It takes hard work and dedication to become a professional photographer, but with a little planning it is possible to turn what some people treat as a casual hobby into a profession. As anyone in the business knows, there is more to simply taking pictures, and keeping clients happy is all part of the job. If anyone ever decides you have done a bad job, you can end up not just dealing with angry phone calls but ultimately with a legal complaint. In such circumstances photographer professional indemnity cover can help take away the worry of how you will pay for any legal advice that might be required.
Photographer professional indemnity cover helps a snapper pay for legal bills if they are accused of an error, omission, or act of negligence, and will also cover other circumstances. A freelance might be hired by a company to take pictures of their premises for a business brochure to help boost sales. If the pictures turn out to be inadequate due to the settings being incorrect on the camera, the clients may ask for a re-shoot. Indemnity cover would pay for the cost of this re-shoot – this is just one example of how it can help.
Policies normally also protect against things like allegations of accidental defamation, breach of confidence, and even a breach of copyright. All of these things are potential pitfalls for photographers, and can be extremely financially damaging if someone does not have protection in place. Lawyers cost money, and few people can afford to casually pay every legal bill that comes their way.
Indemnity cover, subject to certain limits agreed with your insurer, will pick up all the bills associated with defending a case. It will even pay any compensation which is awarded to the complainant. How much cover you can expect to get depends on your circumstances and what you think is adequate. A large photographic agency will need a higher cover limit than an individual freelance, for example.
As with other types of insurance, it is possible to agree an excess with your insurer, meaning you will pick up an initial amount of the bills which you have to pay for from a solicitor. This can be used to change your premium, making it more or less expensive. So a policy with an excess of £2,000, for example, is likely to cost less than one with an excess of £800.
Photographers who are thinking of retiring, or changing their career, can also get what is known as run off cover, which protects you even though you’re not trading any longer. It will provide photographer professional indemnity cover for a few months while you’re in your new occupation, guarding against the worry you would have to endure if a legal claim relating to something which occurred a long time ago appeared.
