Liability
- Damage to third parties
- Employers' liability
- Care, custody and control as an extension
Liability for photographers
A photographer works briefly in other people's spaces, with tripods, lights and cables in places where visitors walk, and that is where liability begins.
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The calculator and the quote form below are in Dutch. Prefer to do this in English? Email info@finassverzekert.nl or call 072 - 509 24 56 and we will take it from there.
Work out for yourself what it would cost.
Enter your details; you will receive a proposal within one working day.
- We compare the offerings of several insurers
- An adviser checks whether the cover suits your activities
- We arrange the switch, including cancellation
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
- Independent advice
- Several insurers
- Switching arranged
- Help with claims
In brief
The loss pattern in photography is physical and small in scale, but expensive to put right: a studio flash toppling into a mirror or a mural, a cable across a walkway that a guest trips over, a tripod leg on a parquet floor. Liability for that runs through Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code and falls under public and employers' liability insurance, provided you declared your use of your own lighting and the locations where you work when you applied.
There is also a category of claims in this profession that is not property damage and therefore falls outside the AVB. If you publish a recognisable person without consent, or process images in a way that does not comply with the GDPR, the loss is purely financial: correction, removal, compensation. The same applies if the shots of a one-off event turn out to be unusable. Those are professional errors, for which you need separate professional indemnity cover.
Your own cameras, lenses and lights are not covered by either policy. For those you need an equipment or plant policy, with a separate arrangement for use away from home, transport in the car and storage in a hotel or a hired studio.
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What does liability insurance for photographers cover?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
Assets and continuity
Business contents, goods and lost turnover during downtime.
- Business contents at replacement value as new
- Goods at cost price
- Business interruption or additional costs
Staff
Sickness absence, accidents and the traffic risk.
- Continued pay for 104 weeks
- Group personal accident
- WEGAS for traffic risks
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV | Cyber |
|---|---|---|---|
| Injury to a visitor or customer | Yes | No | No |
| Damage to a client's property | Sometimes | No | No |
| Financial loss caused by an advisory or calculation error | No | Yes | No |
| Downtime after a ransomware attack | No | No | Yes |
| Data breach involving personal data | No | Sometimes | Yes |
| Damage to property in your care | No | No | No |
This overview is general in nature and is not personal advice. What is actually covered, including exclusions, limits and the excess, is set out in the policy conditions and the insurance card (verzekeringskaart) of the insurer; you receive both before you take out cover. Taking out cover without advice? Then read what execution only means for you.
What does your premium depend on?
- Type of assignments. Studio portraits, weddings, events, industry or construction sites each produce a different risk profile.
- Working at third-party sites. The more often you work in other people's premises with your own lighting, the more heavily that weighs.
- Care, custody and control limit. The amount for damage to hired studios, borrowed equipment and items supplied to you.
- Publication and image rights. Commercial use of recognisable people calls for a professional indemnity element.
- Use of drones. Aerial photography is a separate section with its own requirements as to qualifications and registration.
- Turnover and use of others. Annual turnover and the engagement of second photographers or assistants form the rating basis.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
How we arrange it
- You request a quoteWe take stock of your activities, turnover and wishes.
- We compareseveral insurers, on premium as well as conditions.
- You receive a proposalWith an explanation of the differences and the exclusions.
- We arrange the switchIncluding cancellation, so there is no gap in cover.
Why arrange it through Finass Verzekert?
We look at the terms as well as the premium, and stay your point of contact when there is a claim.
Independent
We are not tied to one insurer and compare on the basis of an objective analysis of several companies.
One fixed adviser
You call or email someone who knows your file. No menu options, no changing call centres.
Switching without hassle
We cancel your old policy and align the start date, so you are never a day without cover.
Help with claims
We report the claim and monitor how it is handled. In urgent cases you can reach us on the emergency line.
9.5New policy
9.8Claims handling
Customers rate our service on four aspects: personal service, service delivery, availability and the outcome. The reviews are collected and published by NH1816 and come from customers who have actually taken out a policy with Finass Advies B.V. or reported a claim.
Where things go wrong in practice
Four points that make the difference between a policy that pays out and one that does not.
What you hire or borrow falls under care, custody and control
A hired studio, a borrowed lens, a piece of set or a garment from a stylist is in your care during the assignment. Damage to it is, on a standard AVB, excluded; only an extension for care, custody and control picks that up. When setting the limit, do not look at what you bring yourself, but at the most expensive location you will be working in this year: a listed building or a museum room with artworks on the walls.
Image rights and the GDPR are not property damage
Commercial use of a recognisable portrait requires consent; work with a model release and keep it with the image file, not loose in a folder. At events, record how you inform visitors. A claim about this is pure financial loss and falls outside the AVB. Administrative fines from the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (the Dutch data protection authority) are, moreover, not insurable on any policy; they always remain for your own account.
Lost shots of a one-off event
A corrupted card or a stolen bag after a wedding does not produce damaged property, but a service that can no longer be delivered. The AVB does not cover that. So work with dual card slots or immediate back-up, and limit your liability in your terms and conditions to the fee for the assignment. Without such a clause and without professional indemnity cover, the claim is unlimited and entirely for your account.
Drone shots fall outside your ordinary policy
Flying a drone is a separate risk with its own rules: registration, a flying licence for the relevant category and permission for the location. Public and employers' liability insurance usually excludes aircraft from. Ask for express drone liability cover and state at what height and over which areas you work. If you fly without the required qualification there is no cover, even where drone cover has been included.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Is my own equipment covered by liability insurance?
No. Liability insurance covers damage you cause to others, not damage to your own belongings. You insure cameras, lenses, tripods and lighting under a separate equipment policy. Pay attention to the provisions on theft from a vehicle: many policies restrict that during the day and exclude it entirely at night, even if the equipment was in the boot.
A guest trips over my cable. Who pays for that?
You do, if you laid the cable without covering or marking it. That is unlawful conduct within the meaning of Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code. Injury claims fall under the AVB and can run high where the injury is permanent. Cover cables, use tape or mats, and photograph your set-up. If you work with an assistant, you are liable for their mistakes under Article 6:170 DCC.
Does the AVB cover a claim about image rights or copyright?
No. Public and employers' liability insurance covers property damage and injury. A claim about publication without consent, about using someone else's image or about a GDPR breach is pure financial loss. For that you need professional indemnity cover; see professional indemnity for self-employed professionals. Regulatory fines remain outside the cover even then.
What does a client usually require of a photographer?
For corporate and government assignments, public and employers' liability insurance with a minimum sum insured per claim is almost always required, plus a statement that you work with your own lighting on their site. For industrial locations, safety requirements are added, such as valid VCA certification and a work permit. Ask in advance which policy schedule they want to receive.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
- Compare personal liability insurance (AVP)The main page
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Request a quote without obligation. We will look at which insurer best matches your activities and your risk.
Prefer to call? 072 - 509 24 56, weekdays 09:00–17:00.
Claim on the road? Emergency line 06 - 55 20 40 72.
About our service
Finass Verzekert is a trading name of Finass Advies B.V. We advise on and arrange non-life insurance on the basis of an objective analysis of several insurers, and receive commission for this from the insurer, which is included in the premium. You pay no separate advice fee. Before you take out cover, we establish your wishes and needs.
You will find our licence, KvK and Kifid details and our complaints procedure at the foot of every page.
This page was compiled by Finass Verzekert. Last updated on .
The information on this page is general in nature and is not personal advice.