Do you need insurance to hire camera kit in London? Your own cover vs our Damage Waiver: the £350 excess, kit up to £30,000, what is and isn't covered.
Every camera hire raises the same question before the kit leaves the counter: who pays if something gets damaged, lost or stolen? At Yellow Cactus in Stoke Newington, N16, you have two ways to cover the kit: your own equipment insurance, or our Damage Waiver. This guide explains how each works, what the £350 excess means, what isn't covered, and how to choose.
It's a plain-English summary, not a replacement for the paperwork. Our Terms and Conditions of Hire and the Damage Waiver terms are what actually apply, so please read them before you rely on either option.
Kit on hire needs to be covered, and the order value decides what you need (clauses 7.1 to 7.3 of our terms):
Order value here means the full value of the kit on your order, not the hire charge. A camera that costs a few hundred pounds a day to hire can be worth tens of thousands to replace.
Many production companies and freelancers already carry hired-in equipment cover as part of a production or annual policy. If you use your own insurance, it needs to run for the whole hire period and cover the full replacement value of the kit, including theft, loss, accidental and malicious damage, transit, hired-in equipment and public liability. Where they apply, it also needs to cover unattended vehicle risk, overseas use, cross-hired kit, continuing hire charges and employer's liability. The full list is in clause 7.4 of our terms.
We'll ask for proof, usually the policy schedule or certificate showing the insurer, limits, territory and excess, and confirmation that hired-in equipment is covered. Send it with your order so we can approve it before collection day.
Remember that insurance doesn't limit what you owe us. Your policy excess, anything your insurer refuses, and any shortfall between what they pay and what's due are still yours (clause 7.6).
No insurance, or a one-off shoot that doesn't justify a policy? The Damage Waiver is an optional product you can buy instead. If we accept it and you keep to its conditions, we agree not to charge you for accidental loss of, or accidental damage to, the covered kit during the cover period, apart from the excess.
The key facts:
Hires above £30,000 or longer than 28 days need your own insurance.
For each incident, you pay the first £350 of the cost of repair or replacement. We cover the rest, as long as the waiver conditions were met.
The amounts above are only examples to show how the excess works. Real repair costs depend on the item and the damage.
The full list is in clause 7.16 of our terms. The ones that catch people out:
The waiver only applies if, for the whole cover period, you:
In our experience at Yellow Cactus, the biggest risks to kit in London right now are on-street theft, where kit is snatched while a crew is shooting or moving it in public, and scam rentals, where fraudsters use stolen or fake IDs to hire kit and never bring it back. Theft from vehicles still happens too. On location, keep the kit within reach and someone watching it, especially while you load or unload, and never leave cases on the pavement.
Scam rentals are also why new accounts register with a passport or driving licence, proof of address and trade references, and why our terms let us run identity and anti-fraud checks before kit is released (clause 17).
If something goes wrong, tell us straight away (within 24 hours at the latest), report any theft or malicious damage to the police, return everything that's left, and don't try to repair the kit or settle anything with anyone else without our written consent.
The waiver's cover period has to run for the whole time the kit is with you, from collection until it's back with us, and each day of cover is a 24-hour period, or part of one. That isn't the same as hire days. For a weekend shoot collected on Friday after 4pm and returned on Monday by 11am, you're charged one hire day, but the kit is out for about 67 hours, so you need three days of cover. Our weekend camera hire guide explains the hire-day side.
Buying a waiver doesn't approve your account or booking. Those are confirmed separately by our bookings team.
Questions about cover for a particular job? Call 020 7898 3322 or email rentals@weareyellowcactus.com before you book, and we'll talk you through it. For everything else about hiring, see how camera hire works in London.
For orders with a kit value of £3,500 or more, you need insurance we're happy with, or a Damage Waiver we've accepted, before the kit is released. Below £3,500 you can provide insurance, accept full personal liability, or buy the Damage Waiver. We can ask for insurance on any hire.
£350 per incident. You pay the first £350 of the repair or replacement cost of each incident, and costs of £350 or less are yours in full.
No. It's our promise under our Terms and Conditions of Hire not to charge you for accidental loss or damage above the excess, as long as its conditions are met. No insurer is involved, and it doesn't include public or employer's liability.
It depends on the declared kit value and the days of cover, plus VAT. Our terms give two examples: £5,000 of kit for 1 day is £30.00 including VAT, and £30,000 of kit for 7 days is £284.40 including VAT. The checkout shows the exact price.
Orders where the full replacement value of all the kit is between £500 and £30,000, for a cover period of 28 days or fewer. Above that, you need your own insurance.
Not if the vehicle was unattended, including a taxi or rideshare, unless the kit was with a licensed, insured courier. Theft must also be reported to the police.