Photographers - a cautionary tale

Oh no! So sorry to hear that. I know it's not the same but did your friends manage to get some photos?

We're having a photographer and a videographer and you can get still shots from videos so hopefully we have covered all bases ...

What a nightmare for you

Bx

Hi Linda. Just out of interest, did you get the refund & compensation you were promised?

Hi, yes I have had a refund of the fee, but the photographer is now saying his insurer won't pay for any extra expenses incurred. We did manage to get another photographer to do a shoot of us in our wedding gear albeit two days later but I had to have an additional hair appointment and there was the stress and inconvenience which I've no idea how you would put a price on. What's your opinion on this? We are so fed up with the whole affair we are very tempted to let the matter drop.

Surely if his insurer won't cover him for this then that's his problem not yours. It's him that didn't turn up and owed you a refund which you then had to wait for. It's him that caused you to have to organise another hair appointment and travel to where the photos were taken. It wasn't his insurance company. Your issue is with him not his insurance so if he ends up out of pocket because he can't claim it back that's his problem, not yours.

I couldn't find your post at first but now reading your previous posts I just want to try and understand correctly what happened and piece it together correctly to see if I can then help you.

Your wedding was for 12 people on a Tuesday 29th Sept and your OH did not want a photographer at first so you came here to ask for advice as to if you should have one.

You then compromised and opted for just a 2 hour shoot with just you and your OH on your own on your wedding day not at the pub wedding venue but instead at the honeymoon venue with a photographer.

You found out that the photographer was ill and had been ill for the last two days and now could not make it --- this was whilst you were on route to the pub venue and this was just 2.5 hours before the agreed shoot at the H moon venue.

Then 2 days later on 1st October you found out that the photographer had been admitted to hospital with appendicitis.On this same day you arranged for a friend to come and take some shots of you both but had to pay their petrol and for your hair.

You have now been refunded all of your fee paid. But would like to be refunded the friends petrol and your hair cost.

Is all of this summing up correct

I've read Bill's summing up and the above posts.

I think there are two issues to address

1 Did the photographer try to contact you when they became ill? If no attempt to contact you was made (regardless of their illness) then I think you do have a claim for expenses incurred in arranging a replacement shoot.

2 The insurance issue is not relevant to you. "My insurance doesn't cover THAT!" is not something you need to take into account. You can simply proceed to small claims court to recover your costs if you are unable to reach an out of court settlement. If you are successful in your claim it is the photographer who claims on his insurance - not you. Therefore, whether he is insured or not makes no difference to the validity of your claim.

Trading standards will be able to give more specific advice. You may also find that there are contractual terms that limit the photographers liability to the amount paid - however, a judge may decide these clauses are unfair under the circumstances. Also, clauses can be judged as unfair terms, especially if they are at odds with UK law. There are certain circumstances where a replacement trader may be obtained at the expense of the first trader - you could argue that he is liable for your increased costs.

It's not a straight forward case. Also, your loss appears to be minimal so it may not even be worth taking him to small claims.

All in all, I doubt it's worth pursuing.