Best Photography Business Insurance

NEXT earned our top spot for photography business insurance with a MoneyGeek score of 4.82 out of 5. It combines competitive rates with quality customer service and comprehensive coverage options photographers need. We also recommend comparing quotes from The Hartford and Simply Business to find the best fit for your photography studio.

Note: We based all scores on a photography business with two employees across professional liability, general liability, workers' comp and BOP policies.

NEXT offers photography business insurance at the most affordable rate of $27 monthly or $329 annually. It ranks cheapest for general liability, workers' compensation and business owner's policy coverage. For professional liability insurance, The Hartford provides more affordable rates at $57 monthly for photography studios.

NEXT offers the cheapest general liability insurance for photographers at just $13 monthly or $159 annually. That's $11 less than the $24 monthly industry average, saving photography studios 46% on essential liability coverage that protects your business from client injuries and property damage claims.

NEXT ranks as the most affordable workers' compensation option for photography business owners at $16 monthly or $192 annually, compared to the $17 monthly industry average. The Hartford, Thimble, Progressive Commercial and Simply Business also provide competitive rates for photographers with employees.

Professional photographers pay $57 monthly or $689 annually for the cheapest professional liability insurance through The Hartford, which comes in $7 below the $64 monthly industry average. NEXT follows closely at $59 monthly, giving photography studios two strong budget-friendly options for errors and omissions coverage.

At $20 monthly or $243 annually, NEXT provides the most affordable BOP insurance for photography businesses, running $12 below the $32 monthly industry average. That saves photography studios $142 yearly while covering equipment, client injuries and business property damage.

Photography business insurance costs depend on which coverage you need. These are the average rates for the four most popular policy types:

• General Liability: $24 on average per month, ranging from $21 to $28, depending on the state
• Workers' Comp: $17 on average per month, ranging from $15 to $20, depending on the state
• Professional Liability (E&O): $64 on average per month, ranging from $55 to $74, depending on the state
• BOP Insurance: $32 on average per month, ranging from $28 to $37, depending on the state

The required coverage for photographers varies by state, but workers' compensation is mandatory in most states when you hire employees, and commercial auto insurance is required for business-owned vehicles. Beyond legal requirements, general liability insurance is essential for professional photographers since wedding venues, event spaces and corporate clients routinely require proof of coverage before allowing you to work on their property.

• Workers' Compensation Insurance: Protects your photography studio when employees suffer work-related injuries like twisted ankles during outdoor shoots or back strain from loading equipment. Most states require this coverage if you have employees, with limits covering medical bills and partial lost wages.
• Commercial Auto Insurance: Covers accidents when transporting cameras and gear to wedding venues or client locations. Required in most states for business-owned vehicles, recommended limits include $1 million in liability coverage to protect against injury and property damage claims.
• General Liability Insurance: Protects photographers when clients trip over tripods at wedding receptions or lighting equipment damages venue property during shoots. Wedding venues and event spaces commonly require $1 million to $2 million in coverage before granting access, making this essential for securing bookings.
• Equipment Coverage: Covers stolen cameras from vehicle break-ins, water-damaged lenses during outdoor shoots, and broken gear from accidental drops. Professional photographers carry $5,000 to $30,000 in coverage depending on their equipment value, protecting gear anywhere you work.
• Professional Liability Insurance (Errors and Omissions): Covers photographers when memory cards fail and wedding photos are lost, equipment malfunctions prevent delivering promised shots or clients sue over missed family portraits. Coverage limits of $1 million protect against claims that your work caused financial losses.
• Business Owner's Policy (BOP): Combines general liability and commercial property insurance at a discount, covering both client injuries and studio damage from fires or burst pipes. Photography studios with physical locations benefit from bundled coverage that protects both liability risks and business property in one policy.
• Cyber Liability Insurance: Protects photography businesses when client data gets breached from hacked websites or stolen laptops containing wedding photos and personal information. Coverage limits of $25,000 to $1 million help pay for credit monitoring services, legal fees and notification costs after cyber attacks.

Follow our guide on how to get business insurance to protect your photography business affordably.

Photography business insurance protects your studio from equipment theft, client injuries and delivery failures. NEXT offers the best coverage for photographers with a 4.82 MoneyGeek score, combining competitive rates starting at $27 monthly with quality service. General liability, equipment and professional liability coverage safeguard your photography services against common risks.

We answer frequently asked questions about photography business insurance:

We selected the best business insurer for photographers based on the following criteria:

• Affordability (50% of score): The lower a company's costs compared to the competition based on our base profile for four core coverage types, the better the company performs.
• Customer service (30% of score): We scored providers on overall customer satisfaction using industry studies, customer review forum ratings and public forum sentiment analysis from sites like Reddit.
• Coverage (15% of score): We scored business insurance providers for this category based on the flexibility, payment and actual coverage options.
• Financial stability (5% of score): Using financial stability industry ratings from companies like AM Best and Moody's, we created an overall rating to judge how likely companies are to pay out claims compared to the competition.

All pricing in this article is based on the following base profile to represent the vast majority of small businesses in all states:

• Three-person business with two employees
• Coverage: $1 million per occurrence and $2 million total per year for all but BOP, which includes the same coverage plus $5,000 of business property coverage
• $150,000 in payroll
• $300,000 annual revenue