Is anyone a PPA Member? Is it worth it?

I was looking into a way to find some additional cheap gear insurance, and saw the $15k in coverage with a PPA membership, as well as a bunch of additional perks. Anyone ever sign up for PPA? Pros? Cons?

I'm interested too. I've been shopping a while for a stand-alone equipment insurance policy in the USA. I'm not a business, but I have enough gear related to photography at this point and some of it lives outdoors now, so I'm interested in insurance against natural damage (lightning, water) and accidental damage (drops), etc. Theft insurance would be nice, but overall not worried about that as much since most policies only cover physical evidence based theft anyways and will not cover "mysterious disappearance" such as someone lifting your kit while on vacation or from your car, without physical evidence of a break in, etc.

I'm looking at PPA (ppa.com) and ProPhotographerInsuran​ce.com, as they seem to cover pretty good gear insurance, damage insurance, etc, with acceptable deductibles for the coverage limits.

I'm trying to find a way to cover photographic equipment including guided imaging telescope mounts (permanently mounted outdoor, so I need lightning damage coverage), some lenses, lights, maybe my computer if it were to take a lightning or flood damage or something (Florida) since I edit on it, etc. Looking to cover my lights in case my strobe(s) take a fall in the field and eat it permanently. Overall, maybe $10k of coverage would be fine for me, just spread out across a lot of things. I have plenty of used gear that probably cannot be covered, but would be interested in finding a way to cover some of it at least (such as my L lenses, etc, which are all second hand; though I have receipts for some such as from KEH.com). Not so much worried about covering my cameras as they're all the cost of the policy + deductible, so not really helpful there (unless there's something that I don't know about, as I'm using $500 cameras, not $3k cameras, mine are all ancient and used (5D's, 7D, etc), but replacing $1k+ items would be (my lenses, scopes, mounts, strobes, etc).

Looking for any advice. Avoiding home owner's policies.

Very best,

I was a member until recently. Their insurance is prorated, so you will get only a percentage of replacement cost. You'll need all of your receipts, too. That becomes an issue if you buy used on a site like this. Decided to put a rider on my homeowner's insurance. They offer replacement cost and for about $100 per year, definitely worth it.

If you're soley supporting yourself with photography, and do a ton of weddings and even some yearbook work,
it's a great organization to be a part of. I belonged to PPA the entire 20 some odd years of owning my studio.

Hmm... I was curious how members here felt about PPA and surprised that very few are members. Seems like if photography was your only income it could only help you get more business. Than again I have seen post saying otherwise.

I have $15-20,000 worth of camera gear in my closet. I have no insurance coverage for it. Insurance is a gamble you hope to lose, which is very odd in my opinion. Been doing this for about 40 years. Never had an item broken/lost/stolen. Insurance would only have added to the cost of my photography.

I know nothing of PPA, but lump it in with most other 'professional' organizations. They exist solely to:

1.) Take your money.
2.) Put you on mailing/email lists in the hopes of getting access to more of your money.
3.) Sell your address/email to others who'd like to do the same.
4.) Offer you member 'exclusives' that you: A.) don't need - B.) Could get cheaper elsewhere.

EDIT:
I just had a genius idea. Instead of buying insurance, send me -annually- 1% of the value of ALL your equipment (and receipts, of course.) If you have a loss (stolen/accidentally damaged), you eat the first $500 of loss, and I'll send you 80% of age-depreciated value of your lost/damaged equipment.

If you have a claim, your rates will double, or you will be cancelled.
Rates will go up, every year, for no apparent reason.
The gear that gets lost/stolen the most will be either not covered/or higher charges will apply.

PM for my PayPal.

I was with PPA's insurance and I had a theft situation where almost 10K of equipment has
been stolen. I was insure with PPA for 15K for theft.
Let me tell you. PPA Photocare Plus is a rip off! They basically rape and down value your equipment. Don't join. It's not worth it.

They were very slow to process my claim. They didn't accept the original police report because it was hand written. After lots of headache and finally having the record section police supervisor signed and stamp it, they finally accept it and process my claim. Then once the settlement arrived they just settle half of the amount! BE AWARE! Read the fine prints.

They didn't settle the replacement cost as I was expecting but gave me Actual Cast Value of time of loss.
Due to all my receipts they determine the year of the equipment and calculated the depreciation. They basically devalued my gear and paid less that it was worth.
There was two small prints in the policy that I didn't see.

1.) The Depreciation
2.) Age per Year

They don't explain this to you. Once signing with them, you think you are coverd and have peace of mind. NOPE.

The Photo care plus policy come with two choices.

1) Scheduled Property where they pay the = Replacement Cost (but you need to list all your equipments and submit proof of purchase up front) OR

2) Unscheduled Property = Actual Cash Value Where they down value your equipments.

- Depreciation will apply as follows based on the age of lost or damaged property:

Age means Model Year minus Current Year plus one.

The calculation is based on model year minus current year plus one.
For instance, the Ipad purchased March of 2014 would be calculated as such:

Model Year – Current Year + 1

2014 – 2016 + 1 = 3 years of Deprecation means 75% of down-valuing.

For my loss ipad that I paid $665, PPA settle it for just $166 Because they say it's 3 years old.

For my loss Macbook pro I paid 2014 $2400 + tax. They deprecated 75% off. I GOT $305!!!!

BE AWARE! PPA isn't a good choice. Read the Fine prints and ask Insurance companies for the replacement value.

Bassat wrote in post #18181554
I have $15-20,000 worth of camera gear in my closet.

Is it the hall closet, or the one in the office? You still located in Bourbon, Indiana? Be like Motel 6 and leave the light on, thanks!

Just to follow up, since creating this thread I joined PPA, and found it completely useless. The insurance coverage is a joke, the legal "help" is a joke, and that's about it as far as benefits go. The forum is semi-active, but much less so than many of the popular and free facebook groups and website forums. So I didn't see much value in it.

I was a member for a while, but have since let it lapse.

My equipment insurance is through my business insurance, which was needed anyway and ended up being cheaper total cost that way. The marketing benefit didn't end up being all that helpful either (actually, not at all) as I get all of my business through referrals and local advertising.

I didn't have any bad experiences with PPA, just no experiences at all.

Yeahhh, I guess it could also depend on where you are .. I dunno...
We were in Hawaii, so .. Dean Collins, Joyce Wilson, and the plethora of others, it was a great place to visit soo ..
They always made it worthwhile and were very entertaining .. The PPA there was good back in the day.
I can see how things have changed so, perhaps they're not what they used to be ...

I have a rider on my homeowners insurance for years. I've only had one claim...a $600 repair to my 24-70mm f/2.8 lens. No deductible, no questions asked. Insurance paid within a couple days and rates didn't increase.

I was in PPA for 2017-2018 and did not renew. The organization is geared more for portrait, fashion, and wedding photographers, which I am not.

It was expensive, like $340 a year, and I already have better insurance than what they offered so that was useless. The few things I did get out of it was their Business Challenge and free video tutorials but, again, this is geared to the portrait and wedding photogs.

If I were shooting other than outdoor nature, it may have greater value, though the annual fee is quite high.