Film crew hire/Insurance
Insurance for a UK shoot. What cover you need, who asks for it, and how a shoot ends up uninsured.
Film production insurance in the UK comes in pieces. One is the law: employers’ liability. The rest is asked for by someone else: a council, a landowner, a rental house, a client. Here’s who asks for what, when you need more, and how shoots end up uninsured. It’s a guide, not advice: talk to an insurer or a specialist broker about the best route for your shoot before you buy. Figures checked October 2026.
Employers’ liability · legal minimum
£5m
Public liability · councils and film offices
Usually £5m
TfL · Network Rail · Film Edinburgh
£10m
No employers’ liability · HSE fine
Up to £2,500 a day
On this page
01 The short version
What a UK shoot needs insured
Four things to sort before the call sheet goes out.
01
Employers’ liability
The law in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, if anyone on the shoot counts as your employee. For freelancers, control decides it, not the contract.
02
Public liability
Not the law, but councils, landowners and venues ask to see it: usually £5m, sometimes £10m.
03
Kit
Your own, hired-in, or the rental house’s damage waiver. Houses want to see cover before kit goes out.
04
Anything unusual
Drones, stunts, vehicles, water, heights, children, filming abroad. Tell the insurer before the day.
Before you buy
Policies differ in what they cover, what they leave out and how they define something like a stunt. Talk to an insurer or a specialist broker about your shoot, and read the wording before the day.
02 The law
Employers’ liability: the one that’s law
If anyone working on your shoot counts as your employee, the law asks you to hold it, in Great Britain and, under its own rules, in Northern Ireland.
Great Britain
Under the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969, cover starts at £5m, and HSE notes that most insurers offer £10m or more. Going without can cost up to £2,500 for each day, and not displaying the certificate up to £1,000. It can be displayed electronically.
Northern Ireland
The 1969 Act doesn’t extend there. A 1972 Order does the same job, with the same £5m minimum, enforced by HSENI.
Old certificates
Keep them, HSE advises: some diseases caused by work appear decades later.
Who’s exempt
A family business employing only close relatives (not a limited company), and a company whose only employee owns half or more of it.
The freelancer question
Most UK camera, sound and lighting crew are freelance, and that’s where producers get caught. HSE says neither the label nor the tax status decides whether someone counts as your employee: the real relationship does, and how much control you have over the work. Not sure about your crew? Ask your insurer or broker how they see it.
How crew are paid, and HMRC’s list of roles it treats as self-employed: Film crew rates in the UK.
HSE’s signs
Signs they may count as your employee
- You deduct tax and National Insurance
- You decide where, when and how they work
- You supply the equipment
- They do the work themselves, with no right to send a substitute
HSE’s signs
Signs they may not
- They work for other people too
- They bring most of their own kit
- They run their own business
- They can send someone else in their place
Crew booked through us are covered: on a crew booking, the 2% buys employers’ liability for every crew member we book, up to £10m.
03 Who asks for what
Public liability: who asks for how much
No law says you need it to film. But councils, film offices, landowners and venues ask to see a certificate before they say yes, and the figure depends on who you ask.
| Who’s asking | Public liability | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| London streets (Film London) | Usually £2m; at least £5m in some areas | Breaking health and safety rules may invalidate a policy |
| London boroughs (Westminster, Lambeth) | £5m; £10m for big shoots, parks and event spaces | Lambeth issues no permit without proof |
| TfL | At least £10m | In the name of the company filming |
| Network Rail | £10m minimum | On its Small Scale Filming Agreement |
| Canary Wharf | £10m | A private estate, with its own permit |
| Canal & River Trust | £5m | Its safety adviser reviews your risk assessment |
| National Trust | No figure published | The same competency and insurance rules as its contractors |
| Screen Manchester | £5m; £10m for parks and event spaces | Stunts, effects and pyrotechnics need a full method statement |
| Production Central WM (Birmingham) | At least £5m | A risk assessment before a permit |
| Bristol Film Office | £5m | No policy in an individual’s name, sole traders aside |
| Cornwall Council | £5m | With a risk assessment, through FilmApp |
| Film Edinburgh | £10m | For all filming |
| National Trust for Scotland | £2m | |
| Cardiff Film Office | “Adequate” | Drones need a CAA certificate and drone insurance |
| Shopping centres (Manchester Arndale) | At least £5m | A method statement, risk assessment and signed agreement |
The producer of record holds it
The permit and the certificate go together, with the company on the application. On a crew hire that’s you; on a full production, it’s us.
