I have had a gear coverage policy for the last few years for ~35k of gear. I do landscapes mostly, plus shooting related to my day job (reference photos for visual effects for movies). Basically, I just need insurance for my gear that does replacement cost. My old policy has shot up by double in the last 2 years to the point where it's just stupid. It should not cost $1500 annually for this.
Can anyone recommend an insurance company / plan? I want something that covers new replacement cost (no depreciation). Currently I have a $500 deducible which is fine. I just want my gear covered when I'm on the road and when it's at home sitting unused.
My gear is insured through a Chubb policy that is a benefit of being a NANPA member. I have been very happy with them so far. I had a claim a couple of years ago and they were great to work with. I have another claim in right now and once again, they are easy to work with. For the value of your gear, I would estimate that the cost would be 55-60% of what you are paying now.
I went with Progressive. Had it for a few years, have not had to make a claim so I can't say how good the claims process is. I don't have employees, just myself.
Premium $383/yr, $250 deductible. Covers $20k in equipment, $2M liability per incident/$4M annual, revenue loss, data recovery, prop damage, plagiarism...a bunch of other stuff. I'm sure if I do make a big claim my rates would skyrockets or they'd drop me soon after.
I've had State Farm for 40 years, they write the policy through Inland Marine. Coverage is for replacement cost, no depreciation, less a deductible. As always, it pays to fully understand the coverage that you have, because my experience has been that the agent doesn't. Not long ago I had reason to clarify a number of coverages and when we got to my camera equipment, my agent mentioned that I was covered for $65,000, problem was that was 1/4 of the coverage I needed. She said, "we have you down as owning $250,000 of equipment, but the way our policies work, we figure that you will never have all of that gear with you at any one time so to save you money we just estimate a possible catastrophic loss at 1/4 of that............." I went through the roof and explained that I often have all, or close to all of that equipment at risk so their "estimate" left me woefully under protected. I had them fix it on the spot, the premium went up another $500, to about $1500 annually. If you have loss they will raise your deductible from $250 to $500 or $1,000, depending upon the circumstances and the amount of the loss.
All that said, underwriters are getting very nervous about certain categories of work, aviation being one of those. The underwriter will go to your website in the process of determining their exposure and your rates, if they don't like the risk factor, they will not write you. Liability is another area that is getting very tricky if you shoot anything at all risky. The same old thing is in play, they love the premiums, but want to stack the deck to make sure the dollars are going to flow in one direction. If you are shopping around, make very sure you have actual coverage with another source before you put a cancellation letter in writing. My State Farm agent encouraged me to switch to their liability policy this year "because it was so much better than my Hartford $2M coverage that I've had for 40 years". She wrote the policy and had me submit a cancellation request to Hartford for the date my State Farm policy went into effect, I even got a binding declarations page from State Farm showing all the appropriate coverages. Two days before it was to take effect the agent called me to tell me State Farm was cancelling that policy in 7 days because the underwriter went to my website and noticed that I shoot aviation subjects on occasion. I called The Hartford in an attempt to cancel my cancellation and they told me there was no chance of that because the only reason they continued writing me was a grandfather clause and they couldn't cancel me, but once they had my cancellation request it let them off the hook and they weren't interested in getting back on. Insurance is one of those things people don't pay enough attention to, thinking they are "covered" when in reality that is not always the case.
JWilsonphoto wrote:
If you are shopping around, make very sure you have actual coverage with another source before you put a cancellation letter in writing. My State Farm agent encouraged me to switch to their liability policy this year "because it was so much better than my Hartford $2M coverage that I've had for 40 years". She wrote the policy and had me submit a cancellation request to Hartford for the date my State Farm policy went into effect, I even got a binding declarations page from State Farm showing all the appropriate coverages. Two days before it was to take effect the agent called me to tell me State Farm was cancelling that policy in 7 days because the underwriter went to my website and noticed that I shoot aviation subjects on occasion. I called The Hartford in an attempt to cancel my cancellation and they told me there was no chance of that because the only reason they continued writing me was a grandfather clause and they couldn't cancel me, but once they had my cancellation request it let them off the hook and they weren't interested in getting back on. Insurance is one of those things people don't pay enough attention to, thinking they are "covered" when in reality that is not always the case. ...Show more →
So, Jim, what did you end up doing? And how much did your agent’s “advice” cost you?
