You launched your photography business with blood, sweat, and tears, and your clients have nothing but great things to say about you. However, professional liability insurance, aka Failure to Deliver or Errors and Omissions (E&O), can be your extra safety net when you make mistakes or omissions.
For example, you photograph a wedding at a cathedral and capture the newlyweds’ alter kiss. But when you arrive home to edit the photos, you realize you were using a faulty memory card — and don’t have any wedding photos.
Or, you established a clear deadline to turn in your photos of the school fair in your contract. Unfortunately, a family emergency came up, causing you to delay your deadline.
Professional liability insurance can protect you from paying out of pocket for costly claims and legal fees because your errors or omissions stopped you from delivering high-quality photos to your customers.
Definition of Professional Liability Insurance for Photographers (E&O, or “Failure to Deliver”)
Professional liability insurance defends you from unhappy customers who claim you didn’t deliver them your best work because of errors, omissions, or negligence made on your end.
Kyle Jude, Full Frame Insurance (FFI) underwriter and insurance expert, stressed the significance of having this coverage while working full-time in the photography industry.
“Photographs capture a moment in time, and if something happens to those photos before you can deliver them to the customer, you could be liable. Professional liability, or failure to deliver coverage, covers you if something happens to the images or videos you take and cannot deliver.”
What Types of Errors and Omissions Does Photographer Liability Insurance Cover?
You may think drawing up a contract for you and your client to sign is enough protection for mistakes and omissions. In actuality, it’s not. Your client can misinterpret your contract.
For example, they think you’re giving them a specific package, but the contract says they’re getting a different package. Or you plan to deliver your photos on a particular date, but it’s different from the date you mention in your agreement. Clients can sue you for a contract breach.
Here are some other examples of errors and omissions that this plan covers.
Examples of Photographer Errors It Can Cover
Here are some examples of photographer errors professional liability can cover:
- Missed moments: You’re photographing a child’s birthday party, and all the photos you took of them blowing out the candles are blurry.
- Editing or retouching mistakes: A couple has specific editing or retouching instructions for their child’s portrait. You had a ton of photos to edit and retouch on a deadline and forgot to follow the special instructions, leaving you with unsatisfied clients.
- Intellectual property infringement: You use copyrighted backgrounds, props, or other materials in your work, and the original owner sues you for infringement of their intellectual property.
Examples of Photographer Omissions It Can Cover
Here are some examples of omissions this insurance can cover:
- Failed to get permissions: You’re doing a commercial shoot for an ad but fail to get all the model release forms signed. One model sues you because they didn’t sign off on you using their likeness in your photos for advertisements.
- Failure to meet your contract requirements: You have a model session in your studio, and your contract agreed on seven poses. But you only had the model do five poses, and you’re sued for breach of contract.
- Failure to verify working equipment: You forgot to check your camera gear and equipment before a shoot. When you arrive, your camera stops working because you didn’t charge the battery and forgot to pack a spare. You have to reschedule the shoot, and your client is dissatisfied because they were on a tight deadline.
Common Photography Risks Professional Liability Insurance Doesn’t Cover
Professional liability insurance alone can’t protect you from all the things that can go wrong for you and your business. Protect yourself and your career more fully by understanding how professional liability works in tandem with other coverages we offer.
Our base annual policy includes general liability insurance for third-party injury and property damage claims, along with four other types of coverage:
- Products-completed operations for damages that occur after you’ve completed providing services (but because of your work) and for defective product claims
- Personal and advertising injury can respond to claims of defamation, libel and slander, invasion of privacy, false arrest, copyright infringement, and more
- Damage to premises rented (aka fire legal liability insurance) is additional coverage for property to a space that you rent
- Medical expense limit is designed to cover minor third-party medical costs, regardless of fault
You might have noticed that covering your camera and business gear hasn’t been mentioned yet! There are two optional coverages you can add to any annual policy to increase protection for your business and equipment:
- Camera equipment (aka Inland Marine) insurance offers extra protection for your gear if damaged, lost, or stolen during a photoshoot or while en route to a session — there are five coverage tiers to choose from with FFI
- Cyber liability (aka Data Breach) insurance can defend you from the consequences of data breaches, ransomware, and other cybercriminal activities
You can also save by bundling — our Annual+ plan includes the general liability protections mentioned above as well as the base tier of camera equipment insurance.
Questions Real Photographers Have About Liability Insurance
What Is Professional Liability Insurance for Photographers?
Professional liability insurance, aka Errors and Omissions and Failure to Deliver, is insurance coverage that protects photographers and videographers from claims and lawsuits of not delivering high-quality work to clients due to errors, omissions, or negligence.
How Much Does Liability Insurance Cost for a Photographer?
Professional liability insurance only costs a photographer roughly $8 a month or $100 a year — which beats paying thousands for a claim or lawsuit.
Do Photographers (Really) Need Errors and Omissions Insurance?
You took the time and effort to build it from the ground up and named it your own. Don’t let it crumble from hefty legal, settlement, or claim fees. Legal fees alone can drain your bottom line.
Get errors and omissions insurance to protect you from any mistakes or obstacles that keep you from delivering your best work to your clients and cement your reputation as a high-quality photographer.
Does My Professional Liability Insurance Cover My Camera?
No — professional liability insurance does not cover your camera and other equipment. However, you can protect your camera and other tools with camera equipment insurance.
