Five common risks freelance photographers face and how to protect against them

Many will consider the possibility of equipment theft or damage, but there are many less obvious risks. From legal issues to loss of photos, freelance photographers can face numerous obstacles that require careful consideration and proactive measures.

In this article, Rob Rees, Divisional Director here at Markel Direct, shares five common risks that freelance photographers face and tips on how you can protect against them.

1. Damaged or stolen equipment

Having access to the right equipment is essential for any photographer. If this vital equipment were to be damaged or worse, stolen, the disruption to your business operations would likely be significant.

From missed deadlines to cancelled shoots and strained client relationships, the financial losses for freelance photographers – not to mention the cost of replacing the equipment itself – can be substantial.

2. Client disputes

Client disputes are not unique to photography, but due to the subjective nature of photographic styles, disagreements with clients over image composition or quality of work can happen, sometimes resulting in legal disputes.

Disputes are not only time consuming, distracting you from your day job, but can quickly become expensive if you need a solicitor to help defend your case.

3. Intellectual property theft

Photographers face a serious risk of intellectual property theft. The internet makes downloading and using photos without permission easy, and once they’re out there it’s hard to stop the distribution of these images and reclaim them.  

This could mean losing income from licensing fees or royalties that the photographer would have earned if the images were used legally. Moreover, the images could be used inappropriately or linked to unauthorised content, which can harm the photographer's professional image and credibility. This could impact the photographer’s ability to get contracts in the future.

4. Legal liability

When a photographer is working out on location or at a client's premises and someone is injured, or their property is damaged during the photoshoot, the photographer may be held responsible.

For example, a guest could trip over equipment during a wedding shoot, or you might accidentally damage a venue’s expensive flooring with a tripod. No matter the cause, if a third party sustains injuries, or damage occurs while working, you could be left paying pricey compensation claims.

Similarly, photographers that own or rent a studio are equally at risk. For instance, compensation claims could be brought against the photographer for everything from visitors tripping over cables to slipping on a wet floor. With many photoshoot spaces being full of kit, it’s the type of environment where accidents can occur.

5. Loss of photos

At some point in your career as a freelance photographer, it’s likely that you’ll experience data loss due to equipment breaking or it being accidentally deleted. In certain cases, such as for studio photoshoots, this can be resolved fairly easily by asking clients to come back.

However, the real problem arises when it’s a one-off event, such as a wedding. If the shots are corrupted or are deleted by accident from a memory card, a photographer could easily find themselves sued for substantial damages by their client.

The cost of re-creating a wedding day – including hire of the venue, flowers, and travel for guests – can run into many thousands of pounds.

How can freelance photographers protect themselves from these risks?

1. Consider arranging photographers insurance

With so many risks, it can be difficult to work out which insurance is best for you and what exactly each type of insurance covers. The key types of insurance to consider are public liability insurance, professional indemnity insurance and portable equipment insurance.

Public liability insurance can protect photography businesses against claims for slips, trips and falls, as well as damage caused to someone else’s property. It covers legal costs in defending a claim, and any compensation or costs that may subsequently be awarded, following injury caused to third parties (such as wedding guests) or damage caused to third-party property (like hired premises).

Professional indemnity insurance can protect photographers against claims of negligent services. It covers your legal costs in defending a claim, and any compensation or costs that may subsequently be awarded, following an allegation of professional negligence – such as failing to deliver photographs to a required standard.

Portable equipment insurance can protect against the cost of repairing or replacing your photography kit in the event of accidental damage or theft. The cost of replacing a quality lens alone can be significant, so arranging portable equipment cover can help protect your business if something unexpected happens.

2. Have contracts in place

It is important before starting work with anyone that a comprehensive contract for services is drawn up which explicitly outlines terms of service, payment terms, usage rights of the photographs, and dispute resolution mechanisms for each project. This should be signed by the hiring party before work commences. This will provide a layer of protection for the freelance photographer which may be needed should anything go wrong.

If a photographer is unsure what to include in a contract, then it may be worth seeking legal advice to ensure that every eventuality is included.

At Markel Direct, we provide our photographer insurance policyholders with access to the Markel Business Hub, which contains a wide range of legal document templates – including a contract for services – as well as access to a 24-hour legal advice helpline for any legal queries they may have relating to their business.

3. Securing and backing up data

Establish backup processes for photographs that include both physical and cloud-based solutions, to protect against accidental deletion, hardware failure or corruption. Investing in a RAID (redundant array of independent disks) system can help you have backups across multiple drives, minimising the risks in the event the original file is deleted.

It’s also important to secure confidential client data, such as personally identifiable information. This can be done by password protecting or encrypting any sensitive data files and limiting employee access to such files (if your business employs people).

4. Protect your intellectual property

Sharing work online is necessary for most photographers, especially those starting out, to gain exposure and attract new potential clients/jobs. Yet doing so comes with risks, such as the potential for others to copy and claim your work as their own.

To protect your creative work as a freelance photographer, here are some measures you should consider taking:

• Copyright information: Embed unique copyright details into the metadata of online images to establish ownership, as well as establishing usage rules.

• Watermarks: Apply watermarks to photographs to safeguard content. These watermarks cannot be removed until the owner decides to remove them.

• Selective image display: Only display lower-resolution versions online for a client to view and reserve high-quality photographs for once the client has paid.

• Image tracking services: Consider subscribing to an online service that monitors usage of your assets across the web and notifies you of where they have been found.

For more information about insurance options as a freelance photographer, visit our photographer insurance page here.