p.1 #1 · Question for insurance of camera and equipment
Hi FM members,
Notwithstanding I am not a pro I have realised that I own today a good number of photographic equipment with a significant cumulative $ value, and that started to make me uncomfortable to stay without any insurance cover for theft and accidental damage.
Here Canon Australia promotes a camera and related equipment insurance from AON to cover you in case of incidents/theft. The insurance limit is 10k but all my equipment is close to double this figure. Therefore I have to select which equipment to cover and which not to cover.
So, how would you choose which equipment to include in your policy? You go just for a "price order approach" or you consider the likelhood of incident? The latter would for instance suggest not to cover my expensive carbon tripod as it should be less prone to damages and/or theft as opposed to a lens.
Second question: as I have some used equipment (so no invoice can be provided by just pictures of the owned good), have you found any issue from insurance companies for a reimbursement?
Third and final: terms and conditions seems to include (or at least do not exclude) damages from water incidents. What is your experience in case of such occurrencies (which are maybe the highest in number)?
p.1 #2 · Question for insurance of camera and equipment
I'd keep looking for a policy that would cover what I think should be covered. The tripod is certainly less likely to need repair from water or being dropped or being left behind, but a thief or a fire won't discriminate. OTOH, if the price is reasonable, then $10k coverage is better than nothing. Do you have to register the gear being insured ? Also, including water damage coverage suggests that it's an "all perils" coverage - you should ask if this is true, as it will cover clumsy drops, too.
The policy should say if used equipment is covered; if not, ask the provider. It's not too difficult to establish the value of a used item and it's easy to show what you actually paid, if you keep suitable records (starting now).
If you drop a camera or lens in fresh water (or it gets heavily rain soaked), it might be OK after drying out. Chances are good that it'll suffer from internal corrosion, which happened to my rain-soaked 5D after about six months. If you drop a camera or lens (with electronics) in the salt water, you might as well just leave it there.
p.1 #3 · Question for insurance of camera and equipment
I have a rider policy on my camera equipment. It covers anything that might happen, from theft to dropping in water to just being dumb and somehow bashing a lens. It typically runs about 1% of insured value. I have way too much equipment insured as well as some not insured.
It comes down to you assessing your own risk and tolerance for loss. For the most part I do not have the equipment insured at new prices but rather what I could get on the used market to replace it. Again 1% doesnt sound like much, but as the equipment begins to add up it makes more sense to be frugal about what it takes to replace.
Ask your agent about a rider policy, they should have such a policy as it is also used to cover jewelry and watches. Here in the states it will also cover camera gear. I am not a pro, pros have a business policy to cover their gear. Good luck!
p.1 #4 · Question for insurance of camera and equipment
Is the 10k a limit on all your gear or is 10k the limit for any one claim? This is important because if you have 20k of gear and take 10k with you, do they limit claim to 10k or only reimburse you half of what you lost/broke?
Also, is your policy new-for-old (they replace it with cost for brand new replacement) or like-for-like (they give you the cost of buying a second hand kit)? If it is new for old all you have to do is prove ownership - it is one reason I list my gear on Canon CPS (free to join in UK).
First stop I would say check your household insurance: does it cover camera gear outdoors, and what is the single item limit (and do lens+body count as one item or two).
Based in UK, I was looking for the same and was surprised by the cost of the specialist insurance for my camera gear even though I am not a pro.
Then I stumbled across Hiscox house insurance - unlimited contents, no single item limit and things like cameras covered for outdoors as well all covered new-for-old. As such I did not have to make a choice about which items to cover.
I had a claim after my 6D/24-105 too a swim in a waterfall and after their assessors had a look they paid full replacement cost without any question.
p.1 #5 · Question for insurance of camera and equipment
As a working pro I have real world experience in the coverage (or lack thereof) for equipment.
I am currently covered under PPA's insurance which has a blanket coverage of $15,000 without the need for itemization. It covers loss, theft and breakage (I believe, haven't looked lately).
What I learned was that my regular business insurance (covering theft, fire, earthquake etc.) did not cover my gear when on location which is a large part of my work.
I specifically asked for such coverage from my insurance agent and he said we could have a rider and itemize the gear for an additional charge.
