What Photographic Insurance? - and my story about Photoguard

[Neil]

Hey all,

While travelling in the Americas, I recently "lost" an irreplaceable tripod a couple of weeks back from my bike. I had I thought thankfully, with my insurance policy I had taken out with the tripod and serial number submitted on the itinerary i'd get some money towards what I lost and then have the hard job of trying to find a similar product to replace it.

So I went on a limb to be very clear with my opening message to PhotoGuard my then insurer, to explain my situation carefully and ask them what kind of information they required to action my claim.

The following day when I got the chance to check my mail. I'm received opened to see my email from PhotoGuard, I couldn't wait to be given instructions about filing a theft report or sending them photos. To my disappointment and to what can only be described as an snooty email and in contempt of my claim, explicite telling me that my tripod was not going to be covered for my negligence (blanket judgement without knowing the details).

Ironically, this was 2 weeks before my insurance cover was about to elapse and never in the year of the insurance had I made any claims for any damage or stolen bits of gear.


I responded rather heatedly to explain that their pre-judgements were not only unfair but also unprofessional and unsympathetic to what that piece of equipment meant to me. I know out here in Mexico trying to acquire a carbon fibre giottos tripod isn't even remotely possible.

So my advice ladies and gentlemen. If you're in the market for insurance think carefully about who your use.

Slip side, I'd happily accept any advice of photo insurers who will likely help you out after. A decent testimonial of a alternative would be welcomed with opened arms


...as I'm currently uninsured, and going by the service rendered by PhotoGuard I probably never was going to be covered by the ineptitude.

[Tony LEE]

No insurance company is going to pay up for stuff stolen from any vehicle unless you were guarding it personally and they killed you to get at your stuff. I lost camera and bonoculars because a grub smashed the passengers window and took off with whatever he could grab in a hurry. After reading the policy, I realise that the 3 hours it took to get a police report was a total waste of time and I won't bother submitting a claim.

[Neil]

I pretty much explicitly requested "unattended vehicle theft" option for my policy. Alas the blanket response without the niceties likes "care to elaborate on your situation" or "sorry to hear about your loss". I paid a higher premium for my insurance for that very reason.

[Tony LEE]

Probably find there is a distinction between stealing the vehicle and stealing from the vehicle.

[Neil]

This is an option on camera/photographic equipment insurance. My PhotoGuard policy was just to cover said items. And in that the option for "unattended vehicle theft" was an add-on I took. Please don't mistake this for "vehicle theft".

[xfiltrate]

In the spring of 1968, after my Peace Corps service, I rode from San Jose, Costa Rica to Los Angels, California and somewhere in the mountains of Guatemala my camera along with my *leather jacket jiggled off the tail rack of my Costa Rican registered Honda CB175 . That Olympus Pen 35 mm camera could split each frame so that a roll of 36 frames produced 72 photos
*Riding gear and digital caterers were not yet then created - no fancy touring jackets, boots, panniers, tail boxes etc available - especially in Costa Rica and the CB175 was one of the largest bikes on the Pan American highway.

So Neil, I understand your loss....., because I lost the 70 photos including my departure photos from Costa Rica, the photos of my first overland ride - and, of course, I had no funds to purchase a new camera or anything else except food and gas en route. I was heart broken. I had been dreaming of riding home to the States and photographing my journey for the previous two years. As per Peace Corps regulations, (at the time) so as not to be confused by the locals of Puerto Limón, as being a CIA agent, I took no pictures during my Peace Corps service.

So, these 70 lost photos - including Edward Curtis style photos of the K'iche Maya culture of Chichicastenango, Guatemala were to be my photographic memoir of my first real job (Peace Corps) and my first overland journey, and were my first significant photos.

This was 1968, there was no uploading, no downloading, no "cloud" no flash drives, no memory chips - no lap tops, no back ups whatsoever. My dream had to be amended to accommodate my loss. This I did by focusing more on my social skills and my ability to speak in Spanish with the people I encountered along my route. I became so involved with the people, my journey took more than four months, including two week lay over for the 1968 olympics in Mexico City, and, a Mexican señorita as an amigovia!

I realized during the Costa Rica to Guatemala leg of my ride, the camera had allowed me to isolate myself, to content myself with the capture of images of my experiences. After I lost my camera - actually the loss of the jacket was more painful due to the cold I suffered - I became the camera, living my experiences and storing mental image pictures.

There was no insurance, there was no ability to communicate internationally without spending a fortune and then waiting for hours for an international line to become available, once you found a telephone capable of international calls.

FYI, ATM machines had not yet then been invented.... no xoom.com and bank wire transfers were iffy and only available in major cities!

So, Neil, thank you for this thread, that has allowed me this very cathartic essay and know that you are creative enough to steady your camera without your treasured "carbon fibre grottos tripod" and well, dare I say it, you still have your photos. Or, you, yourself can become your own camera and tripod.

xfiltrate

[Neil]

Originally Posted by xfiltrate

In the spring of 1968, after my Peace Corps service, I rode from San Jose, Costa Rica to Los Angels, California and somewhere in the mountains of Guatemala .....

Very interesting, if somewhat condescending. I'll just choose to see it as interesting. I have too lost valuable memories of that sort too, sure times change and so on, so losing 500 exposures while in Argentina in 2005 was a heart breaker.... however this isn't that conversation we're having. No offence xfiltrate but I wish to keep on topic about what insurance people recommend to use.

I am an amateur film-maker and and presently profess as a photographer and thus took out a "professional" insurance policy for my work equipment as any responsible profesional should. My gripe isn't about my carelessness; or the hardships of being on the road, it's about the inadequacy of an insurance company that should be covering my claim which I paid them for.

Ideally, I'd very much like to hear from people who have used photo equipment insurance and have a recommendation to give me regarding the matter.

[tsigane]

Thanks for the heads up about this particular company.

HOWEVER, insurance business is largely scam, especially for exotic items and strange circumstances. Even health and vehicle insurance doesn't work as it's supposed to. All too often they manage to find the small print exclusion when it comes to cover losses.

Lesson from this is, forget the insurance and cover your losses yourself. That's what i do, at least.

Cheers

[backofbeyond]

I know the majority of the posts on this topic go back a bit but after a "difficult" experience with camera insurance back in the mid 80's I've self insured ever since. This was a deliberate considered decision based on the value of the equipment I owned, the insurance premiums and the level of risk I perceived. Oh, and just to make things clear this was separate from other professional insurance - public liability for example.

I've had problems with all sorts of photographic equipment since then but as most of it has not been the kind of thing I'd have been able to claim for I've ended up "in profit" thirty years on. The worst that's happened is my Land Rover was broken into and a bag with a couple of studio lights stolen. Replacing those and fixing the car cost around three years worth of premiums.

Now that I've hit retirement age and my status has changed from pro snapper to amateur dabbler most of my stuff comes under my home / contents cover. I haven't looked closely enough at the small print to see if it covers stuff away from home (probably not) but I suspect I'll continue to self insure if it doesn't.

[Mark hadley]

Originally Posted by backofbeyond

.... I've self insured ever since.....

very wise. Just think about it. The insurance company has admin costs in providing the insurance and on balance has to make a profit too. That's not dishonest in any way, just a fact of doing business. So on average it is cheaper to self insure. Reasons not to are:
a) You are a remarkably higher risk than they realize.
b) You can't afford the loss (e.g. medical emergency cover)