Crew hire · Canary Wharf, London · October 2024
For Magnet Media, a New York agency, we crewed a three-camera podcast set on Level 48 of One Canada Square. It was a crew hire, so Magnet held the filming permit and its own insurance; we sent the vehicle details for the permit, a risk assessment and method statement, and hi-vis for the loading bay. The case study
04 Kit
Kit cover: owned, hired-in, or the house’s waiver
Rental houses want proof their kit is insured before it goes out: your own hired-in cover, or the house’s waiver. Read the terms. They decide what happens when kit goes missing from a van.
| Rental house | What it asks for | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| VMI | Insurance for hired-in kit on every hire | Its own damage waiver: kit up to £5,000, at 18% of the hire, UK only |
| ARRI Rental UK | Full replacement value, all risks; public liability of at least £1m | Theft covered with or without a forced entry; claims notified within 24 hours |
| Hireacamera | Cover on any hire over £5,000: its own, or yours for hired-in goods at full value | Its own cover excludes drones, with strict rules for vehicles |
| Slowmo | All-risks at full replacement value; liability with its interest noted | Up to six weeks of continuing hire charges after a loss |
Kit you own
On an equipment policy, or in a production package with your hired-in kit.
Kit you hire in
Covered at full value on your policy, or by the house’s waiver where there is one. Check the excess and the vehicle terms against what the house asks.
The crew’s own kit
When a DOP, sound recordist or gaffer brings theirs, agree whose policy covers it on your shoot.
Kit we hire in for you
On a crew booking, insured under the 2%. A large kit rental may need extra insurance, as its own line on the quote.
Wet and dry hire: Film equipment hire in the UK. Kit from abroad: importing film equipment into the UK.
05 Declare it
When you need more cover, or need to say so
Some things change the risk enough that an insurer wants to hear about them first, and policies typically leave them out unless they’re added. If any are on your shoot, tell your insurer or broker early.
Drones
Under CAA rules, any commercial flight needs third-party insurance as a minimum, and the pilot needs the right CAA authorisation. Bristol, for one, also wants £5m public liability, a risk assessment and a method statement. Drone operator hire
Stunts, fights and effects
HSE treats stunts, fights and fire as potentially hazardous, and expects a competent stunt performer, or for effects a competent effects person in charge of safety. What counts as a stunt
Weapons
Real or replica: a specialist armourer, and the police told in advance if a weapon could be seen or heard in public.
Vehicles
Car-to-car shots from a suitable tracking vehicle, with the police and the council told, says HSE. A camera car or picture car may need motor cover of its own.
Water
Diving for film comes under the Diving at Work Regulations 1997. On Cornwall’s beaches, Screen Cornwall says tell the lifeguards and the coastguard first.
Heights
Planned, supervised and done by competent people, says HSE: cherry pickers, rooftops, cliff paths.
Children
Under school-leaving age, a council performance licence and chaperone may be needed. Some policies leave out anyone 16 or under working for you.
Weather and key people
Tysers, for one, lists adverse weather cover for commercials, and producers’ indemnity for when someone essential can’t appear. Ask if your shoot depends on either.
Abroad
Check the territorial limits: some policies stop at the border, or count days abroad. A team flying in can confirm its own covers the UK, or contract with us, a UK company: how a UK production service company works.
06 Watch for
How a shoot ends up uninsured
A shoot can hold a policy and still be uninsured for what happens on the day. These are the gaps written into the law and the policy wordings.
Not telling the insurer
The Insurance Act 2015 asks a business for “a fair presentation of the risk”: every material circumstance it knows, or ought to know. Leave one out and, depending on what the insurer would have done, it can refuse claims and cancel (keeping the premium if it was deliberate or reckless), apply the terms it would have set, or pay only part of a claim.
An activity nobody added
Hazardous activities are typically excluded unless specifically arranged: Hiscox lists them as “otherwise excluded elements”.