I did have a break in and theft from my vehicle (before the PPA coverage) and I was not covered by my auto insurance, homeowners insurance or my commercial liability insurance.
My commercial insurance said they would have covered it but the policy does NOT cover "tools" but only inventory. This, despite no documentation to support their position. ( I am currently in dispute with them).
In short, most insurance companies seem unwilling, unable or unaware of the needs of photographers beyond simple coverage in a home.
My strong opinion is to join PPA for $350 a year and get the benefits and protection of membership plus access to additional business insurance tailored specifically to the needs of photographers.
p.1 #7 · Question for insurance of camera and equipment
Mikehit wrote:
Is the 10k a limit on all your gear or is 10k the limit for any one claim? This is important because if you have 20k of gear and take 10k with you, do they limit claim to 10k or only reimburse you half of what you lost/broke?
Also, is your policy new-for-old (they replace it with cost for brand new replacement) or like-for-like (they give you the cost of buying a second hand kit)? If it is new for old all you have to do is prove ownership - it is one reason I list my gear on Canon CPS (free to join in UK).
First stop I would say check your household insurance: does it cover camera gear outdoors, and what is the single item limit (and do lens+body count as one item or two).
Based in UK, I was looking for the same and was surprised by the cost of the specialist insurance for my camera gear even though I am not a pro.
Then I stumbled across Hiscox house insurance - unlimited contents, no single item limit and things like cameras covered for outdoors as well all covered new-for-old. As such I did not have to make a choice about which items to cover.
I had a claim after my 6D/24-105 too a swim in a waterfall and after their assessors had a look they paid full replacement cost without any question.
Good points in here. It seems that 10k is the aggregate maximum they will pay, i.e. I should be able to cover more but in the aggregate I cannot claim more than 10k less excess.
They claim at their discretion will either repair or replace with same item or reimburse the sum to repair or replace up to the insured value less excess.
Dec 04, 2017 at 09:39 PM
R.H. Johnson Offline • • • • [X]
p.1 #8 · Question for insurance of camera and equipment
i have the Hill & Usher/Hartford Business Insurance + Commercial Inland Marine policy. for $ 770.00 annual. $150,000.00 equipment, $1,000,000.00 liability, $2,000,000.00 workmans comp, rental equip, rental car $1,000,000.00 data loss fraudulent use of credit card and data, etc.
the most important part of coverage international personal (me workers physically) and the equipment loss/damage).
my policy is a real business policy combined with international inland marine policies. expensive, yes. worth it, yes. it also covers my studio and all the studio equipment as well computers printers props studio lighting printers and media stock mounting framing presses and matte/paper cutters, data loss, fraud, etc.
p.1 #9 · Question for insurance of camera and equipment
Franesco,
I don't know if you can get this in Australia, but I live in the United States and I have a "Personal Items" insurance policy with State Farm Insurance Company. It's a very specific policy where I can insure any specific item I want for the current replacement value. I have all of my camera equipment insured this way and it's over $10,000 at this point. You give them each item's serial number, how much you paid for it (they usually want a receipt if it's brand new), and they also insure other valuables as well. The rate (I think) is $10 per year for every $1000 of value. I also have my wife's laptop insured and some jewelry.
The nice part about this policy is there is no deductible and they reimburse you market price if anything happens to it, and they also cover damage as well as theft. About three years ago, I dropped my Canon EF 50mm F/1.4 lens and it warped something inside, making the AF no longer usable. I put a claim in for the value of a NEW lens and within a couple of weeks, I had a check for the full price of a new lens that I could purchase at B&H.
Even nicer, you don't have to carry other insurance with State Farm to have this Personal Lines policy. I recently took their auto and home policies, but I've had the Personal Lines by itself for 8 years.
p.1 #10 · Question for insurance of camera and equipment
If you are a professional photographer, insurance is a good thing to have for the gear. But for an amateur - my own personal experience is that it is a waste of money to have one. I will explain why: the insurance I had (it was a personal item insurance added to my former home owner/rental insurance, about $150/year for the photo gear) excluded theft of gear or own caused damage - for example dropping camera or lens in water. These are the likely the most common reasons for loss of gear. The money I paid annually for the insurance made up buying a brand new high quality lens after a few years. I dropped my photo gear insurance about 10 years ago, during all the time never would have had a cause to use it - good money saver! As stated above, there might be policies out there which include accidental loss of gear and theft, but I am sure premium for these are quite high (again, for professionals it might be worthwhile).
