renting equipment and insurance

Rick Shepardson · July 14, 2008

Greetings,

I'm going to be dealing with equipment rental and insurance for the first time.

The equipment in question is a ziess 11mm-110mm variable lens. I am probably going through Cine Photo Tech in Atlanta, Ga.

Of course, the company requires that I have insurance.

As I look up different companies and their rates, I'm realizing that there alot of research must be done to find the best insurance program for my needs.

What questions should I ask of the company I'm going through and what concerns and problems should I be aware of?

This production has a very tight budget-so any money saving tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Rick Shepardson

Bruce Taylor · July 14, 2008

Greetings,
I'm going to be dealing with equipment rental and insurance for the first time.

Yep, they are going to require insurance. First question-- are you a student? Because if you are, schools often have insurance that students can use. That can save you a TON of money. If not...

If you only need coverage for the specific lens you are renting, you might take a look at photo.net:

http://photo.net/learn/insurance

If you join, you can buy insurance. I just had a guy that used it at Indi35.com. It's like $175 to join, and then you can buy their insurance. The deal is, you have to put the specific gear on the policy as though you owned it and were insuring it for the year, then they will issue a certificate of insurance which is what the rental company needs. It also includes liability coverage and you can put all your personal gear on it, so it is a sweet deal. It is way cheaper than typical production insurance if you don't need all the benefits of a regular production policy (like worker's comp, vehicle liability, etc.) - it will probably run you $400-500, but that is for the year, not just a few days.

For typical production insurance check out: http://www.filmemporium.com/insurance.html

It's probably going to cost 700-900 for one to 12 days of coverage, including production liability, etc.

If you are an ongoing concern, you might take a look at http://www.insurancewest.com/ they specialize in insurance for the entertainment industry.

The rental house may have some suggestions too, so you should ask them. Some places will accept a credit card deposit, depending on the equipement value.

Good luck!

Bruce