For what reasons and how often is a photographer sued?

[robbins.photo]

Why do most photographers get sued? For asking silly questions on the internet of course. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to call my lawyer.. lol.

Seriously though, as Robin mentioned don't run a business without insurance. Just don't do it. Also as someone else mentioned people today are very quick to threaten law suits at the drop of a hat, but in truth very few actually wind up going through with it. Small claims court is a hassle and a real lawsuit with actual lawyers is an expensive proposition indeed, in general it will usualy cost you more to sue someone that what you could possibly recoup in damages. So real lawsuits are actually not as common as you might think.

However you never know when your going to run into one and it is completely foolish not to have insurance to cover such an event should it occur. Just my 2 cents worth of course.

 

[petrochemist]

I remember hearing of a case in the UK some years back, where someone sued their neighbour, for failing to practice his longbow on Sundays. (Apparently the law requiring freemen of England to do this was never repealed.)
The story has it that the defendant was found guilty and fined a shilling (5p), but was awarded costs.

Seems to me this is the way these frivolous cases should be handled. Coffee is meant to be hot, and people should take reasonable care in where they're going/what they're doing.

If a Photographer is incapable of producing reasonable photos for a client then they are failing in their contract. With reasonable care & preparation this should be a very unusual situation, but I hear of many cases where it's just incompetence. If they client is paying well under the going rate than that's all they should expect.

 

[skieur]

you can sue almost over anything in America. The problem isn't always about if you lose in court either. IT is the expense of fighting the court case.

You don't seem to understand law suits in Canada or the US which are very similar. If you win, the judge determines whether you recover court costs or not. If you have to pay costs it is all relative in the sense of paying $500,000 to your lawyer is worthwhile if you gain over $1,000,000 in the settlement of the lawsuit. If you are on the defense you should be countersuing, which could lead to an out-of-court settlement.

 

[The_Traveler]

There is a thread going on now titled, "best baby of 2014" that gives you an idea of how photographers set themselves up to be sued.

 

[bribrius]

you can sue almost over anything in America. The problem isn't always about if you lose in court either. IT is the expense of fighting the court case.

You don't seem to understand law suits in Canada or the US which are very similar. If you win, the judge determines whether you recover court costs or not. If you have to pay costs it is all relative in the sense of paying $500,000 to your lawyer is worthwhile if you gain over $1,000,000 in the settlement of the lawsuit. If you are on the defense you should be countersuing, which could lead to an out-of-court settlement.

or maybe you don't. I have a judgment now from someone that I won the case with. Been trying to collect for seven years. They haven't paid a dime. summons them back to court. They don't show up. They move, hire someone to go find them. ive hired THREE collections agencies tracking these and trying to collect. Find out where they are, file another court hearing. They don't show up again. Eventually they end up on a warrant for no show. But that still is separate from my money. Two different things. And you have to know where they are, to summons them and serve them anything. Each time I have them summonsed, I have to pay for it. so my tally on what this costs goes higher, and higher, and higher.
dude. you have no freakn clue what I know. And this isn't a small amount of money they are on criminal edges here not small claims.
A court can award whatever they want. collecting any of it is a different matter.
Thanks for depressing me though. I WANT MY MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lets just say, if assets are transferred or hidden. And the people in question arent easily found. Good luck collecting.

That is people that owe me money.

re-edit: here is one for you.

come to think of it.......

I know another guy right now who has a judgement against him up near a million dollars from a decade ago. He hasn't paid. He goes to court he just basically says he doesn't have any money. so much for that judgement. I think he has been picked up a couple times and held for court overnight. But they just let him go again. And say he spends ten nights in jail in his life over this pick up and let go. on a million dollars he is making a 100k a night to sleep. And no one even thinks he will every pay it they expect him not to. Most people couldn't.

 

[skieur]

I am not sure how you got into your situations. Professional photography involves a contract, a deposit, and payments before the event. Credit card info. as part of the deposit can also be a requirement of your contract. So, even in a non-final payment situation, there should not be a large loss.

In a car accident, the insurance company pays the claim, so you do not have to go after the individual.

Liability is also part of house insurance, which covers another area of potential law suits, so the insurance company pays those claims as well.

I can't say that I have ever got into situations with any individual who has no money, no assets, and no job.

 

[Steve5D]

So, even in a non-final payment situation, there should not be a large loss.

And all the credit card owner has to do is file a dispute. Credit card companies side with their card holders far more often than they do merchants...

 

[skieur]

So, even in a non-final payment situation, there should not be a large loss.

And all the credit card owner has to do is file a dispute. Credit card companies side with their card holders far more often than they do merchants...

I would tend to think that a signed contract is hard to dispute.

 

[Designer]

I am looking into insurance now,

Does your insurance policy cover being sued?

 

[skieur]

I am looking into insurance now,

Does your insurance policy cover being sued?

Your house insurance policy covers liability (law suits) up to whatever your coverage is related to reading the terms carefully.

Car insurance covers up to whatever your comprehensive, liability, personal injury coverage is related to accidents, etc.