Skipping health and safety
Film London warns it may invalidate a policy. Keep the risk assessment current, and do what it says.
Kit left in a van
The cover Hireacamera offers pays for theft from an unattended vehicle only from 6am to 9pm, from a locked boot, out of sight; a blanket over the kit doesn’t count. ARRI, the other way round, wants theft covered even without a forced entry.
The wrong motor cover
In Great Britain, the Road Traffic Act 1988 asks for cover “in relation to the use of the vehicle by that person”. Check the driver and the use: a crew member’s own car, a new driver on a hired van, a car rigged for camera.
Outside what you declared
Other dates, other places, a bigger team, a drone flown outside the terms. Protectivity’s policy, for one, excludes firms with more than five employees, and the US and Canada.
A certificate in the wrong name
TfL wants the policy in the filming company’s name, and Bristol won’t take one in an individual’s name, sole traders aside.
What counts as a stunt?
HSE describes a stunt as a competent person, such as a professional stunt performer or coordinator, simulating or coordinating a dangerous or apparently dangerous activity in a controlled way. Its list of hazardous activities adds fights, fire, vehicles and drones used for filming, and anything underwater or in a confined space. So the call sheet’s name for it doesn’t matter. A fall, a fight, a car driven in shot, a scene underwater: tell your insurer before the day, and ask how the policy defines a stunt, because the wording decides the claim.
UK stunt performers are graded on the register kept by the Joint Industry Stunt Committee (JISC): Probationary, Intermediate or Full. Only Full members may coordinate stunts. The JISC register
07 Production insurance
What a production package can include
Brokers sell production insurance as a package you build up: the liabilities, then the kit, the footage, and the cost of a shoot that can’t go ahead.
| Cover | What it’s for | Listed by |
|---|---|---|
| Employers’ liability | People working for you, hurt or made ill by the work | Tysers, Hiscox; worldwide for UK-based staff at Performance |
| Public liability | The public hurt, or property damaged, by the shoot | Tysers, Hiscox; £1m to £10m at Everywhen |
| Equipment | Owned and hired-in kit, all risks | Everywhen, Performance, Tysers |
| Producers’ indemnity | Extra or wasted costs if the shoot is interrupted, postponed or cancelled | Everywhen, Performance, Tysers |
| Negative and media | The footage itself | Everywhen, Performance, Tysers |
| Props, sets and wardrobe | What you build, buy or hire for the shot | Tysers; optional at Everywhen |
| Adverse weather | A day lost to the weather | Tysers |
| Errors and omissions | Claims over defamation, intellectual property or negligence | Everywhen, Tysers |
Some sell short-period cover for one production: Performance Film & Media’s runs for productions of 90 days or less. A broadcaster may set its own terms: Channel 4 says “All productions must be insured”, through its approved scheme with MIB or another broker whose cover matches.
08 Who to call
Insurers and brokers UK productions use
The specialist insurers and brokers UK productions commonly use, checked October 2026. A place to start, not a recommendation of one over another.
Broker
Tysers
A Lloyd’s broker with a production insurance team, now part of AUB Group. Our own cover is arranged through Tysers.
Broker
Media Insurance Brokers (MIB)
Broking for UK and Irish film and TV since 1990, part of Howden since July 2023. Channel 4’s approved scheme is with MIB.
Insurer
Hiscox
An insurer. Its production package is sold through MIB, and it sells liability cover to production companies direct, online.
Broker
Performance Film & Media
A broker from the Aston Lark group, now Howden, with short-period production cover.
Broker
Everywhen
Formerly Towergate. A film and TV package with owned and hired-in kit, producer’s indemnity and public liability up to £10m.
Online cover
Protectivity
Production insurance bought online, from a UK, FCA-regulated firm. Check its limits against your team and where you’re filming.
VMI’s insurance page suggests several of the same names to its customers. A broker who works with productions every week will ask about the drone, the water and the stunt before you think to mention them.
09 Ours
What our insurance covers on your shoot
One question decides it: who’s the producer of record? On a crew hire it’s you, and the shoot’s insurance is yours. On a full production it’s us.
Crew hire
You’re the producer of record
What our insurance covers
What the 2% insures: employers’ liability for every crew member we book, and the kit we hire in for you. Nothing else on the shoot. A large kit rental may need extra insurance, as its own line on the quote.
