# Insurance on camera equipment



## GoodVendettaPhotography (Apr 11, 2013)

How many of you have insurance on your camera gear? I have reached the point where I'm feeling pretty dumb for not already having something. 

Any advice on where to begin my research?

Thanks!


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## BrettS (Apr 11, 2013)

Call your insurance company. 

My comprehensive homeowner policy covers personal possessions including all the camera gear. Even if you rent, you should still protect yourself with home insurance.


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## neuroanatomist (Apr 11, 2013)

BrettS said:


> Call your insurance company.
> 
> My comprehensive homeowner policy covers personal possessions including all the camera gear. Even if you rent, you should still protect yourself with home insurance.



+1, assuming your gear is for personal use only. If you make money from your photography, be up front about that - your homeowner's/renter's policy probably won't cover business use, you'd need a separate policy that would include liability coverage. 

I have a separate personal articles policy for my camera gear, from my home/auto insurer (State Farm).


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## Random Orbits (Apr 11, 2013)

neuroanatomist said:


> BrettS said:
> 
> 
> > Call your insurance company.
> ...



+1. The rates that each company charges also can vary quite a bit, so it makes sense to get quotes from a few companies just to compare. My personal articles rate wasn't the cheapest with my insurance company, but another company couldn't beat it when all the insurance policies were quoted (auto, home, etc.).


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## pierceography (Apr 11, 2013)

BrettS said:


> Call your insurance company.
> 
> My comprehensive homeowner policy covers personal possessions including all the camera gear. Even if you rent, you should still protect yourself with home insurance.



Also +1. I have a separate articles policy that covers all my gear for around $100/year. However, I will point out that while it's very inexpensive to cover gear this way, I've already decided I won't make a claim against a single lens or camera body unless the cost is above a certain threshold. Reason being that many insurance companies these days will look for any possible excuse to raise rates. So making a claim on a $1,000 lens doesn't make much sense if my homeowners rates go up by several hundred dollars a year because of it.

Also make sure your insurance company has gear make/model/serial number on file. I even have pictures of everything offsite in case of a house fire.


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## RGF (Apr 11, 2013)

BrettS said:


> Call your insurance company.
> 
> My comprehensive homeowner policy covers personal possessions including all the camera gear. Even if you rent, you should still protect yourself with home insurance.



I have scheduled my gear with state farm. Cost around $1.25-1.50/$100 of scheduled value. All risk coverage, including photographer stupidity such as dropping equipment or leaving in the rental car (did the first, not the second yet). Plus is covers 1st $, down side is covers the 1st $. No deductible. Also every item needs to be covered, can not get a blanket policy for $25,000 of equipment (without identifying each item).


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## alexturton (Apr 13, 2013)

I made sure my was insured on my home contents insurance. Mine is covered for a 35k claim with a 10k single item limit, UK out and and about possessions cover and also 45 days world wide


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## bycostello (Apr 14, 2013)

for sure... so often out the house and 'vulnerable'


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## Sella174 (Apr 17, 2013)

Read the exclusions. Some time ago I decided to insure my gear and started shopping around. Got good rates and everything, but the fine print excluded basically every reason why I wanted insurance.


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## RGF (Apr 17, 2013)

Sella174 said:


> Read the exclusions. Some time ago I decided to insure my gear and started shopping around. Got good rates and everything, but the fine print excluded basically every reason why I wanted insurance.



I never read the exclusion but talked to my agent (State Farm) who said the rider basically covers all risks short of war.

I have had 1 claim over 10+ years - I failed to tighten the tripod clamp and the camera and TS fell to the ground. The camera was okay but the lens split into parts. This happened on the first day of the trip (of course) along the Dempster Highway in the Yukon so I had to wait till I got home to file the claim. State Farm rep priced the lens for me and sent me a check within a week. No hassle, great service.


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## Krob78 (Apr 17, 2013)

Inland Marine. It's very affordable and is designed for business that have gear that is used in mobile instances. Policy allows ad on's and take off's of items you have covered. So if you sell you're EF 500mm, you can deduct it from the policy for some savings and then add on the new EF 800mm L that you just purchased! 

As with many of the other recomendations here, the premium is based on the value of all the items being covered. All accidental type of incidents and theft, etc. are covered...


