Can I use my Home Owner's Insurance??
 

I'm filming at a State-run facility and they have sent me a Facilities Use Agreement.
It states I have to:
"Furnish a Certificate of Insurance in the amount of $1,000,000 combined single limit liability for bodily injury and property damage coverage..."

Has anyone ever used their home owner's insurance for something like this?

It's a very small project. 2 cameras, 4 guys, maybe some lights and mics, that's it.

I looked through the threads and didn't see anything that addressed this specifically. I just don't want to get sued. I'm going to call my insurance company and discuss with them and read through my policy, but wanted to check here for other's experiences. Thanks.
Mike

If you mean "will my homeowners insurance cover film production?" the answer is probably no.


See: http://www.ifp.org/experts/expert.php?id=14 for a discussion and advice

also http://www.eqgroup.com/shortterm_production.htm
http://www.productioninsurance.com/

for examples of other providers

Only your insurance agent knows for sure but it's VERY unlikely that your homeowners would provide any coverage. It MIGHT cover your equipment if it is lost or stolen in transit, but even that's unlikely as most won't cover anything that is used for business purpoases. But "general liability" insurance means you're covered against someone tripping over a lightstand on location and getting injured. Homeowner's might cover it if you were shooting at home in your living room but even that's unlikely if the person was a client visiting your home for a business purpose and certainly not if the accident happens away from your home.

I'm pretty sure you can't use homeowners insurance for this.
And many of the big general insurance companies do't offer "event" insurance which is what you want.

Google for film/video production insurance, you'll find what you need. There are several different companies but most seem to go through the same underwriter.

Some have an option that allows you to print those certificates right from your pc. The cert they are asking for probably has to name them (the city) as benficiary.

We have business insurance. Our insurance company was able to issue a certificate of insurance that lists the requesting party as 'additional insured'. We did not have to purchase any other coverage. Like others have stated it is unlikely that a homeowners policy will work, but it is best to give them a call.

I talked to my agent
 

he said the cheapest 1-year liability insurance he could find was for $510, might be some companies that will do it for $350...
way more than i wanted to spend on this.

anyone know any reputable companies that will offer this cheaper? i don't want to google a random insurance broker.
thanks.

My equip and public liability is covered under my home policy - I've specifically checked and it's okay as long as it's a hobby.

That's in Aus - but I'd call your insurance company to check

(it cost me and extra 250 for the coverage of course)

That's great, but if you're billing clients for doing work for them it's no longer a hobby. It may just be a part-time, home-based business but as soon as you start trying to earn money with it, it's no longer a hobby and you can bet the insurance company will find out you're billing for your work. If an employee of the client is injured when you're shooting, it's going to be hard to make the claim that you were on the job-site just for fun. And as far as insuring against your own losses, you might have a hard time convincing them that the $12,000 camera on a $3000 tripod that walked off the location was purchased just for a hobby that you took very, very seriously.

I have to agree with Steeve. My full time job is ''claims adjuster''. As soon as your film making is anything other than a hobby it will be considered ''professional use'' by your insurance company. Some homeowner insurance will provide some coverage for professional equipment but ''ONLY'' on the insured premises. That means they would be covered in your backyard but not across the street from where you live.


My homeowner insurer will accept to cover me for a premium of 35$ per 1,000$ of equipment. As far as Liability goes, this is a different ballgame. The premium will depend on what are your activities, how many employees you have, the location you're filming etc.....

They will usually offer coverage per movie. As an example, if the movie you're making will be done in 4 months, then they'll cover you for that period. Then the premium will be according to the risk involved. If you shoot interviews that's one thing but if the movie involves wild tigers running in a shopping center then it's something else.

Liability insurance for big projects can be in the 10's of thousands of dollars. So my advise is shop around for insurance, talk to your broker and try to evaluate what are the risks involved in making that movie.

Best regards

Luc Fontaine

You won't be able to use your homeowners insurance for this. Ask your insurance agent for a general liability policy for broadcasting/television. They will most likely have to shop around for you to find companies that will write this insurance. If I remember correctly my $1,000,000 policy costs a little over $1200/year.

once again I'll promote RVNuccio dot com.
No I don't work for them. The liability portion of the policy($1mm)is very reasonable-don't remember exactly how much-but if you go to their website you can price it out before you buy.

Don

Just for reference, I did that and got a policy for $1M liability and a total of $50K protection for A/V equipment and other business assets. Yearly premium is $528.00. Got it through a local independent insurance agent.

- Martin