Insurance

[philgabe]

I was wondering if anyone has purchased (and compared) insurance for their photo equipment. I am thinking about purchasing insurance for my D30 and lenses and it would be great to have some feedback on what insurance company to trust or not to trust.

Cheers.

Phil

[maple]

Same question... who knows of insurance availability for my D10, preferably in Canada? I came across this, but am wondering how cumbersome it is, if at all, to be covered by a firm in the UK.

http://www.eandl.co.uk/uk-photographic-equipment-insurance.htm

[LegMaker]

I have used my car insurance company ( State Farm)..They have a personal property insurance. I had $3000.00 coverage for ~ $45 a year...protected against anything..even if I dropped the camera in the water..
At least thats what they told me ;-)

[mocking]

philgabe,

I have my home insurance at http://www.oneshopinsurance.com and I think they cover equipment insurance. Just check it out maybe it'll help you with your concern. :)

[runninmann]

I have a rider attached to my homeowners' insurance for camera equipment.

[mspringfield]

I also have State Farm. $19K of insurance for $300.00 a year. It does cover everything including drops but you must provide them with a detailed list of your equipment including serial numbers or is will not be covered. I had some gear stolen last year and had not turned in model/serial numbers a recently purchased Sigma 120-300 F2.8 and they did not want to cover it although the total amount stolen was less than the face value of the policy. One last tip. It is a "declared value" policy so make sure you "declare" full MSRP.

Michael

[BLS439]

I have my Renter's Insurance, it's under a homeowner's type policy through AAA. I have $40,000 woth of coverage for $25 a month.

I actually had to use the coverage a little while back when my photo backpack was taken from the garage. Bastards left me with only my Mamiya RZ! At the time, my 30D was like three weeks old and now in the hands of some chump criminal.

I also have declared value type thing, but it's not exactly what you think when they explain it. They still depreciate the property. Actually they depreciate the property at a rate of 7% for anything 1-3 years old and 15% for anything older.

It worked out in the end. I picked up a 300mm F2.8 IS, 30D, 70-200 f2.8, and some other odds and ends as replacement gear!

I learned that if the stuff was taken from my car (without me having renter's insurance) I would have been given $200; however, my deductable is $100. Wow, $100 for almost $8,000 in stolen camera equipment.

Make sure you read those policies very closely!

--Dave

[coreypolis]

there are lots of ways to do it. Having a serperate personal articles policy is the best if you aren't making money on it, mine was about 200 for ~15k insured. 0 deductible. but its replacement cost, not what you paid, and mine (state Farm) didn't cover outside the US, which of course was one of the big reasons (and I told them) that I wanted it (and they never told me of that fact)

if you want more of a business insurance with liability coverage, reshoot coverage etc, Tom Pickards Group insurance is hard to beat. (groupinsure.com)

whatever you do don't have it tied to your homeowners policy, the last thing you want is for that rate to go up or be cancelled because you keep having youamera stolen

[steved110]

Stay away from E&L insurance ( UK members) - their cover is restricitive - eg you are not covered in what they consider at-risk locations - so potentially nowhere outside your own home.....and I have heard that they take ages to pay if you need to claim.

The best cover you get in the Uk is as an add-on for increased cover for personal possesions for both in and out the home, on your household contents insurance.

For anyone outside the UK on a permanent basis - such as Maple - why buy overpriced insurance from the UK ? surely local products are more economical, and as you are not actually living in the UK it is unlikely an off-the-shelf insurance product would be suitable.