This post is for my entertainment industry friends. Its LONG, but - TopicsExpress



          

This post is for my entertainment industry friends. Its LONG, but it deals with production insurance, and has info people need to know based on recent posts, complaints, and questions Ive had. Production insurance. Any production company HAS to have production insurance with equipment coverage. No major rental house will give them gear without that. BUT, just because the production has insurance does NOT mean that YOUR GEAR is covered. You HAVE to have an insurance certificate issued with YOUR NAME and a description of your gear they are using on the certificate. If you do NOT have a certificate, YOUR GEAR IS NOT COVERED. If the gear isnt listed, IT is NOT COVERED. Just because someone SAYS youre covered, YOURE NOT. 1) Make sure YOU have a certificate! Without a certificate YOU HAVE NOTHING. 2) Make sure EVERYTHING youre bringing or using on the show is listed! IF it isnt listed, it isnt covered. So Youve got a certificate, youre good right? NO. Just because you have a certificate, that still doesnt mean youre covered either. Why? Because sometimes unscrupulous producers will take a BLANK certificate, fill it out with your info, so it LOOKS like you are covered, but in fact, the insurance company knows nothing about it. This practice is somewhat rampant on smaller budget shows, but Ive heard of it happening with larger shows as well. 3) The insurance certificate MUST come DIRECTLY from the insurance broker, either via fax, (so theres a stamp) or via email, (better). This also prevents the BROKER from pulling any BS later as well. On my first film, we had some equipment go missing. When we filed the claim, the broker claimed we didnt have coverage, and that someone must have taken blank certificates and filled them out. I asked, is that really your story? He said, thats what we believe I replied, so then how do you explain the 17 certificates I have that have your fax stamp on them clearly showing they were issued and faxed directly from your office? They immediately paid the claim. Ok, so you have certs, they list your gear, and theyve come directly from the broker. Youre covered, right? Nope. Not entirely. Theres.... The DEDUCTIBLE. If theres a claim, PRODUCTION is supposed to cover whatever the deductible is first, PER CLAIM. So if you have a $5,000 camera that goes missing, but theres a $2000 deductible, then the insurance will only cover $3000. Production is responsible for the first $2000. Ever try to get production on a smaller budget show to pay the deductible? GOOD LUCK. If theres multiple claims, depending on the coverage, its quite possible that EACH claim would require that first deductible amount be paid out. Good luck ever seeing that. So how do you cover yourself for that? 4) Require a DEPOSIT equal to the deductible amount. Many larger rental companies do this. When the gear is returned, (or at the end of the show) the deposit is refunded, or simply applied to amount owed on the total bill. If theres a claim, they dont have to chase production for that money. Now some productions might claim they cant cover deposits for everyone. Remind them that at the end of the show, the deposit can be applied to the monies owed anyway, so theyre not out anything they wouldnt normally be. Also, your concern isnt what they do with everyone, its what they do with YOUR coverage. If others dont want to protect themselves, thats their choice. YOU should be covered. Hope this helps, and keeps some of my friends from losing their gear, their livlihood, and their asses if things go wrong.
Posted on: Mon, 18 Nov 2013 17:07:46 +0000

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