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Author Topic: Do you insure your equipment  (Read 11509 times)

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« on: June 02, 2009, 11:50 »
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Here is a little video to get us started.
Photographer Fail


I have mine insured through business insurance but it seems expensive and I am debating not having it anymore.  I heard once that you should only buy insurance if you cannot afford to replace the item insured.  I could probably afford to replace something if I dropped it or it got stolen, unless everyone got stolen / burned/ damaged at once - then I would have a problem.


« Reply #1 on: June 02, 2009, 12:38 »
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I just recently insured my equipment (at least the L lenses and the 5d Mark II). Didn't have insurance prior to upgrading camera. I didn't get the commercial insurance but added it to my home insurance. I clearly described to the insurance company my use of the equipment (mostly personal) and included the fact that I sell some of my images.

« Reply #2 on: June 02, 2009, 12:44 »
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I've had my stuff insured for more than a year now. Couldn't do without it, I'm much more relaxed about leaving stuff in a hotel room or such.
What do you consider expensive? I pay 1.5% per year and it coveres a lot.

« Reply #3 on: June 02, 2009, 13:13 »
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I think the real benefits are in the 3rd party liability coverage in case someone trips on your tripod leg or something

« Reply #4 on: June 02, 2009, 13:13 »
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I also have my equipment insured. It feels better when I'm travelling to have an insurance and leave my stuff in Hotel rooms just like Opla said.  I have my camera and lenses insured, but also my computers and lighting equipment.

« Reply #5 on: June 02, 2009, 13:19 »
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You do ask some good questions Leaf!

I used to have insurance, primarily for travel purposes, but any policy worth having (in the UK) has become ludicrously expensive. The cost is something like 10% of the equipments' value if you are a pro, want in-vehicle and also world-wide cover.

Not only that but the policies are written in such a way that if you actually complied with all the security requirements then it is pretty unlikely that you'd get anything nicked anyway. For example if you are staying in a hotel and it has safety-deposit boxes available then you are obliged to use them or they may not pay out.

At 10% of my total equipment's value (about $2000+ per year) I figure that it's worth taking the chance. The one item that would be really painful to replace is my 1Ds MkIII but if I lost that then I'd probably just replace it with the 5D MkII.

lisafx

« Reply #6 on: June 02, 2009, 13:35 »
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I used to insure my gear through a State Farm personal articles policy.  They allow you to make up to 5k/year with it, but anything over that it is not considered personal articles anymore.  I exceeded the limit and dropped the coverage. 

I haven't gotten new coverage because the cost seems prohibitive, and since I could afford to replace it and don't travel much with it I figure I am okay for now. 

To be honest, I am adding and subtracting gear so often that it was driving the insurance agent nuts anyway. 

« Reply #7 on: June 02, 2009, 13:44 »
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as most already pointed out, the cost to insure is quite prohibitive, esp for replacement insurance. so most would not do that.
otoh, esp in north america, the more important insurance is actually liability insurance, esp if you shoot people in your home or studio. if anything happens to your model due to your negligence, or accident, you could end up being sued for damages and personal injury. this , i think , is more important than replacing a lost or stolen camera and accessories.
« Last Edit: June 02, 2009, 13:59 by Perseus »

« Reply #8 on: June 02, 2009, 13:48 »
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I wish I COULD get it insured ...
I can easily have all my stuff insured as long as I do NOT use it professionally.  But I do use it professionally, and then there doesn't seem to be any company around that has a policy that fits my case.  
I checked with several other professional photographers, and none of them had insurance.
There are plenty of foreign companies of course, but I prefer a local one, especially in case of dispute/legal issues.

As for hotel rooms, I do not need extra insurance, since the small print in the fire/theft policy for my house states that "my house" is everywhere I live, hotels included.  So when my hotel room is robbed, I can claim the theft from my fire/theft policy at home.  
May-be you could all have a look in your fire/theft policy to check if hotel rooms are included ?

So what's left is :  getting robbed in the streets, theft out of the car (I NEVER leave anything in my car) and my own clumsiness (dropping stuff or tripping over my own tripod).

« Reply #9 on: June 02, 2009, 14:11 »
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I pay about 3.8% and everything is covered from accidentally dropping it to theft to travel damage etc.  I had a time finding somewhere that was that cheap even, but it still feels a bit pricy.