The certificate a location gets
Yours. The council, landowner or venue wants your public liability.
Permits
Yours to hold.
What it costs
10% booking fee + 2% insurance, on everything we book.
Full production
We’re the producer of record
What our insurance covers
What the 5% pays for: our production insurance across the whole shoot, £10m public liability included, and the contingency.
The certificate a location gets
Ours, on our production policy: £10m public liability.
Permits
We apply in our name, and the fees go in the budget.
What it costs
15% production fee + 5% insurance and contingency, on the production budget.
If your own producer or director will run the day, it’s crew hire. If you want us to take the production on, it’s a full production quote, and teams flying in need no UK company of their own: working with a UK production service company. On a crew hire, a production manager we book can gather the certificates, risk assessments and permit applications for you.
Tell us about the shoot.
Where, when, and anything out of the ordinary: drones, vehicles, water, heights. We’ll send the quote with every line on it, insurance included. Or call us on 07412 543822.
Quick contact form
10 Questions
Insurance for UK shoots: questions
Is production insurance a legal requirement in the UK?
One part is: employers’ liability, at £5m or more, if anyone on the shoot counts as your employee. That’s the 1969 Act in Great Britain and a 1972 Order in Northern Ireland. Motor insurance is the law on the road. Public liability isn’t, but councils, landowners and venues ask for it before they say yes.
How much public liability insurance do I need to film in the UK?
Most councils and film offices publish £5m, Westminster, Lambeth, Bristol, Cornwall, Screen Manchester and Production Central WM among them. TfL, Network Rail, Canary Wharf and Film Edinburgh ask for £10m. Checked October 2026; confirm with each before you apply.
Do I need employers’ liability if my crew are all freelancers?
Possibly. HSE says the real relationship decides it, not the label or the tax status. If you control how they work, supply the kit, and they can’t send a substitute, they may count as your employees. Ask your insurer how they see your crew. Crew booked through us are covered by our employers’ liability, up to £10m.
What counts as a stunt for insurance?
HSE describes a stunt as a competent performer or coordinator simulating or coordinating a dangerous, or apparently dangerous, activity in a controlled way, and lists fights, fire, vehicles and underwater work among hazardous activities. If one is on your shoot, tell your insurer first: hazardous activities are typically excluded unless arranged.
Do I need insurance to fly a drone on a shoot?
For commercial flying, yes: the CAA requires third-party insurance on any commercial flight. Landowners add their own asks, and some kit policies exclude drones, so check yours.
Is camera kit covered if it’s left in a van overnight?
Not always. Hireacamera’s hire cover, for one, pays for theft from an unattended vehicle only between 6am and 9pm, from a locked boot out of sight. Read your policy’s vehicle terms, or take the kit into the hotel.
Which insurers and brokers do UK productions use?
Productions commonly use Tysers, Media Insurance Brokers (MIB, part of Howden), Hiscox, Performance Film & Media, Aaduki, Everywhen (formerly Towergate) and, online, Protectivity.
What does the insurance on a crew booking cover?
Two things. Employers’ liability for every crew member we book, up to £10m, and insurance on the kit we hire in for you. That’s what the 2% pays for. A large kit rental may need extra insurance, as its own line on the quote. The 2% doesn’t insure the rest of the shoot: public liability, the location, your own kit and anything you book yourself stay with you, because you’re the producer of record. If you’d rather we were, it’s quoted as a full production, and our insurance covers the whole shoot, public liability included.
We’re filming in the UK from abroad. Does our insurance work here?
Ask your insurer whether the UK is inside its territorial limits, and check a UK council will accept the certificate. Or contract with us, a UK company, as the producer of record: our production insurance covers the shoot, £10m public liability included.
Around the crew
More for UK shoots
01
Crew rates
Day rates for every role, the APA/Bectu card, overtime and turnaround, and what goes on the quote.
03
Kit and equipment hire
Rental houses across the UK, wet hire and dry hire, and the crew’s own kit.
04
Locations and permits
Film offices and councils, landowners, railways, drones and roads, nation by nation.
05
Travel, hotels and vans
Travel days and mileage, vans and licences, clean air zones, trains and hotels.
