Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Medium Format / Film / Digital Backs – and Large Sensor Photography => Topic started by: JonathanBenoit on March 15, 2010, 02:41:35 pm

Title: Insurance
Post by: JonathanBenoit on March 15, 2010, 02:41:35 pm: Sorry, If this should be posted some place else. I figured most of you n this forum should have liability and equipment insurance.
Can any of you recommend an insurance provider for photographers?
Title: Insurance
Post by: jonstewart on March 15, 2010, 02:57:26 pm: We'd need to know where in the world you are.

There's no point in assuming we all live in Martinique :-)
Title: Insurance
Post by: JonathanBenoit on March 15, 2010, 03:01:45 pm: Sorry about that. US-Massachusetts
Title: Insurance
Post by: Guy Mancuso on March 15, 2010, 03:06:34 pm: I use Hill and Usher

http://www.packagechoice.com/index.jsp (http://www.packagechoice.com/index.jsp)
Title: Insurance
Post by: AlexM on March 15, 2010, 03:30:06 pm: Any recommendations on photo equipment insurance in Canada would be really appreciated as well. I couldn't find any reasonable options of off-premises insurance myself.

Thank you,
Alex
Title: Insurance
Post by: gwhitf on March 15, 2010, 05:35:58 pm: Taylor and Taylor, Park Avenue, NYC.

They used to handle the ASMP group policy. Not sure if they still do. Knowledgeable about photographer-specific issues. Good people.
Title: Insurance
Post by: Nill Toulme on March 15, 2010, 05:48:38 pm: I've had good service from Tom C. Pickard Agency (http://www.tcpinsurance.com/photographer.html), which offers a photographer's policy written by Fireman's Fund. No claims experience yet (and hope never to have any), but reports I've seen on that are good, have never seen any complaints.

Nill
Title: Insurance
Post by: rsmphoto on March 15, 2010, 06:29:05 pm: Quote from: Nill Toulme
I've had good service from Tom C. Pickard Agency (http://www.tcpinsurance.com/photographer.html), which offers a photographer's policy written by Fireman's Fund. No claims experience yet (and hope never to have any), but reports I've seen on that are good, have never seen any complaints.

Nill

Great Agency - through ASMP +1
Title: Insurance
Post by: Brady on March 15, 2010, 07:08:32 pm: I'm with CSI through APA, even though I'm not a member of APA.
Title: Insurance
Post by: cyberean on March 15, 2010, 07:52:54 pm: http://tcpinsurance.com/photographer.html (http://tcpinsurance.com/photographer.html)
Title: Insurance
Post by: cgoss on March 15, 2010, 08:15:47 pm: I recently went through this process and ended up with with an equipment policy from APA (backed by Fireman's Fund). My experience is that an APA membership is necessary in order to obtain the policy.

APA Insurance Services
11375 Southbridge Pkwy. Suite 100
Alpharetta, GA 30022
[email protected]
877-269-9021 office
678-361-2279 cell
678-297-9575 fax
Title: Insurance
Post by: asf on March 15, 2010, 08:37:00 pm: I second Taylor & Taylor
Title: Insurance
Post by: pschefz on March 15, 2010, 08:49:38 pm: Quote from: Nill Toulme
I've had good service from Tom C. Pickard Agency (http://www.tcpinsurance.com/photographer.html), which offers a photographer's policy written by Fireman's Fund. No claims experience yet (and hope never to have any), but reports I've seen on that are good, have never seen any complaints.

Nill

i have insurance with them as well...very knowledgeable about photographers needs....my last insurance wasn't at all which was a nightmare...but i did not know better....
Title: Insurance
Post by: JonathanBenoit on March 15, 2010, 09:09:59 pm: This is great. Thanks for all the responses.
Title: Insurance
Post by: TMARK on March 16, 2010, 12:28:31 am: Quote from: gwhitf
Taylor and Taylor, Park Avenue, NYC.

They used to handle the ASMP group policy. Not sure if they still do. Knowledgeable about photographer-specific issues. Good people.

+1.
Title: Insurance
Post by: shuttersny on March 16, 2010, 12:59:30 am: Quote from: JonathanBenoit
Sorry, If this should be posted some place else. I figured most of you n this forum should have liability and equipment insurance.
Can any of you recommend an insurance provider for photographers?
I'm in NYC and I've used Tom C. Pickard Agency for more than 10 years and can not say enough good things about not only the coverage but everybody I've dealt with there over the years. Several years ago I had a water heater rust through over a weekend, flooding the studio floor and heavily damaging a downstairs neighbor in a commercial building. The neighbor happened to be very good people and when explained I this to the people at Tom C. Pickard Agency they not only took great care of me but made sure everybody was happy in the end. Saved what could have been a very sticky situation with an otherwise friendly neighbor and took care of all the work for me.
They have handled shifting levels of insurance as the needs of my business changed and it was always done in a courteous efficient manner, I can't say enough good things about them!
Title: Insurance
Post by: Doug Peterson on March 16, 2010, 08:39:10 am: Taylor and Taylor produces the insurance for about half of our rental customers (conservative estimate) in the Miami market.

Of course market share doesn't necessarily mean anything about quality, but from my position (in charge of rentals) I can only tell you they are popular and when I call to verify a certificate they are both friendly and professional.

Doug Peterson ()
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Title: Insurance
Post by: gwhitf on March 16, 2010, 08:58:47 am: Quote from: dougpetersonci
Taylor and Taylor produces the insurance for about half of our rental customers (conservative estimate) in the Miami market.

One other issue I'd be aware of: The ability of an insurance agency to know about, and quickly respond to, a Request for a Certificate of Insurance, for both a rental like Doug speaks of, but also for Liability Certificates, when you rent a Location. Several "generalist" agencies that I talked to barely even knew what these were for, and also did not seem set up to be able to quickly respond to those requests. I also found that these generalist agencies charged sizable "per occurrence" fees to produce these Liability Certificates, maybe because they were somewhat foreign to them. As we all know, conditions can change quickly, even the the day before a shoot, due to weather or any other number of factors, and Taylor/Taylor responds very quickly to Liability Certificates; usually within an hour.

Again, this whole topic falls under the heading of the importance of choosing an agency that is not just some generalist neighborhood place, but an agency that deals with photographers' needs on a daily basis. Trust me, the gap is very wide, and it will make itself known very quickly.
Title: Insurance
Post by: JonRoemer on March 23, 2010, 12:07:02 am: Quote from: gwhitf
One other issue I'd be aware of: The ability of an insurance agency to know about, and quickly respond to, a Request for a Certificate of Insurance, for both a rental like Doug speaks of, but also for Liability Certificates, when you rent a Location.

Not only when you rent a location but when you simply go to a location (for a portrait shoot, an architecture shoot, editorial or corporate, etc.). Many buildings in NYC won't let you in the door with a cart or in a freight elevator without a COI.

You want an insurer that can turn around a COI very quickly (15 - 30 min.), get a copy to the recipient & to yourself (email and/or fax), and you shouldn't have to pay for COI's.