Insurance for "expensive" camera gear

[Jim2]

Especially those who own MFDB...

1. Insurance - what should we look for in an insurance? How much does it cost to insure say a $50K MF gear (back + camera + lenses)?

2. Will you have to always lock your car/hotel/motel room doors for security? What are the conditions of the insurance for the gear? Do you have to always put it in the "Safe"? For example, if you left it in an unlocked motel room and it got stolen, would the insurance cover it?

3. Will you be comfortable taking it to places where the chances of getting stolen are higher, or would you leave it behind due to concerns of security? What extra precautions do you feel you have to take?

[Rob C]

Insurance is always variable; what you are asking about security seems to indicate you'd be a poor risk!

;-)

Rob C

[rjkern]

I use PPA. $500 or so for gear insurance for PhaseOne IQ, 2 lenes, 645Df, ect. Highly recommend!

I took it to Burning Man and didn't worry a bit!

[Mike Raub]

If you have homeowners/renters coverage, you can probably add your camera gear under an inland marine form. You declare the value of your equipment and if you have a covered loss, the carrier pays you the value you have insured it for. Most losses are covered, but be sure to read the coverage form carefully to make sure there are no exceptions to coverage that would make the policy of little use to you. A couple of years ago I visited a monkey reserve in Bali and one of the monkeys almost grabbed an expensive Canon L lens I had laid down while swapping lenses. If he'd managed to get both hands on the lens before I shooed him away, I would have never seen it again. I asked my insurance agent whether that loss would be covered and she said it would be covered as a theft loss, even if the theft was by a non-human.

[Jerry Clement]

I have a rider on my home insurance, covering my camera gear for more than 30 years. Over this period of time, I have lost two different camera systems, one through a house break-in, and another through a fraud case involving a gang moving across the country buying up expensive equipment with fake certified checks. As recently as one year ago, I left a Gitzo tripod with Acratech ball-head, standing near a backroad in Kananskis Country. In all cases, my insurance company has covered my loses. Insurance is a good investment, as least in my case!

[RFPhotography]

Often the riders you can get for home owner/renter insurance policies only cover 'non-professional' use.  If you're using the gear as a professional photographer then you generally have to get a separate policy.

[OldRoy]

A couple of years ago when renewing my camera insurance (at a cost which has now overtaken my car insurance) I asked a couple of questions that had been going through my fevered brain. Having had a policy with this company for about 4 years without making a claim I enquired whether there might be any no-claim discount - as is conventionally applied, in the UK at least, with car insurance. The response was something along the lines "it doesn't work like that..." Ie; no.

Hmm, I see. So I asked what to me was the obvious corollary question. If I make a claim, what impact, bearing in mind the size of the claim, would that have on future renewal premiums? In this scenario the answer was "it would increase your premium..." Ok, so what's the relationship between claim size and premium loading? "I couldn't say, sir..." No doubt there are actuarial tables out there that specify exactly what the relationship is but the punters must be protected from them.

So, to summarise: no benefit if you don't claim; a penalty if you do claim.

In the UK the car insurance industry, which complains incessantly about being abused, has inflated premiums based - and I admit I'm guessing - as much on the cost of fictitious competition and the ludicrous volume of advertising which underpins the fiction as on fraudulent claims. In my own case I have had frequent offers to "reduce my premium" from a company who, in fact, already seem to hold my policy - issued through another insurer.

When I investigate the cost savings I discover, unsurprisingly, that once the cover is made exactly equivalent to that which I already have (eg a hire car in the event of an immobilising accident) the premium will be identical. The "savings" which they are offering are based on reduced cover. A friend who works in a specialised area of insurance tells me that the ultimate insurance cover in the UK car sector comes down to only two companies. How much does this edifice of smoke and mirrors add to the premiums we pay?

That's the insurance industry folks, a branch of banking and financial services.

Roy

[brandtb]

Try this company - I use them - very inexpensive - $500 year.  Very responsive on tel. and email.
http://www.packagechoice.com/index.jsp#htwms