Who has insurance for their camera gear?

[Jeanette]

mine is also covered under normal contents.. rang and checked and covered up to $20,000.. if more then i have to be specific...
and sorry Chris even if you are a student can you afford not to if you have a lot of gear..
insurance is not as much as you think ... chase it up and under student insurance with uni's etc dont they help

[Erin]

Hell yes. Got it under my house insurance as portable valuables. So even if it's not at the house and it gets broken, I'm covered.

Oh, and Chris... I get the heebeegeebees looking at your list of gear and knowing it's not insured. You can get multipolicy discounts with a lot of insurance agencies. PLEASE look into it. So many people think it will never happen to them and inevitably, it probably will and when you least expect it.

[fairy bombs]

Very good thread to read,I have been pondering this for some time,and how to go about talking to insurance agent about it,it appears if I tell them I want 'specified portable valuables ' insurance on certain items,I can get something sorted,I would really like to do it properly,and have them have serial numbers discription of gear etc.

We spend over $200 a month on insurance,all our catering business,public liability, and house car etc are all together with the same mob,I do'nt mind spending a extra $30 a month for all this gear.I did talk to them once about it,something they said-coverage of 'accidental insurance',but sounds a bit vague,better get it sorted.

thanks for information

[amexav]

Just wanted to point out that if you use any of your gear for 'commercial' purposes, general cover under your home and contents might not be enough - I know I have a clause in my insurance policy that anything to do with a home business/commercial equipment isn't covered under our general home/contents policy.

[phild]

I have limited cover with my home insurance policy, as that's up for renewal I'm going to a better policy with more cover.

I found last year it's cheaper to shop around and find a policy that covers everything rather than have seperate house and gear insurance. A home policy I was offered last year covered any personal gear up to $14000, unspecified, anywhere in the country.

I stayed with my current insurer after being assured that I could buy that cover for around $40 as a seperate policy.

I should have known that a salesmans line is always a throwaway line the $40 turned out to be almost ten times that amount, they won't catch me out again this year.

[adilucca]

I've had bad experiences claiming from Insurance? I'm wondering how much hassle normal House and Contents insurance would give you if you claimed while the gear was out and about?

Also, are you saying you need Public Liability no matter who you are? If it's an issue of someone tripping over your gear at the footy etc, wouldn't you still be liable if they tripped over your esky or even your foot? Surely there has to be some sort of limit on what you are legally responsible for.

Cheers
Alan

[glenysj]

My house/contents insurance is with Suncorp. I upgraded to Platinum cover which covers my camera gear, including accidental damage.

[Xenedis]

Given what happened to me last week, I think I really need to investigate insurance for my gear.

[peterb666]

When I first got a SLR camera around 35 years ago, I took out 'all risks' insurance. This was while I was living with my parents. When I moved out, I have my camera gear insured as a portable item on a house contents policy. I had a break-in and all my gear was stolen as it was conviently packed in a camera bag.

I don't have all risks or 'portable' insurance now and haven't for the best part of 30 years. This may seem strange, but the only times I have ever had a threat to my gear was when it was in my house and it has been covered by insurance.

I have added up the cost of what it would have been over those years and I am ahead. I know there is a risk but I also know that electronic gear is rapidly replaced. It either breaks down or becomes obsolete too quickly. Not like the Nikon F body I had for 20 years and the Nikon FM and manual lenses I had for 30 years.

I will probably be foul if I lose something in the way Xenedis did, and I was only a 10 or 15 minutes from joining him from the spot where I was playing. I do take more risks now, but also have the luxury that I can effectively self-insure.

I would never do that for a car or if I earnt a living from my gear, but within the context of the life of equipment and the risks I have enountered so far, it has worked out for me.

Cheers

PeterB666

[kaiser]

Im with Allianz ... check them out. Costs me $1000 per year to insure my contents only (Im renting) for $95,000, including $12,500 for camera gear and macbook. Excess on a general claim is $250. Excess on a claim for one of the portable items (ie. camera stuff or macbook) is $100.

Hey Daz just be careful with this. Not sure what your policy is exactly but I am with Allianz for my home contents insurance as well and had all my photographic stuff and MacBook covered under specified personal effects.

