Phasmophobia players take on a wide variety of paranormal forces in the game. At the end of a hunt in Phasmophobia, players earn money for completing different objectives and collecting evidence. The more money they make, the better the equipment they can afford for the next contract. This means that players need to budget what materials they need to complete a job and get as much money as possible while limiting their risk.
With this aspect of the game comes a commonly misunderstood feature for new players of Phasmophobia: insurance payouts. This category on the contract payment screen can be difficult to understand. For those looking to wrap their heads around insurance in Phasmophobia, this guide is here to help.
Equipment and Insurance in Phasmophobia
After selecting a location to hunt down a ghost, players have to choose what equipment they think they will need to tackle the challenge. Item selection can vary depending on what type of ghost they find in Phasmophobia. Once additional items are added to a player's loadout, insurance becomes a piece of the hunt. If a player goes on a job with additional equipment and dies, they will be partially compensated for the equipment they lost through this insurance.
This applies to the items players bring with them for that selected job. They lose those items but, depending on the difficulty, are given back a percentage of the cost of the lost items. This is how insurance works in the game.
Fortunately, Phasmophobia always provides players with items such as the EMF Reader, flashlight, photo camera, video camera, spirit box, and ghostwriting book. So players aren't doomed for the next hunt even if they die on a job. Insurance and the game give them a fighting chance to rearm for the next location.
Misconceptions with Insurance in Phasmophobia
Because of how connected insurance payouts are with the death of a player, some have assumed that dying is actually a profitable experience in Phasmophobia. In reality, insurance only provides compensation for items added to a mission and only gives back 50% of their value on Amateur missions. For those playing on Intermediate missions, the payout is even less: just 25%. And taking on Phasmophobia's Professional difficulty means that there are no insurance payouts at all.
It should be noted that when one player dies, though their items will disappear for the next hunt, they are still available for their teammates to use. These items will exist until the investigation is concluded. Fortunately, as long as players live, they will have their items available in their next hunt. This is true even if players leave their equipment in the haunted place when they make their escape.
Phasmophobia is available on PC.