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## jeffabbyben (Apr 18, 2013)

Just purchased my insurance from Hill and Usher today before reading this post. Hope I didn't get ripped off as the cost was 1200/year for 53000.00 coverage+liability insurance etc. Maybe I should have shopped around more with RGF saying 1.25-1.50 for $100 dolllars of coverage and Pierceography saying $100/year.


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## RGF (Apr 18, 2013)

jeffabbyben said:


> Just purchased my insurance from Hill and Usher today before reading this post. Hope I didn't get ripped off as the cost was 1200/year for 53000.00 coverage+liability insurance etc. Maybe I should have shopped around more with RGF saying 1.25-1.50 for $100 dolllars of coverage and Pierceography saying $100/year.



Keep in mind that I am amateur (and a terrible speller : ) and I only cover equipment, no liability. For professional use with liability, your price does not sound too bad.


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## chrisdeckard (Apr 18, 2013)

Insure your gear! I recently dropped my 5D3 and 70-200 f/2.8 L IS. Repairs (after platinum CPS discount) were $680. I have a $100 deductible. I'm paying about $450 to insure $15,000 worth of gear plus $1,000,000 in liability. All State Farm needed was me to forward the invoice from CPS. No other questions, and you don't have to specifically list what equipment you have, so if you buy something new it's automatically covered up to your total amount of coverage.

Like someone else said, if you make money from your gear you'll need a separate policy. 

-Chris


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## sleepnever (Apr 18, 2013)

I pay a whole $9/mo extra on my homeowner's insurance to insure all my gear, but again, its for personal use.


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## notapro (Apr 18, 2013)

I have covered my equipment with State Farm because of what I read on this thread. Great advice here, and perfect coverage from State Farm (zero deductible, full replacement coverage).


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## neuroanatomist (Apr 18, 2013)

It's great coverage, yes. But do keep in mind that either directly or indirectly, it's linked to your homeowner's insurance. If you make a claim for your camera gear, it'll be reported to the CLUE database, and that can affect your future rates and even eligibility for coverage. If I drop a Speedlite, I'll cover that loss out of pocket...but if someone steals my 1D X and 600/4L IS II, I'll file a claim.


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## sullivan06 (Apr 18, 2013)

Hey so I'm not sure if you are able to insure through USAA or not, but my rates through them are $4/month for $5000 of gear.


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## Sella174 (Apr 18, 2013)

RGF said:


> I never read the exclusion but talked to my agent (State Farm) who said the rider basically covers all risks short of war.



I'm in South Africa and over here the insurance companies basically exclude themselves if you take your gear into what they deem a "dangerous environment" - the short of it is that the gear is only insured when it is in your house or studio (and in a safe when not being physically used).


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## ksuweh (Apr 18, 2013)

Krob78 said:


> Inland Marine. It's very affordable and is designed for business that have gear that is used in mobile instances. Policy allows ad on's and take off's of items you have covered. So if you sell you're EF 500mm, you can deduct it from the policy for some savings and then add on the new EF 800mm L that you just purchased!
> 
> As with many of the other recomendations here, the premium is based on the value of all the items being covered. All accidental type of incidents and theft, etc. are covered...



+1 I have a policy through these guys as well, except I purchased it through PPA (Professional Photographers of America). Both companies are good to work with. They require anything over $200 I believe to be on the schedule. I pay just under $1.50/$100 of coverage for close to $20k worth of coverage. The coverage is quite extensive too. I could leave my gear in an unlocked car, have the gear stolen & still be covered.


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## Krob78 (Apr 19, 2013)

ksuweh said:


> Krob78 said:
> 
> 
> > Inland Marine. It's very affordable and is designed for business that have gear that is used in mobile instances. Policy allows ad on's and take off's of items you have covered. So if you sell you're EF 500mm, you can deduct it from the policy for some savings and then add on the new EF 800mm L that you just purchased!
> ...


+10 That's what I love about them, very flexible and coverage is fantastic, very extensive indeed in my opinion... same type of rates you're quoting...


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## Mr Bean (Apr 19, 2013)

After all this talk about insurance, and, especially after buying the Zeiss 15mm, I went and found an insurance company (here in Australia) that has a reasonable cover. For those interested, AON are the crowd in Australia that specialise in camera gear insurance, so I discovered


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