What insurance do I need for a film permit?
General liability naming the permitting authority as an additional insured, at a limit the authority sets. $1,000,000 per occurrence is the common floor, and some jurisdictions want $2,000,000. New York additionally requires the policy to be occurrence-based and on a form at least as broad as ISO CG 00 01, and the certificate has to be filed before the permit application rather than with it.
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The detail
New York City’s Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment requires commercial general liability of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence in the name of the entity requesting the permit, with the City of New York named as an additional insured.
New York City requires the policy to be occurrence-based rather than claims-made, on a form at least as broad as ISO form CG 00 01.
New York City requires the certificate of insurance to be submitted to the Film Office at least 48 hours before the permit application can be submitted.
Georgia has no single statewide film permitting authority; permits are issued by individual cities and counties, each setting its own insurance requirement.
The City of Atlanta requires a minimum of $1,000,000 in general liability coverage for filming on public property, and Cherokee County requires not less than $1,000,000 per occurrence naming the county.
The City of Port Wentworth, Georgia requires general liability coverage of not less than $2,000,000 naming the city as an additional insured, twice the limit required by neighboring jurisdictions.
What this means for you
- Check the form, not just the limit. A claims-made policy at $1,000,000 satisfies the number and fails New York’s requirement outright, and that is not something a certificate makes obvious.
- Build the lead time in. New York wants the certificate filed 48 hours before the application, so a same-week location change is a scheduling problem before it is an insurance one.
- In Georgia, ask which jurisdiction issues the permit before assuming a limit. Neighboring cities differ by a factor of two, and the certificate names the specific authority: a certificate naming the wrong city is not a certificate.
- Every one of these wants the authority named as an additional insured, which is an endorsement on the policy rather than a line typed onto the certificate.
- Where you shoot in several jurisdictions on one production, the practical answer is a policy written to the highest requirement and certificates issued per location, which is why being able to issue your own is worth more than the premium difference.
Related questions
- Why does New York care whether my policy is occurrence-based?
Because a claims-made policy only responds while it is still in force, and a permit office is trying to make sure coverage exists for an incident on their streets years after the production has wrapped and the policy has lapsed. An occurrence policy answers for what happened during the period whenever the claim arrives. It is a reasonable requirement and it catches out productions that bought the cheapest available form.
- Is there one Georgia film permit?
No, and this surprises productions coming from California or New York. The Georgia Film Office administers the state’s incentive program; it does not issue location permits. Those come from the city or county you are shooting in, each with its own application, its own limit and its own name to be added to the certificate. Atlanta and Cherokee County sit at $1,000,000; Port Wentworth requires $2,000,000.
- Can I issue certificates myself for each location?
With us, yes. The portal exists for that, and on a production moving between locations it decides whether you shoot on Monday. A production that has to email a broker and wait is a production whose schedule is set by office hours.
- What about the other things a permit needs?
Workers compensation is generally expected once you have a crew, and auto liability where production vehicles are involved. Some jurisdictions add requirements for street closures, stunts, pyrotechnics, drones or minors, each of which may need to be disclosed on the policy rather than merely on the permit. Tell us the shoot rather than the location list and we will tell you what will be asked for.
Need this handled?
Reading about it and having it handled are different jobs, and the second one is ours. We place the accounts other brokers decline — claims history, a cancellation, an unusual operation, a business nobody wants to underwrite twice — and we will tell you when the policy you already have is the right one. Tell us the situation and a licensed human replies the same business day.
Written by the licensed brokers at Boring Insurance. Last updated 2026-08-18. See all guides.