With home insurance make sure they cover things like dropping the camera or theft from something like a park bench.  Or even damage / loss of the equipment outside the house.  Sometimes equipment isn't covered for those things or there are really silly rules like if your car isn't properly lock or if someone else had a key to the room it was in then it isn't covered.

« Reply #10 on: June 02, 2009, 14:14 »
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I think the real benefits are in the 3rd party liability coverage in case someone trips on your tripod leg or something

yeah, i agree with this, or if one of your images of a model are used inappropriately and you are sued.  ... like Perseus said.

« Reply #11 on: June 02, 2009, 14:24 »
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I have no insurance, but I purchased one of those warranty extensions when I bought my camera and lenses.  It's not the same thing, of course, but it protects me from failure.

alias

« Reply #12 on: June 02, 2009, 14:34 »
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You do ask some good questions Leaf!

I used to have insurance, primarily for travel purposes, but any policy worth having (in the UK) has become ludicrously expensive.

I insure via a company in the UK. The cost is not ludicrously expensive. I pay less than 300 GBP PA for more than 10K GBP  of equipment - and appx half of that away from the risk address at anytime and internationally and 2,000,000 GBP liability.

Liability is very important. If you drop your camera on someone's head.

« Reply #13 on: June 02, 2009, 15:03 »
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I think I should now, after little accident couple days ago. I ended up with just broken filter but I might not be that lucky next time. Where should I start? I have no idea which companies are doing this.

KB

« Reply #14 on: June 02, 2009, 16:06 »
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This is really timely for me, as I've spent the last few days looking for insurance. I thought I was covered under a rider on our homeowner's policy, but after several weeks of back and forth between our agent and the underwriter, they decided they don't want to cover me now that I'm "professional".

There's a photo discussion group that offers "low cost" liability & property coverage as one of the benefits of joining for $25/yr. But after joining I discovered the coverage may not be as desirable as I thought. (For example, they state that "theft is covered only with evidence of a break-in and a police report". What if I'm mugged? What if someone grabs it from me and runs? What if it's left in a hotel room and a maid steals it? Etc.)

So I'm probably going to go with one of the names I've seen mentioned a lot in my searches, Hill & Usher. Looks like it will cost 3.5% just for property coverage. Not a bargain at all, but as someone else said, I'm just not that comfortable walking around uninsured.

« Reply #15 on: June 02, 2009, 16:35 »
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I think I should now, after little accident couple days ago. I ended up with just broken filter but I might not be that lucky next time. Where should I start? I have no idea which companies are doing this.

First figure out what you want insured then call around to local insurance companies and ask for quotes... you can generally get them to bid against each other if you tell them you have an offer of such and such a price from company X

« Reply #16 on: June 02, 2009, 17:19 »
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Since I have revenues from my camera, my insurance company told me that my home ins. did not cover my gear.

But they also told me that I could add 5000$ worth of gear for 39$ (CDN) a year...Which is quite affordable.

Few months ago, I bought a 5DMKII so I wanted to upgrade my coverage, it ended up that going from 5000$ to 10000$ would cost me 150$ more.  But they offered me to cover my gear up to 10000$ when in my house and up to 5000$ when out of my house for 9$ more, so I'm covered in that way for a total of 48$.

It does NOT cover any accidental damage (dropping or such); it covers damages if caused by a fire or such in my house; it also cover (5000$) while i'm out, anywhere.

So maybe you can try to deal some kind of arrangement based on your habits.

Claude

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #17 on: June 02, 2009, 17:59 »
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You do ask some good questions Leaf!

I used to have insurance, primarily for travel purposes, but any policy worth having (in the UK) has become ludicrously expensive. The cost is something like 10% of the equipments' value if you are a pro, want in-vehicle and also world-wide cover.


Where are these hotel safes which are big enough to hold anything other than your passport, spare cash and maybe a G9?

« Reply #18 on: June 04, 2009, 02:17 »
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I always have travel insurance that covers the value of my camera - have claimed for damaged and stolen camera equipment without any problems, so I think its worthwhile. The real hassle for me is in replacing anything if I'm somewhere out of the way - like Colombia where I am at the moment. So far no problems here though fortunately.

rinderart

« Reply #19 on: July 06, 2009, 19:30 »
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Absolutely.....Big time.

« Reply #20 on: July 07, 2009, 00:11 »
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Here in bosnia, If go to insurance company, and say I want to insure my camera, they would look me like I am crazy, at least. People here do not insure their homes, and they insure their cars (only because they are obligated to).


 

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