camera/gear insurance

[Todd & Christina]

don't fancy getting thousands of dollars of gear stolen, but am not a big insurance kinda guy.
anyone out there know of a killer deal for camera/photo/computer gear?

cheers big eers

[Matt Cartney]

Have looked into camera insurance for slr kit and it is always insanely expensive. Better just spend the money on somewhere secure to keep it.

Matt

[The Cameraman]

Hi Todd & Christina,

in the UK the usual policies exclude theft from unnattended vehicles (irrespective if the vehicle's locked or not) and have a single item limit (when added to a household policy).

My own kit is insured as business equipment, including personal liability cover, which is expensive but a legitimate business expense.

No doubt I'm sure that some of our Canadian clan will offer comments about cover available over there.

Oh, by the way, I notice that you live in Whistler. A good mate of mine called Alan Jasper was flying into Whistler last year but his luggage didn't arrive with him. Yep you've guessed, it was directed to Jasper!

Good luck.

[Todd & Christina]

yeah, we're thinking of keeping it safe and sound at all times and avoiding the $1000+ bill for insurance. i hate paying for pieces of paper.

funny story about your buddy Mr. Jasper, i used to live there too!

happy new year!

[Bjorn]

Best bet for insurance is to contact the country-specific organisations, such as the BIPP or AOP in the UK, or FreeLens in Germany,... Don't have to dig too deep – most local photography magazines have contact details or adverts.

I'm from Germany and found an insurance broker through FreeLens (one of the German organisations for photo-journalists). I pay 3% of my gear's value each year. This includes rental equipment and my laptop. Everything is insured even inside a vehicle, during daytime.
If anything gets stolen from the vehicle at night, I would have to prove that I was doing a comissioned job (i.e. a concert or wedding,...) and get a statement from the comissioner. Then the gear would be insured any time of the evening/night.

Now: I don't know what the deal is for motorcycle travelling. But since I have been with them for 3 years and never had any claims, I will try to negotiate something with them for longer motorcycle trips.

I don't know if they do insurances for non-German residents. But, by all means, give it a go: "HTV Versicherungsmakler GmbH" in Hamburg; Telephone 0049 40 80806580

[jljones]

not to cover your gear. It may well amount to a piece of paper but then so is a carnet, or driving licence (of old), or passport etc etc. If you go to the right insurers you'll get good cover. I've had 2 claims in the last 10 years and both times my insurers were polite, efficient and paid up promptly. Maybe it was because I had receipts, was honest and valued my gear.

Like anyone I'm not mad on spending unnecessary money but I like my cameras and lenses and tripods etc and would want to replace them if damaged/stolen.