Better to spend this money for some good and safe kind of storage of photo gear at home (home safe etc). If you are not too clumsy, accidents with photo gear on travel won't happen often - and if it happens once, you can likely replace it with virtual money which you saved by not having an insurance for the gear....just my 2 Cents.
p.1 #11 · Question for insurance of camera and equipment
R.H. Johnson wrote:
i have the Hill & Usher/Hartford Business Insurance + Commercial Inland Marine policy. for $ 770.00 annual. $150,000.00 equipment, $1,000,000.00 liability, $2,000,000.00 workmans comp, rental equip, rental car $1,000,000.00 data loss fraudulent use of credit card and data, etc.
the most important part of coverage international personal (me workers physically) and the equipment loss/damage).
my policy is a real business policy combined with international inland marine policies. expensive, yes. worth it, yes. it also covers my studio and all the studio equipment as well computers printers props studio lighting printers and media stock mounting framing presses and matte/paper cutters, data loss, fraud, etc. ...Show more →
This makes sense for a professional who creates some income from photography - and I agree, it seems a very good one. But $770 annually is like adding a second car insurance - amateurs might think twice about spending this amount of money if not much revenue is created from photography (just keeping it as hobby).
Dec 06, 2017 at 01:40 PM
R.H. Johnson Offline • • • • [X]
p.1 #12 · Question for insurance of camera and equipment
i was knocked of my scooter on the freeway. i went down at 65mph. i had my think tank backpack on and crunched $18,000.00 worth of gear, including my 500mm, covered.
all of my gear could have been replaced new but i had some of it repaired at CPS. i travel overseas frequently and sh!t happens over there. like when the tuk tuk drove off with my HD. all of my shoot was lost the client wasn't happy nor was i. had to reschedule and re-shoot, covered.
all of my gears are covered when out of country. i don't make a lot of money however when abroad with $30,000.00+ in gears, covered.
p.1 #13 · Question for insurance of camera and equipment
I just happened to be looking at the policy I was talking about above and the annual premium is around $400/year. For that, I get all of my camera equipment insured including several Zeiss and Leica lenses, plus I have my wife's $10K engagement ring and a $2K laptop that we got while she was in graduate school (we insured it because if you're going to have a computer stolen, it's when you're in school).
I still keep my gear locked down, but I'm going away with a bunch of it this weekend and it could still be stolen or I could break some of it if I fell or crashed.
It took me years to buy piece by piece to get to where I am today. It takes seconds if the house burned down!
p.1 #15 · Question for insurance of camera and equipment
If you do not take more than $10,000 worth of equipment with you on any one outing, the obvious thing to do would be take up this insurance offer for coverage outside the house, and insure the full kit via your home contents insurance for fire and theft when it is at home.
I only insure via my home contents, and I declined their offer to insure my camera equipment outside the house on that policy. My gear is not insured at all when I have it with me out and about shooting. In 35 years of "self insuring" in this way I have never suffered a major loss.
One thing to think about when adding a "portable valuables" list to home contents is that, if you did claim, it would affect your no claim bonus on your contents. (I don't know how this works in the US, but in Australia making no claims for 5 years routinely gets you a 60% or more discount on the premium.) Whereas if it is a separate policy this is firewalled from your contents insurance.
About used/replacement: it depends on the company, and you have to ask. Either way, they will quite reasonably expect some kind of proof you did own the item. I always had receipts for my used gear.
p.1 #16 · Question for insurance of camera and equipment
melcat wrote:
If you do not take more than $10,000 worth of equipment with you on any one outing, the obvious thing to do would be take up this insurance offer for coverage outside the house...
That's fine, if you don't have to provide a gear list, when you insure it.
p.1 #17 · Question for insurance of camera and equipment
jcolwell wrote:
That's fine, if you don't have to provide a gear list, when you insure it.
I read OP's post at #7 as saying that the total value of items on the list can exceed $10,000, but a claim cannot. A good kit mayhave 9 lenses, but you'd only ever be carrying 2 or 3 of them.
