-
Rental Insurance
Hey gang…
Got a question about insurance here… specifically how do you guys deal with the insurance necessary to cover rental equipment…?
The problem is, we are a little out of our realm here because we hardly ever rent anything… we own a relatively decent camera/support/grip inventory so dealing with rental houses is not something that we have to deal with more than once every few years.
However we have a big shoot coming up that requires more than our meager grip inventory so we have to rent about a quarter million bucks worth of someone else’s stuff. Our “regular” insurance company (who normally handles our equipment, vehicles, liability, etc.) is taking care of it this time… but there are all kinds of hoops to jump through and we get the distinct impression that they are somewhat ill-equipped (and unmotivated) to write small short-term policies like this.
There’s got to be an easier way… but we just don’t know what it is.
Suggestions anyone?
T2
__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
-
7 Replies
-
Rental houses often have a line on this – i.e. for a bit more cash you can get the kit insurred for the job.
I’d ask them for their insrance company – still ends up with risk assesment/job breakdown forms, but at least they are used to the short term nature of it.
The Brit in Brisbane
The Pomme in Production – Brisbane Australia. -
Some, yes, we have dealt with that before… however in this specific case the grip house does not offer insurance and requires renters to provide it, as well as proof of such.
T2
__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
-
Hi Todd,
I am a little surprised that your insurance company does not cover this long term or conveniently enough.
I am in the same set up as you are and have all my own gear.
I have insurance through fireman’s fund and have a basic package of 25K built in for equipment rental(only). Last year I had to get 200K of gear for rental for a few gigs and it took 1 phone call. In 1 day I had my limit raised to 200K, had a pro rated adjustment to my policy and they faxed a copy of the coverage to the rental house.
I also had the option to cancel or reduce the coverage anytime I wanted and they would refund me the pro-rated difference.
Maybe you should talk with Firemans Fund and see what they can offer.
Emre
http://www.productionpit.com
Boxx Tech PC, dual-dual AMD 2.0,4BG ram,Avid Media Composer HD w/Mojo,UVW-1800,DSR-25, Adobe Premium CS3.Gspeed ES.Steadicam Clipper 2 OP/Owner.“Creative cow is udder madness.”
-
Hi all,
Based on the collective wisdom of the COW, I recently called a local insurance company to get insurance for my company. I could tell they weren’t used to dealing with videography companies, but they gave me a general liability policy covering up to 500K for anything that is in my “possession, care, or control.” Specifically, I asked them if that would cover me if I, say, dropped a light on someone’s head, accidentally caused damage to someone else’s property during a shoot, or damaged equipment that I borrowed/rented from someone else — and they said yes, it would.
Is this normal? It seemed pretty simple — do I need some kind of specialized insurance for this? Do you see any red flags? Are you guys buying additional insurance beyond your company’s general liability policy?
-
I dont know how well that would cover you but my insurance is specifically for our profession and cover video/film gear. I send them a equipment schedule to declare what I own. That way if something happens to anything they look to see if I actually owned it and I have to present a receipt/rental agreement to prove it.
There are many clauses like “criminal mischief,mysterious disappearance, wheather conditions…..etc” that protect the insurance companies.
You might want to double check how they determine what qualifies as “in your possesion”. Otherwise it would be really easy to do fraud.
Cheers,
Emre
http://www.productionpit.com
Boxx Tech PC, dual-dual AMD 2.0,4BG ram,Avid Media Composer HD w/Mojo,UVW-1800,DSR-25, Adobe Premium CS3.Gspeed ES.Steadicam Clipper 2 OP/Owner.“Creative cow is udder madness.”
-
Ah, okay. Now that school’s out and the show run’s over, I’ll devote some free time to reading my insurance policy.
Y’know, just for fun.
If I met with my insurance agent to check on things like that — what I have to do to prove “possession,” etc., what specific questions do you think I should ask him? Is it okay to tape a meeting like that or get assurances written on paper, or would that just be acting paranoid? He said that he and his agency, although they do a lot of commercial insurance, never dealt specifically with a “videography” company, but I did explain to him what I did, what kind of equipment I’d be using, situations I’d be in, etc…
Or should I shop around to find an agent that deals specifically with videographers?
-
Todd,
I have dealt with a company called Arts and Entertainment Insurance. They are a broker for Fireman’s Fund, which I understand is the only insurer that offers these types of policies. These guys offer several packages. Personally I was renting gear to travel internationally, they had a complete policy to cover my rental gear, liability, car rental, everything but simple travel insurance. This is a father/son operation and they gave me great service.
K
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up