When did you dive in and get insurance?

[Adam G]

I am currently shooting for my portfolio and not making anything from photography, and I am shooting locations that are public property but I would like to use private party locations-I know I would need some type of insurance to cover myself, some places even require it. When did you make the jump? Should I go ahead and get it for the legal side even though I am not a pro yet? Will an insurance company even look at me since I don't have an established photography business? Advice appreciated!

[Adam G]

No takers on this one?

If you are not in business, then I would check with my homeowner's insurance company to find out if you are covered. Once you start accepting money, you are in business and will most likely need to get a different policy, along with all the other stuff that changes once you are "in business."

[alamoshutterbug]

I don't want to confuse anyone here, but as I was making the transition from hobbyist to professional (still making it) I went in to talk to my state farm agent and asked what should be done to make the switch from the personal articles policy over to a commercial policy. He thought for a second then looked up the rules for the personal articles policy. The red book stated that you can use the personal articles policy for business, as long as it is not your primary source of income. So his advice was to not make more from photography than my other job until I am ready to switch. Like I said, I don't want to confuse anyone, just relay my experience. That said, I still thought it an awfully gray area to be stuck in, so I will be going with a Marsh policy this month. Better safe than sorry.

[Shelby Lane]

I made sure I was insured from the start of the business. Even in "public locations" if you're working as a photographer and someone gets hurt, you may have to deal with insurance issues about it. If my client trips on a tree root at the city park and breaks her arm during my session, it doesn't matter that we were in a public place if for whatever reason her insurance company decides that since I was doing business, my insurance needs to cover it. I'd rather let my agent fight that battle, LOL.

[HotHolly]

With business stuff, you're either in it or not. You cant be on the fence. Especially when it comes to liability. If you want to be a pro, take care of your legal stuff and insurance and jump in. There's no middle ground.

[Shelby Lane]

And, after rereading what you wrote, if you're building a professional portfolio, even if you're not taking money yet, I'd talk to my agent about a liability policy... even if you were doing this as charity work and not making a dime, it's still something you'd want to have. Holly is right: you can't ride the fence on being in business.

[Adam G]

Thanks everyone, I guess I really knew the answer from the start, I just wanted to have someone to lean to justify spending the cash. lol

[Gateruner]

I will give you my simple answer to this simple question. We got and errors and omissions policy about 2 months after we booked our first wedding before we did the couple e-shoot. So we set up the actual business side of things and then 2 months later got the O&E policy. About 4 months after that we broke down and insured the gear and then about 1 year after starting everything up we bought a general liability policy. We should have bought the gen liab much sooner though.