The production’s policy covers the production. It does not cover you.

General liability

Third-party bodily injury and property damage — the line nearly every contract names by default.

Without it — Every production will require it named before you are allowed on the lot or the location.

Workers compensation

Required in almost every state the moment you have employees. Priced on payroll and class code, which is why the class code is worth arguing about.

Without it — Your crew are your employees on somebody else’s set, and the production will ask for the certificate.

Commercial auto

Vehicles the business owns and the people who drive them for work.

Without it — Vehicles moving between locations with equipment, people or food aboard.

Inland marine & equipment

Tools, equipment and property in transit. It picks up exactly where commercial property stops, which is the moment the item leaves the building.

Without it — Your own tools and gear travel to every job and live in vehicles between them.

Third party property damage

Damage to property in your care while you are shooting on it — the location itself, and the fixtures in it. General liability excludes property in your care, custody and control, which is precisely what a location is.

Without it — Damage to the location, the stage or the production’s own property while you are working on it.

Professional liability

Covers the advice, the drawing, the diagnosis — the work itself, rather than someone getting hurt on your premises.

Without it — Where you are engaged for expertise — safety, medical, tutoring, specialist rigging — the advice is the service.

Umbrella & excess liability

Extra limit stacked above general liability, auto and employers liability. Usually the cheapest million dollars on the policy.

Without it — Studio and network vendor agreements specify limits above primary as a condition of engagement.

Business owners policy

General liability and property packaged together. Cheaper than buying them separately when you qualify, and most small businesses do.

Without it — A packaged policy fits most vendors of this size, provided the classification matches the work.

The production says we are covered under their policy. Are we?

Almost never, and it is worth checking rather than accepting. A production package covers the production entity, its crew and its own property. As a vendor you are a separate business with your own employees and your own liability, and the vendor agreement you signed almost certainly requires you to carry your own cover and to name them as additional insured. "You are on our policy" is usually somebody being helpful about the wrong question.

What limits do studios ask vendors for?

Commonly a million per occurrence in general liability with the studio and the production named, statutory workers compensation, auto liability where vehicles are involved, and an umbrella that starts around five million on major lot work. Larger studios publish their vendor insurance requirements as a document — send it to us rather than paraphrasing it, because the additional insured wording and the primary and non-contributory requirement are the parts that catch people.

We only work a few days a year on set. Does that change anything?

It changes the price rather than the requirement. The production still cannot let you on site without the certificate, and the limits they specify do not scale down for a short engagement. What it does mean is that an annual policy is usually still the right answer — arranging cover per engagement costs more in time and money than it saves.