In the first of a series of blogs taking a look at some of the more unusual insurance claims we see here at Hiscox, see what happens when a production company gets a little too creative for their end client.
On paper it seemed like a great idea: dress up some young break dancers in prosthetics to make them look like senior citizens. During the planned advertisement, the ‘older’ folk would spring from their chairs and defy their years with a wildly energetic break dancing display.
Pitching the idea to their client – a major brand – the advertising agency involved got their production company to get the concept into production. The break dancers were duly filmed and a rough cut of the ad sent to the client for approval. Unfortunately, it seemed that senior executives within the client (who it is presumed weren’t involved in the decision to commission the ad) absolutely hated the concept and refused to pay the fees for the shoot.
Heavily out of pocket, the production company – who Hiscox insured for professional indemnity cover – issued debt proceedings to recover payment for the shoot, which was met by a counter claim from their client - the advertising agency - alleging that the work was not of sufficiently high quality and did not match the specification agreed.
A happy ending for our client
Fortunately, the production company’s insurance picked up the costs of defending the counter claim and eventually a negotiated settlement was reached; the company received a substantial portion of their fees and all claims were withdrawn.
A happy ending then but less so for the break dancing ‘older’ folk who never made it to the small screen.
