Location Shoot Insurance Requirements: Understanding Additional Insured Coverage for Your Production

When planning a location shoot for your film, video, or photography project, insurance requirements can feel overwhelming—especially when property owners and municipalities demand to be named as "additional insureds" on your policy. Whether you're a small production company filming a commercial or an independent filmmaker shooting a documentary, understanding these insurance requirements is critical to securing locations and protecting your business.

What Is Additional Insured Coverage?

An additional insured is a person or organization who enjoys the benefits of being insured under an insurance policy, in addition to whoever originally purchased the insurance policy.

In the context of location shoots, this typically means the property owner, venue manager, or municipal authority where you're filming wants protection under your liability insurance if something goes wrong during production [1].

Additional insured coverage most often applies where the original named insured needs to provide insurance coverage to additional parties so that they enjoy protection from a new risk that arises out of the original named insured's conduct or operations, and an additional insured often gains this status by means of an endorsement added to the policy.

Think of it this way: when you film at a private residence, public park, or commercial building, your crew and equipment create potential risks for the property owner. If a crew member accidentally damages the property or a visitor trips over your cables and gets injured, the property owner could face a lawsuit. By adding them as an additional insured, your insurance policy extends coverage to protect them from claims arising from your production activities [1].

Why Location Owners Require Additional Insured Status

Clearing a location involves investigating and confirming the availability of the location, the fees to be paid to a location owner or agent, obtaining a certificate of insurance, and obtaining any needed film permits, which may involve fees.

Property owners and venue managers have learned to protect themselves by requiring production companies to carry adequate insurance and name them as additional insureds [2].

Venues that require this type of insurance may even request that the venue itself or its owner be added as an additional insured on their client's event liability insurance coverage, and some venues require their clients to have a minimum amount of event liability insurance.

Location owners face several risks when allowing filming on their property: [3]

Property damage from equipment, vehicles, or construction of temporary sets
Liability claims from injuries to cast, crew, or the public
Business interruption if filming disrupts normal operations
Reputation damage if incidents occur during production

By requiring additional insured status, property owners ensure they have direct access to your insurance coverage without having to pursue you first in a claim scenario.

Standard Insurance Requirements for Location Shoots

The process of applying for filming permits may include fees and often requires production insurance.

While requirements vary by location and project scope, most property owners and municipalities require production companies to carry commercial general liability (CGL) insurance with specific minimum coverage limits [4] [5].

Typical Coverage Requirements

Most location agreements require:

General Liability Insurance: This is your primary coverage for bodily injury and property damage claims.

CGL covers many of the common risks that can happen to any type of business, such as bodily injury or property damage on the business premises or due to the business operations, personal and advertising injury, and medical payments.

Common minimum coverage limits include: [6]

$1 million per occurrence
$2 million general aggregate
$1 million products/completed operations aggregate

Some high-value locations or larger productions may require $2 million per occurrence or even higher limits. Understanding general liability insurance for film productions is essential before you begin location scouting.

Workers' Compensation Insurance: If you have employees or crew members, most states require workers' compensation coverage. This protects your workers if they're injured on the job and protects you from employee lawsuits. Learn more about workers' comp requirements for your production business.

Auto Liability Insurance:

Commercial auto insurance policies typically have higher liability limits, for example $1 million, and may have provisions that cover rented and other non-owned vehicles, including employees' cars driven for company business.

If your production involves vehicles, you'll need appropriate commercial auto coverage [7].

Additional Insured vs. Certificate of Insurance: Understanding the Difference

Many small business owners confuse additional insured endorsements with certificates of insurance, but they serve different purposes. A certificate of insurance (COI) is simply proof that you have insurance—it's a document showing your coverage types, limits, and policy dates. It doesn't extend your coverage to anyone else.

An additional insured endorsement actually modifies your insurance policy to extend coverage to another party.

An endorsement, also known as a rider, adds, deletes, excludes or changes insurance coverage, and an insurance endorsement/rider is an amendment to an existing insurance contract that changes the terms of the original policy.

When a property owner asks to be named as an additional insured, you'll need to: [8]

Request an additional insured endorsement from your insurance carrier
Provide the exact legal name and address of the party to be added
Specify the project or time period for the coverage
Obtain a certificate of insurance showing the additional insured status

For a detailed explanation of these differences, read our guide on additional insured vs. certificate of insurance.

Film and Photo Location Permit Insurance Requirements

Every city and state has some sort of council or office that handles filming permits, obtaining film permits is part of the process of location scouting and they are usually the responsibility of the location manager, and permits are issued prior to the shooting with details about location, date, time, equipment, personnel, special effects, actions and stunts.

Municipal filming permits often come with their own insurance requirements, which typically include: [5]

Naming the city or municipality as additional insured on your general liability policy
Minimum coverage limits ranging from $1 million to $5 million depending on the jurisdiction
Proof of workers' compensation insurance if you have employees
Auto liability coverage for production vehicles
Terrorism coverage in some major cities

Professional quality movie cameras are usually rented as needed, and most camera houses do not allow rentals of their equipment without proof of insurance.

Equipment rental companies will also require proof of insurance and may ask to be named as additional insureds or loss payees on your policy [9] [10].

Our comprehensive guide to film and photo location permit insurance requirements provides jurisdiction-specific information to help you navigate these requirements.

How to Add Additional Insureds to Your Policy

Adding additional insureds to your production insurance policy is typically straightforward, but it requires advance planning:

Step 1: Identify Requirements Early

Review location agreements and permit applications as soon as possible to identify insurance requirements. Don't wait until the week before your shoot—some endorsements take time to process.

Step 2: Contact Your Insurance Agent or Broker

Provide your agent with:

The legal name and address of each additional insured
The specific location(s) and dates of filming
Any special requirements from the location agreement
The scope of coverage required (primary vs. excess)

Step 3: Request the Endorsement

The cost of adding an additional insured to a property or liability insurance policy is generally low, as compared to the costs of the original premium, and the underwriting departments of insurance companies often view the additional risk associated with additional insureds as marginal.

Most insurers charge a nominal fee or include a certain number of additional insured endorsements in your policy at no extra cost [1].

Step 4: Obtain and Distribute Certificates

Once the endorsement is processed, request certificates of insurance showing the additional insured status. Provide these to location owners and permit offices before your shoot date.