You can imagine how hot I was, giving up a grandfathered policy with The Hartford that I had for 30 years! I spent a week in back and forth with a commercial broker (who really tried hard), but each time he thought he had a package together with an underwriter, they'd ask, does he shoot aviation, is he a pilot, does he have a commercial drone rating? One or all of those items ended up a problem. Finally, at the end of the week he found a company that would write it all, for $1450.00 annually, almost 4 times Hartford's rate.........Grrrr! Oddly, late Friday afternoon I Googled commercial photography insurance, spoke with three or four firms in about 30 minutes, aviation and drone work was a deal breaker for half of them, then I talked with a broker who represented Liberty Mutual, in 20 minutes I was bound and everything I do was covered, for about $400 a year. I probably send State Farm $25,000 a year for various policies, and they have been very reliable, I blame my agent for this mess and I am searching for a new one that has a clue what they are doing, because my current one obviously does not.
Interestingly, State Farm opted not to renew a buddy of mine who shoots aviation, it was his camera coverage policy, specifically due to his line of work. Now that was his only SF policy. My guess is they continue to cover my gear because of all the other policies I have with them. I have a number of clients that will not allow a photographer on any of their sites without being a named insured on at least a $2M policy, and they are notified the second coverage is not renewed so it's a big deal. This hiccup lasted a week, but one particular client was holding over $50K in checks that were ready to go out the first of that week, and they weren't sending them out until they had a declarations page assuring them I was covered. Kind of a gimmick considering the work was done previously, under Hartford coverage, but it's the old Golden Rule............
Hill & Usher/Hartford, with 32K+ in gear and 4 mill in liability for under $800. That premium isn't so bad when I take into account that I don't require any career insurance when I send my gear in to Nikon. I didn't know that the first time I sent my 400 is and had to pay an extra $200+ for insurance; totally redundant and waste of money. I haven't had any claims with them, but have called them several times for questions and uses and have always been resolved quickly and to my satisfaction.
A friend had a claim with them and they dealt with it quickly and without a hassle.
I have a State Farm "Personal Lines" policy which insures all of my camera equipment, our computers, and our jewelry. It's separate from our homeowner's insurance. It has a ZERO DEDUCTIBLE and they pay 100% of the current market value of either the current lens or a comparable lens/camera gear if it's not made anymore.
It's been great. I've only had one loss, but they paid it off quickly and I simply paid to fix the lens and I still have he lens and I have the value of he lens for when it breaks, which it functions okay most of the time. It wasn't a great lens to start with and it's my only cheap lens (EF 50mm F/1.4). I pay around $500/year for around $35K in equipment.
I endorse this policy they offer very highly and never found anyone else who offers a similar policy w/ the zero deductible. And I don't like State Farm otherwise.
Having worked for State Farm for ten years, I'm not a fan of them either. And my agent offered a policy similar to what you mentioned. But that won't cover you if you use your gear professionally.
billsamuels wrote:
I have a State Farm "Personal Lines" policy which insures all of my camera equipment, our computers, and our jewelry. It's separate from our homeowner's insurance. It has a ZERO DEDUCTIBLE and they pay 100% of the current market value of either the current lens or a comparable lens/camera gear if it's not made anymore.
It's been great. I've only had one loss, but they paid it off quickly and I simply paid to fix the lens and I still have he lens and I have the value of he lens for when it breaks, which it functions okay most of the time. It wasn't a great lens to start with and it's my only cheap lens (EF 50mm F/1.4). I pay around $500/year for around $35K in equipment.
I endorse this policy they offer very highly and never found anyone else who offers a similar policy w/ the zero deductible. And I don't like State Farm otherwise. ...Show more →
