What is Hired and Non-Owned Auto for Film Shoots?
What Is Hired and Non-Owned Auto
for Film Shoots?
One of the more commonly misunderstood coverages in film production insurance is Hired and Non-Owned Auto coverage. A lot of production companies assume:
“If nobody owns the vehicle, we’re fine.”
But production operations regularly involve:
Rental vans
Transpo vans
Grip trucks
Personal vehicles used by crew
Last-minute vehicle rentals
Producers or PA’s running errands during shoots
That creates a very real liability exposure for productions, even when the production company does not technically own the vehicle itself.
What Is Hired and Non-Owned Auto Coverage?
Hired and Non-Owned Auto coverage is generally designed to help protect a business against liability claims involving vehicles the business does not own directly. In production terms, this commonly applies to:
Rental vehicles used for productions
Crew members using personal vehicles for production work
Temporary production transportation
Production errands during shoots
This coverage is typically focused on liability exposure, not physical damage to the vehicle itself.
Commercial Auto Insurance for Production Companies
What Is the Difference Between “Hired” and “Non-Owned”?
Hired Auto
“Hired Auto” generally refers to vehicles rented, leased, or borrowed by the production company. Examples may include:
Rental cargo vans
Passenger vans
Production vehicle rentals
Cube/grip truck rentals
Non-Owned Auto
“Non-Owned Auto” generally refers to vehicles the production company does not own but that are being used for production business purposes. This commonly involves:
Crew vehicles
Producer vehicles
Personal vehicles used during shoots
Assistants running production errands
A production company can still face liability exposure even when the vehicle belongs personally to the driver.
Why Productions Often Need This Coverage
Film productions move fast. Vehicles are constantly being used to:
Move gear between locations
Transport crew
Pick up rentals
Run production errands
Travel between sets and hotels
Many productions rely heavily on rented or personal vehicles without realizing the production company itself can still become involved in a liability claim. That is where hired and non-owned auto coverage often becomes important.
Common On-Set Vehicle Liability Scenarios
A PA causing an accident while picking up production supplies
A rented cargo van damaging another vehicle
A crew member causing an accident while traveling between production sites
A production-related vehicle claim involving third-party injuries
Even when the production company does not own the vehicle, the production itself may still be named in a lawsuit.
Does Personal Auto Insurance Cover Production Work?
Sometimes. Sometimes not fully.
One of the more common misconceptions in production is assuming personal auto insurance automatically extends cleanly into business or production-related vehicle use. Coverage can vary significantly depending on:
Vehicle usage
Frequency of business use
Commercial exposure
Vehicle type
Carrier language
This is especially important for productions regularly using personal vehicles during shoots.
What Hired and Non-Owned Auto Usually Does NOT Cover
Hired and Non-Owned Auto coverage is typically liability-focused. It often does NOT cover:
Damage to rented vehicles themselves
Production equipment inside the vehicle
Physical damage to crew vehicles
Inland Marine/equipment exposure
Those exposures are often addressed separately through:
Commercial Auto policies with physical damage and comprehensive coverage
Damage Waivers
Inland Marine coverage
Equipment coverage
Questions To Ask Your Insurance Broker
If your production company regularly uses rental vehicles or crew vehicles, it is worth asking:
Do we have Hired and Non-Owned Auto coverage?
Does this apply to rented production vehicles?
Are crew vehicles contemplated?
Is physical damage to rented vehicles covered anywhere?
Does our policy fit how production vehicles are actually being used?
One of the more common things we see at Parkside is production companies assuming vehicle exposure is automatically addressed simply because nobody technically owns the vehicle through the business, but production workflows often create liability exposure long before a production company ever owns a dedicated vehicle.
Final Thoughts
All the above discussed scenarios create vehicle liability exposure even when the production company does not own the vehicle itself.
Understanding how hired and non-owned auto coverage works can help production companies better evaluate their overall film production vehicle insurance structure and identify potential gaps before a claim occurs.