State Farm insurance for your gear

My sister -inlaw works for an office and I had asked about some insurance for my camera and equipment. She emailed me thew details and it seems like a no-brainer deal...

It looks good, but be sure that you have full replacement value in case your model cam/lens is no longer available.

It's a good price, but the key operative words here are "personal articles policy."

As I understand my agent, this would not cover business use which entails a separate policy and a different price structure. Ask you SIL if what she is quoting would cover business use.

Funny thing about business use (and I would like to hear from an INS agent out there) is their definition of it. At one time, I tried to use the old "if you're not making 51% or more of total income from photography, you're not a professional" trick but it didn't work. My agent told me that if I had sold even a single picture, a business policy is required.

I you had sold even a single picture, & made the mistake of telling him about it, a business policy is required.

I'm all for following the rules, but like to apply a bit of common sense to the process. The average person here who sold a print to a friend should not get screwed over by the literally minded "Friendly Hands" dufi.

but they don't work in MA or RI....

Frank, agreed. However, in the world of insurance if you give an insurer even the slightest opportunity to deny a claim, they will use it.

For one thing, with picture credit being given in publications, that could be found out. For a second, dollar amounts are considered. If a pro were to have everything stolen, the $$$ amount would probably be high. An insurer would look at that high $ amount and judge it as being excessive to what is normal for the average homeowner.

In fact, in relation to the OP, if a person went to an agent and tried to add $20,000 of (camera) insurance to a personal policy, the agent would question it right off the bat.

I don't dispute any of that. But someone who gets $10 for a shot of his kid playing sports in the local paper, etc., shouldn't be held to the same rigid standard as a pro?

PhotosGuy wrote in post #7648233
I don't dispute any of that. But someone who gets $10 for a shot of his kid playing sports in the local paper, etc., shouldn't be held to the same rigid standard as a pro?

Frank, I was not judging the fairness of it all, but simply reporting what my insurance agent told me. In fact, I tend to hold by the old rule that you are a pro at anything only if 51%+ of your income is derived from it. But my agent told me if any profit has been derived from the use of the camera equipment, no matter the amount, it needs to be covered in a business policy, not on the homeowners personal policy.

I thought it worth mentioning because it might save somebody out there the grief of having a $15,000 claim denied because they were discovered lying about business equipment on a personal / homeowners policy.

Hey, we might not like it, but that's the reality of the way things are nowadays. If your health provider asks if you had a headache 20 years ago and they can prove you wrongly answered on an application, you're history.

you dont need to insure your equiptment seperately as long as you have a comprehensive homeowners policy (atleast here in Ontario) because theres no exclusions or limitations on camera equiptment. if you have replacement cost then you will get what it costs to replace the equiptment WHEN you replace it, otherwise you'll get a depreciated amount.
the reason i know.....im an independant property insurance adjuster in toronto.

Interesting info here! I was always wondering this... I may check into it...

As for the housing plan.. Homeowners insurance covers your camera equipment even if its stolen from your car!?

team haymaker wrote in post #7649382
you dont need to insure your equiptment seperately as long as you have a comprehensive homeowners policy (atleast here in Ontario) because theres no exclusions or limitations on camera equiptment. if you have replacement cost then you will get what it costs to replace the equiptment WHEN you replace it, otherwise you'll get a depreciated amount.
the reason i know.....im an independant property insurance adjuster in toronto.

Because law can, and do, vary so widely between the U.S. and Canada in many different areas, the best thing for anybody to do is to contact their insurance agent.

And I'm sure any agent out there would agree that above all, don't lie to your agent or on an insurance application. If you are discovered to have done so, you may give cause to an insurance company to deny your claim.

I also live in Ontario and having issues with my home owners. We are with a company sorry dont have the name here through my wifes work. We have a Comprehensive policy with Guaranteed Replacement Cost Coverage, They ask that i call in any new big ticket items to them for coverage and a couple of times they have asked for a copy of the invoice.

I recently called in as i have recently acquired the 1Dmark3 and 5Dmark2, when i called them in the agent told me that they are professional items and that the home owners does not cover professional services / gear, and referred me to a broker... Which is where i am now trying to acquire insurance for everything.

Steer clear of State Farm. The key is in the fine print and as stated, if you sell one print or get paid for anything, you're screwed. Also, I don't think they cover gear during travel, but I'm not positive of the specifics on that part. I think it was anything outside the US. Anyway, I've said it before... PPA... nothing else compares... you have to read the policy... if you do, you'll see that PPA blows them all away. I compared all the major players when I bought a policy and nothing came close to the "true" coverage PPA offers. Just IMHO.

CannedHeat wrote in post #7643054
Funny thing about business use (and I would like to hear from an INS agent out there) is their definition of it. At one time, I tried to use the old "if you're not making 51% or more of total income from photography, you're not a professional" trick but it didn't work. My agent told me that if I had sold even a single picture, a business policy is required.

I actually talked to my agent about that once as I also have a personal articles policy for my equipment. He basically said if you sell a few prints here or there don't worry about it (just don't tell them was implied I believe). I too am using State Farm.

Michael_Lambert wrote in post #7650616
I also live in Ontario and having issues with my home owners. We are with a company sorry dont have the name here through my wifes work. We have a Comprehensive policy with Guaranteed Replacement Cost Coverage, They ask that i call in any new big ticket items to them for coverage and a couple of times they have asked for a copy of the invoice.

I recently called in as i have recently acquired the 1Dmark3 and 5Dmark2, when i called them in the agent told me that they are professional items and that the home owners does not cover professional services / gear, and referred me to a broker... Which is where i am now trying to acquire insurance for everything.

you need to speak to someone else in that company because it sounds like person doesnt know what theyre talking about.
yes calling them and giving them the details is a good idea, and you could schedule it on your policy for an increased policy, however theres no professional equiptment. its available to the public too.
speak to someone higher up