a claim.
There’s always the possibility something could go wrong, no matter how diligent you are, so knowing you’re protected can be a huge relief.
Does photographer insurance cover my equipment?
Photography business insurance can cover equipment if it’s lost, stolen or damaged.
You can include cover for your equipment, both on your premises and when you’re out and about, when you compare with us. You’ll need to give an estimate of how much it would cost to replace your equipment.
How do I work out how much my camera equipment is worth?
Before choosing a policy, create an inventory and add up how much it would cost to replace your cameras and kit, should you need to.
What other insurance do I need to think about?
Some insurance providers offer legal advice, which is something you might want to think about adding to your photographer insurance package.
If you carry your gear around in a van, make sure you’ve got the right van insurance to protect you on the road.
Your policy must cover you for business use. Van cover doesn’t usually include the equipment you’re transporting, so it’s worth considering a policy that covers tools and equipment as well.
Watch out for exclusions though – for instance, you may not be covered if you leave your kit in the van overnight.
And if you have a studio, make sure your business premises and contents are properly insured, too.
One final type of specialist insurance to think about depending on your type of photography business is IP insurance – Intellectual Property insurance.
This can help protect the copyright of any pictures you take. For example, you might want IP cover to protect your business against different risks including:
Opinion only: covers legal costs of you obtaining an opinion on the likelihood of successfully enforcing or defending an IP claim.
Enforcement insurance: covers the legal costs of you taking action to stop others infringing your IP rights.
Lost revenue: covers revenue lost as a result of you losing IP rights.
See more on Intellectual Property insurance and whether it is appropriate for your business on GOV.UK.
How much is insurance for photographers?
How much you pay for your photography insurance can depend on a number of factors. These include:
Where you work (whether that’s in a studio, on location, or both)
How many people you employ
Your claims history
How much cover you want.
Always be honest – if you’re not truthful, you could find your policy is invalidated when you come to claim.
Getting the right photography insurance
Shopping around can help you find competitive insurance.
Compare business insurance with us and search for the right deal for you and your photography business.
Looking for something else?
With over 10 years’ experience writing, editing and managing content, Emma has written and edited for some of Australia’s leading financial comparison brands, including Savings.com.au, Your Investment Property Magazine, and Your Mortgage.
Stephen Maunder is an experienced personal finance editor, having spent more than a decade working for consumer print and online titles. He won several industry awards for his personal finance features at Which?, before becoming Deputy Editor at Compare the Market.
Amy helps make sure you get the best value when choosing insurance. Thanks to more than four years’ experience at Compare the Market, she understands what people look for, working closely with insurance providers to offer you deals and services that are fair, easy to understand and right for your needs.
Our content is written by a Compare the Market expert, backed by data and enhanced by technology. Find out how we ensure accuracy and quality in our Editorial Guidelines.