 

[bribrius]

I am not sure how you got into your situations. Professional photography involves a contract, a deposit, and payments before the event. Credit card info. as part of the deposit can also be a requirement of your contract. So, even in a non-final payment situation, there should not be a large loss.

In a car accident, the insurance company pays the claim, so you do not have to go after the individual.

Liability is also part of house insurance, which covers another area of potential law suits, so the insurance company pays those claims as well.

I can't say that I have ever got into situations with any individual who has no money, no assets, and no job.

I had a contract. Lmao.
Im not quite sure you are comprehending this or maybe you "know it" but haven't really actually been to court lots of times actually dealing with this type of thing.
I had a car accident with someone without insurance before too. They were found at fault. my insurance paid for my vehicle and tried to get the money out of the party who was found at fault. Insurance company put them on a redialer for like six months calling their house. I don't think they ever did get it think they wrote it off. I had to pay my deductible for a grand. so it still cost me a grand. And I didn't even do anything.

 

[skieur]

I was once threatened with a libel suit by a boss who did not understand the law. I knew that I could successfully countersue him without a lawyer, so I told him to go ahead. When I pointed out some of his "legal problems" in attempting a law suit against me, he backed off.

 

[skieur]

I am not sure how you got into your situations. Professional photography involves a contract, a deposit, and payments before the event. Credit card info. as part of the deposit can also be a requirement of your contract. So, even in a non-final payment situation, there should not be a large loss.

In a car accident, the insurance company pays the claim, so you do not have to go after the individual.

Liability is also part of house insurance, which covers another area of potential law suits, so the insurance company pays those claims as well.

I can't say that I have ever got into situations with any individual who has no money, no assets, and no job.

I had a contract. Lmao.
Im not quite sure you are comprehending this or maybe you "know it" but haven't really actually been to court lots of times actually dealing with this type of thing.
I had a car accident with someone without insurance before too. They were found at fault. my insurance paid for my vehicle and tried to get the money out of the party who was found at fault. Insurance company put them on a redialer for like six months calling their house. I don't think they ever did get it think they wrote it off. I had to pay my deductible for a grand. so it still cost me a grand. And I didn't even do anything.

If you had a contract, you should have been largely paid up front, before you started your photo gig. If not, you need to redo your contract.

In car accidents, auto insurance is legally required in some areas, or there is another fund for claims of un-insured or under-insured drivers. In any event, you insurance company SHOULD have been paying the deductible when the other driver was at fault. You pay the deductible ONLY when you are at fault. (I did some temporary work as an insurance underwriter at one point)

Moreover any potentially permanent injury and that includes an extremely broad area from hitting your head to potential future arthritis can lead to "apparently substantial" but appropriate settlements.


You need a new insurance company and/or a good lawyer.

 

[Designer]

I once worked for a designer who sued a craftsman. I accurately predicted he would lose. He also attempted physical coercion to make me lie under oath on his behalf. I refused. He lost. He fired me.

 

[bribrius]

I am not sure how you got into your situations. Professional photography involves a contract, a deposit, and payments before the event. Credit card info. as part of the deposit can also be a requirement of your contract. So, even in a non-final payment situation, there should not be a large loss.

In a car accident, the insurance company pays the claim, so you do not have to go after the individual.

Liability is also part of house insurance, which covers another area of potential law suits, so the insurance company pays those claims as well.

I can't say that I have ever got into situations with any individual who has no money, no assets, and no job.

I had a contract. Lmao.
Im not quite sure you are comprehending this or maybe you "know it" but haven't really actually been to court lots of times actually dealing with this type of thing.
I had a car accident with someone without insurance before too. They were found at fault. my insurance paid for my vehicle and tried to get the money out of the party who was found at fault. Insurance company put them on a redialer for like six months calling their house. I don't think they ever did get it think they wrote it off. I had to pay my deductible for a grand. so it still cost me a grand. And I didn't even do anything.

If you had a contract, you should have been largely paid up front, before you started your photo gig. If not, you need to redo your contract.

In car accidents, auto insurance is legally required in some areas, or there is another fund for claims of un-insured or under-insured drivers. In any event, you insurance company SHOULD have been paying the deductible when the other driver was at fault. You pay the deductible ONLY when you are at fault. (I did some temporary work as an insurance underwriter at one point)

Moreover any potentially permanent injury and that includes an extremely broad area from hitting your head to potential future arthritis can lead to "apparently substantial" but appropriate settlements.


You need a new insurance company and/or a good lawyer.

I have a lawyer. I don't call him unless it is in the thousands because that is what he will charge me anyway. He is great though. My last one was better but died of a heart attack trying to bike ride and get his fat butt in shape (god bless his soul). And I love my insurance company. I have under insured/uninsured full coverage (comp/collision) for 1 million commercial rider on auto. The deductible is a grand. The max is a million. I back over a kid in a walmart and someone sues me for over a million, well I guess I probably should get umbrella insurance too. Anything up to a grand I pay. just how it is. im not sure where you are getting your info. my collision coverage is a grand deductible. uninsured a grand deductible. im supposed to pay a grand. im not sure where you get your info