pKai Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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Be aware of State Farm personal articles policy or anything else offered by an insurance company that also does homeowners. With these policies, you can get good coverage at bargain prices and they will pay... that's not the issue... but there IS a catch.
This happened to me....
The issue is that if you file a claim on your State Farm personal articles policy, they enter this fact into a database shared by all homeowner's insurance companies. When your homeowner's comes up for renewal, they will use this information to rate your policy as having prior claims.
I paid about $400 for a $20k policy from State Farm. My homeowner's was from a completely different company 100% unrelated to State Farm and cost me about $1900 a year (FL is expensive as is). I filed a claim for about $800 with State Farm for a flooded underwater housing and camera. They paid promptly and without hassle; I was happy. About 8 months later, my homeowner's came up for renewal. That company sent me a letter stating that due to a prior claim, my policy was being re-rated. The new rate was $3100; almost double. Given that I had never made a claim against this company, I was sure this was a mistake and was not too concerned. When I called them, however, they informed me about the shared database and how the State Farm claim counted. I was in shock and thought they had to be jerking me around. Of course, I shopped around and, much to my surprise, got the same answer from everyone. In the end, I got screwed. After a full year with no further claims, my rate went back to "normal".... Bottom line: I paid $400 for a policy that paid me $800 on a claim and then was penalized almost $1200 by the industry for this privilege.
In the process, I learned a lot about insurance. I learned that the State Farm personal articles insurance was basically a homeowner's rider to any policy you already have.
I now have insurance through PPA (Professional Photographer's Association) which is a bit more expensive although they do cover more. This insurance is of the "inland marine" (Google is your friend) variety and not connected to anything else. Since, I've had one claim with them for a smashed lens and they paid no questions asked and no rate hikes. You have to join PPA which is about $200 a year. This includes $15k of basic but very decent equipment insurance, a very nice photography magazine and a few other bennies. I opted for better coverage and pay an additional $500 for $20k more that includes replacement value, coverage for rental and borrowed equipment, non-camera gear such as laptops, monitors, etc, damage by assistants and models, and something called "mysterious disappearance" -- which is basically when you "lose" something and have no idea what happened to it.... What I have basically covers everything except stealing equipment from yourself.
Best of luck!
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