Production insurance in Hong Kong: what is required

The three sources of "required"

Statutory liability: the parts tied to employment relationships and public safety, which do not go away because a production is small.
Entry conditions: venue owners, landlords, government departments or equipment rental houses treat a policy as a precondition for letting you in or releasing equipment.
Contract terms: clients, funders or co-production partners specify in the contract which insurance you must hold, and whether they need to be named as an insured party.

In practice, write out the requirements from each of the three sources separately, then pass them to your insurance broker. What the broker can find for you depends on how specifically you describe the requirements.

Six common types of insurance

Comprehensive equipment insurance

Covers cameras, lenses, lighting, sound, monitors and other equipment against damage, theft and loss while rented or in use. This is the policy equipment rental houses ask for most often: without it, most will not release equipment. Check that the equipment description on the policy matches the rental list. Owned and rented equipment sometimes have to be listed separately, and some policies have extra conditions for equipment left in an unattended vehicle.

Public liability insurance

Covers bodily injury or property damage that filming causes to third parties: a passer-by trips over a lighting stand, equipment scratches a shopping-centre floor, a vehicle hits a shop sign. This is the policy venue owners and government departments check most often. The required cover depends on the venue owner and department, and varies widely between locations. Check with your insurance broker and the venue owner before you buy, and do not simply reuse the policy from your last project.

Personal cover for cast and crew

This usually has two layers: statutory cover linked to the employment relationship, and separate accident cover for participants who are not employees. In Hong Kong, employers are legally required to take out employees' compensation insurance for their employees. The common difficulty on a production is defining the employment relationship: whether freelancers, daily-rate temporary staff, friends helping out for free and extras count as employees is not decided by what everyone calls them. Confirm this with an insurance broker or legal professional, and do not rely on industry habit.

The Labour Department's A Guide to Employees' Compensation Insurance states that, under section 40 of the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282), all employers must take out employees' compensation insurance, irrespective of the length of the employment contract or working hours, full-time or part-time, permanent or temporary employment.

Cross-border filming insurance

If the schedule includes places outside Hong Kong, a local policy may not extend there automatically. At the very least, check: whether the territorial scope covers the destination, whether equipment is covered in transit across the border, whether the destination has its own compulsory insurance requirements, medical and repatriation arrangements for crew there, and how liability is divided when you hire local equipment or crew. Allow extra time to negotiate this, because it often involves more than one policy.

Production package insurance

A product that combines several covers into one policy. Common cover includes damage to negative or footage, sets and props, third-party property, extra expense, and losses from a shutdown when a principal cast member or the director is unable to work. Larger projects, or those with outside investors, usually take this route, because investors look at the overall risk.

Errors and omissions insurance (E&O)

Covers legal risks arising from the content itself: claims over copyright, trademarks, likeness rights, defamation, privacy and similar. It has nothing to do with shoot day and everything to do with distribution: streaming platforms, broadcasters and some festivals may require it when they formally acquire a work. Short films and independent productions may manage without it at the start; if the work is meant for commercial release or a platform, ask your broker early about how and when to arrange it.

Who will ask to see your policy

Who	Cover they usually care about	Common additional requirements
Equipment rental houses	Comprehensive equipment insurance	The policy must list the rented equipment and rental period; sometimes the rental house must be named as an insured party
Venue owners and landlords	Public liability	A specified amount of cover, the landlord or management company named as an additional insured, and a period of cover running from arrival to clear-out
Government departments	Public liability and personal cover	Submitted with the application form; requirements as published by the department
Clients and advertising agencies	Public liability, personal cover, sometimes production package insurance	Written into the production contract, with a copy of the policy required
Distributors and platforms	Errors and omissions insurance	Tied to delivery terms; usually raised only at post-production or delivery

What to prepare before buying cover

How quickly a broker can quote depends almost entirely on whether you have these ready:

Nature and length of the production: drama, commercial, documentary, online content, plus the final use and distribution channels.
The full shooting dates, including set dressing, set-up, strike and clear-out days, and more than just the first shoot day.
The location list: indoors or outdoors, whether public spaces are involved, and whether there is any cross-border travel.
Headcount on site: separate figures for crew, cast, extras and drivers.
The equipment list: owned and rented items listed separately, with approximate values and rental periods.
High-risk items: naked flames, smoke, water work, working at height, moving-vehicle shots, drones, animals, children, stunts and prop firearms. These are usually exclusions or need extra cover, and leaving them out means the policy fails exactly when you need it most.
The exact wording of any insurance requirements already in your contracts, and the names, correctly written, of anyone who must be named as an insured party.

The policy details that most often go wrong

The policy period does not cover set-up and strike days. Most accidents happen during moving, set-up and strike, so the period of cover should run all the way from arrival to clear-out.
The insured name is wrong. If you insure as an individual but sign the location contract as a company, a claim may be disputed. The name must match the contract.
No additional insured added. If a venue owner asks to be named, they must actually be added to the policy; a verbal promise does not count.
Ignoring the excess. You may have to bear small losses entirely yourself, and this should be reflected in the contingency line of your budget.
Not reading the exclusions one by one. High-risk activities, specific locations, night work and specific equipment may all be excluded.
Treating the policy as a substitute for safety measures. Insurance deals with losses; the on-set safety arrangements still have to be made.

The last point is about process: policies are usually not issued on the same day, and venue owners and departments want to see the policy before giving the go-ahead, so start arranging insurance at the same time as your filming applications. Put "insured" and "approved" side by side on the production schedule, and you are less likely to miss either one.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to buy insurance for a short film?

It depends where the requirement comes from: the law, the venue owner or a contract. If you employ staff, the Labour Department states that under section 40 of the Employees' Compensation Ordinance all employers must take out employees' compensation insurance. Venue owners and equipment rental houses also often treat a policy as a condition of entry or of releasing equipment.

What insurance do equipment rental houses usually ask for?

Comprehensive equipment insurance. The policy must list the rented equipment and rental period, and sometimes the rental house must be named as an insured party.

From which day should the period of cover start?

It should run all the way from arrival to clear-out, including set dressing, set-up, strike and clear-out days, because most accidents happen during moving, set-up and strike.

References

Labour Department, A Guide to Employees' Compensation Insurance (April 2017 edition, PDF): www.labour.gov.hk/eng/public/ecd/geci.pdf

The pages above were accessed on 31 October 2026.

Published May 2026. Last updated: 31 October 2026.

This note is general production reference and does not constitute legal or insurance advice. Government application procedures, processing times, cover amounts and insurance requirements may change at any time; follow the latest announcements from the relevant departments and insurers. For the specific scope of cover, exclusions and how statutory liability applies, consult a licensed insurance broker or legal professional.