Moderators Janice Arthur Posted February 22, 2016 Moderators Report Share Posted February 22, 2016 Hi all; I'm shopping for a new provider. Current company needs and "audit" date ahead of finish of tax return date and it's a royal pain to have the audit date before the finish of taxes completed (march 15). Sounds silly but it's a pain in the butt to fend off their relentless queries to get this info when it doesn't exist yet. I'm trying to restart my current policy w a new start date to change these issues but I wonder if it will be successful ?? So I'm open to new companies. Janice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Benjamin Verhulst Posted February 23, 2016 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 I don't mean to hi-jack your thread Janice, but has anyone ever had to use their operator liability insurance? I pay for lots of different kinds of insurance in my life and I understand the rational for operator liability, but I have trouble imagining a scenario in which the company hiring you wouldn't be the liable party as long as you're an employee. I've also never heard of anyone who has had to collect on it. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Janice Arthur Posted February 23, 2016 Author Moderators Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 Benjamin I wonder every time I pay for it!! This is one of those you don't even admit you have to anyone on a job because you never want your insurance in sight of anyone who might want to blame you. No one sues the homeless man, people sue whomever has assets. Remember in a loss situation people sue everyone and let the courts decide. This is a necessary evil as you gain assets over your life, to protect you and your assets. An insurance company can also invoke their name and lawyers to help you too as a further barrier to your life's assets. So yes you may just be an employee but today's world we are classified in many ways depending on the job and your liability exposure can change day to day. $500 a year may seem like a lot but it's actually cheap. Lastly in some random phone call you "produce" some tiny shoot because you call a friend and shoot some shots and suddenly you're the point man for all the details to make a little extra money, now suddenly your assets are in jeopardy just because you wanted to do what you know. I don't know the level of coverage of a liability policy but now capturing the likeness of people on the street and businesses behind them and about 10 other things that never had value before now have owners making demands that I can't pay for or understand. I have also looked at liability on personal life and it's complexities in a new way lately. So this may be way over kill, I have no idea how much is right amount but it seems like a good/necessary thing. Remember never admit you have it to a production. Productions today find out you do and they'll figure out a way to push yours ahead of theres whenever they can. It's called differing risk. Janice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Janice Arthur Posted February 23, 2016 Author Moderators Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 Benjamin I'll hijack my own thread again. It was also said when I started to never use your liability policy because no company will "sell" you another policy afterward. I don't know it's true. One idiot guy who was trying to do a production with an old rock star years ago proudly announced "they let me provide the insurance." This guy had no idea what he had done. My insurances life home business etc and there are at least a dozen in any number of ways make up about 25-35% of my income. That's more than food, mortgage and other essentials so when you think about it no wonder we have to charge what we do. Now a production company's overhead is not so crazy to justify. Personally as the world gets more and more complex I think the levels of insurance on each segment of our lives will increase and I'm pro-insurance. Insurance works and has tremendous value to us. Janice 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Rich Cottrell Posted February 23, 2016 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 I also hate that stupid Audit... I always never do it untl I get the dreaded "third and final notice" on pink paper. In the end, I always end up just putting down the previous years tax return info. I guess I am always below whatever magic number they are looking for to increase my coverage so my guess is the dreaded annual Audit is more for bigger companies with bigger cashflows then silly old me. rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Benjamin Verhulst Posted February 23, 2016 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 Thanks Janice - that's a good rationale. Also, a good reason to have Umbrella Insurance in your life! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Kevin Andrews SOC Posted March 4, 2016 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 They call wrap, you back out in your car and run over the main talent, that's when you'll need your own insurance. Otherwise get that COI for the working hours. General and Gear, every time. Or no fly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Walter F. Rodriguez Posted March 4, 2016 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 They call wrap, you back out in your car and run over the main talent, that's when you'll need your own insurance. Otherwise get that COI for the working hours. General and Gear, every time. Or no fly.Wouldn't your car insurance cover that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Benjamin Verhulst Posted March 4, 2016 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 Yes, always get the COI and check the limits. On a side note - my renter's insurance with USAA provides me with liability. I can raise it to $1 mil per incident and it would only cost me around $95/year. I called to check it out and it covers me anywhere, including when I'm working under someone else's employment. Much cheaper than a special camera operator's liability policy and more universal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Kevin Andrews SOC Posted March 6, 2016 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 6, 2016 Won't be enough when it involves hitting a meat bag. Another car is one thing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Benjamin Verhulst Posted March 6, 2016 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 6, 2016 Kevin - you carry more than $1 million liability? Unless it's drone work, almost every commercial policy I've ever seen has been $1 mil per incident. Occasionally you'll see $2 mil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Alan Rencher Posted March 7, 2016 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 Yes, always get the COI and check the limits. On a side note - my renter's insurance with USAA provides me with liability. I can raise it to $1 mil per incident and it would only cost me around $95/year. I called to check it out and it covers me anywhere, including when I'm working under someone else's employment. Much cheaper than a special camera operator's liability policy and more universal. I also have USAA renter's insurance. They specifically don't cover any professional equipment, equipment used for business, or rental equipment on any of their plans. You should double and triple check that you are covered for your professional gear with USAA renter's insurance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.