I let them know that some of these items were being used for commercial use / the occasional paid job / whatever term you want to use....A week later I got a nice letter saying that at renewal time (June for me) these items would no longer be covered under the policy which is only meant for personal use items. I'm currently looking around for another quote, this time for business specific insurance - only quote I have got so far is from AAMI for $980p.a. for $15,000 specified effects cover and $5mil liability, $250 excess.

[Longshots]

Some specialised photographic insurance brokers/insurers (both offer discounts to AIPP members) :

Marsh Insurance - Public, products & professional liability insurance. Camera Equipment comprehensive Insurance. Contact 1300 438 970 or photographers.australia@marsh.com

The Professional Photographer’s Insurance Broker - Camera & equipment insurance, liability cover - 02 9525 6877.

[Xenedis]

Some specialised photographic insurance brokers/insurers (both offer discounts to AIPP members) :

These seem aimed at professionals.

I'm not sure whether or not they'd be appropriate (and charge accordingly) for hobbyists, or whether they'd cover hobbyists at all.

[Longshots]

The reason I posted them is that I know that they offer cover for photographers - pro or not.

[kingwheatie]

I've had bad experiences claiming from Insurance? I'm wondering how much hassle normal House and Contents insurance would give you if you claimed while the gear was out and about?

Also, are you saying you need Public Liability no matter who you are? If it's an issue of someone tripping over your gear at the footy etc, wouldn't you still be liable if they tripped over your esky or even your foot? Surely there has to be some sort of limit on what you are legally responsible for.

Cheers
Alan

I would say PL insurance is more for events and is often a requirement to be able to gain media access. To cover your and the event organizations @rse!!!

[Xenedis]

they offer cover for photographers - pro or not.

That's handy to know, but it wasn't clear from your earlier post.

IMO, it's worth clarifying.

[Longshots]

Public Liability Insurance protects you up to a stated limit if a third party sues you for personal injury, including death, or damage to property, as a result of an occurrence in connection with your business.

PL is not just for events, but should (if in business or undertaking a commercial enterprise) be held for everywhere and anything. And yes by doing the right thing, you are covering not only your own arse, but also everyone elses

[Longshots]

That's handy to know, but it wasn't clear from your earlier post.

IMO, it's worth clarifying.

Any reason I need to clarify ? I said that they offered photographic insurance. With respect you were guessing that they only offered to pros. You could also guess that they only speak french

I dont know everything about them so I cannot clarify everything about them or many of the other specialised insurers out there, of which these are just two contacts I suggested.

Btw I posted those two suggestions because some AP members had pointed out that some insurers would not offer cover photographic gear under home and contents if the equipment was being used in a commercial nature.

[Xenedis]

Any reason I need to clarify ?

Because it wasn't remotely clear whether those companies cater for hobbyists.

I said that they offered photographic insurance.

Given that some print labs only cater for pros, it's not a stretch to presume that some insurers may also do so.

It's also not a stretch to presume that insurance for photographers who make a living with their gear is going to generally be more costly than insurance for amateurs.

With respect you were guessing that they only offered to pros.

With respect, I didn't guess anything; I specifically stated that I was not sure.

Also with respect, the names of those insurers specifically mentioned either professionals or words that relate to professionals, and therefore imply that they cater for the professional market. There is nothing to indicate that they cater for hobbyists, which is why I raised the issue.

I dont know everything about them so I cannot clarify everything about them or many of the other specialised insurers out there, of which these are just two contacts I suggested.

No problem with that; I'm simply pointing out some ambiguities about which hobbyist photographers considering these insurers need to seek clarification.

[Longshots]

sorry you missed my humour.

Back to the topic of insurance - specialised insurers do cater for all. And I've never met a photographic lab yet that only caters to pros. I dont experience any issues about not catering for hobbyists in an areas of the photographic industry, with the exception of photographic associations. So, I'm sorry, I didnt see the need to clarify, as I've no knowledge of a differentiation in the photographic market

[mongo]

yes, for the more valuable bits in and out of the house through household contents insurance