Photo Gear Insurance. Any recommendation?

[Iridium]

Hello,

I will go to Venezuela the forthcoming February for a month. I have red a lot about the dangers of being robbed especially in Caracas, but I cannot imagine to go there without at least with a good camera with me. My only hesitation is with my Mamiya 7 II. To get it or to leave it at home and rest in peace.

Therefore, I am thinking of getting a special insurance for my gear apart from the normal travel one. However, I haven't found much of info on this or recommendations of others. I have found just a few via Internet, but they cover UK residents most. I would like to find something in the Internet for worldwide coverage.

I am not a pro and I live in Greece.

Anybody has used any or could make any suggestion or say his opinion for the necessity of a special photo gear insurance or the efficiency of a good travel insurance?

Thanx in advance,
Fotis

 

[KenR]

All of my "good" gear is insured under a rider on my homeowner's policy (also available to apartment dwellers.) Not expensive, but provides lots of piece of mind. I still try to avoid situations that look dangerous, still don't leave my gear on the front seat of the car or unattended on the floor next to me in a restaurant. But the policy allows me to walk with confidence with expensive stuff around my neck knowing that if it gets stolen, the cheap backup camera is in the hotel room and that once I get home I can replace the stuff without any loss.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I second Ken, but read the small print carefully to check where you're covered, and how much for.

Actually I carry my own camera insurance nowadays. Trying to recover money from most insurers is like pulling teeth.

Travel insurance is normally worthless for expensive cameras, with a limit as low as $250 per item or set of items. Again, read the small print carefully. EDIT: And as Tom points out below, insurance for just one high-quality camera and one lens on it -- Leica M8.2 + 24 Summilux -- at $2.40 per cent is $24 for $1000, $240 for $10,000...

Cheers,

R.

 

[Tom Diaz]

Hello,

I will go to Venezuela the forthcoming February for a month. I have red a lot about the dangers of being robbed especially in Caracas, but I cannot imagine to go there without at least with a good camera with me. My only hesitation is with my Mamiya 7 II. To get it or to leave it at home and rest in peace.

Therefore, I am thinking of getting a special insurance for my gear apart from the normal travel one. However, I haven't found much of info on this or recommendations of others. I have found just a few via Internet, but they cover UK residents most. I would like to find something in the Internet for worldwide coverage.

I am not a pro and I live in Greece.

Anybody has used any or could make any suggestion or say his opinion for the necessity of a special photo gear insurance or the efficiency of a good travel insurance?

Thanx in advance,
Fotis

I've had two different kinds of insurance: a rider on my homeowner's policy--much less expensive--and separate camera insurance.

The separate insurance is through the Professional Photographers of America, so the rate is perhaps a bit lower. It costs $2.40 per $100 of value insurance, and things are insured for the replacement value.

The homeowner rider is much less expensive (sorry, I forget how much, but maybe half or a third of the price of separate insurance). The drawback I have discovered with the homeowner rider is that, when I wanted to make a claim, the insurance company warned me that I would lose my "no claim" allowance--I had never yet made a homeowner's claim in 15 years or something. Thus, if a tree had fallen on my house, the insurance would have covered it, but the company would then raise my rate. That dissuaded me for making the claim.

The moral of the story, to me, is that camera insurance is actually pretty expensive. There is not a cheap way to insure our beloved $1000 or $2000 machines. If your Mamiya is worth US$2000 you could insure it for $48, but you also would have to be a member of the PPA, which costs something. It sounds like you also own plenty of other stuff that you might or might not take with you. If you take the other things traveling then you would want it insured, too, and the price starts going way up.

I agree that the homeowner's rider gives peace of mind. However, I felt that it really was protecting me from a disaster like a fire or robbery that wiped out all my equipment. It was not a good instrument for replacing one damaged or stolen item.

 

[Iridium]

Thanx guys,

from your messages Ι can conclude that it's not possible to find an exclusive insurance for photography equipment if you are not a member of a club for professional photographers (in the USA, UK, etc.).

Moreover, I cannot buy a homeowner's insurance (I'm not a homeowner) only to cover my photo equipment.

I would like just to buy an exclusive insurance against theft for a month and that's all, like buying a travel insurance. I don't mind if I pay 50-70$ for such an insurance in a case that my 1500$ camera+lens set for example is gonna be stolen.

Any recommendation what could I do?

 

[Roger Hicks]

Contact your broker. Then read the small print VERY carefully. You can insure without belonging to a club, and 'homeowners' applies also to renters.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Tom Diaz]

Thanx guys,

from your messages Ι can conclude that it's not possible to find an exclusive insurance for photography equipment if you are not a member of a club for professional photographers (in the USA, UK, etc.).

Moreover, I cannot buy a homeowner's insurance (I'm not a homeowner) only to cover my photo equipment.

I would like just to buy an exclusive insurance against theft for a month and that's all, like buying a travel insurance. I don't mind if I pay 50-70$ for such an insurance in a case that my 1500$ camera+lens set for example is gonna be stolen.

Any recommendation what could I do?

See Roger Hicks's reply and this link for some leads to insurance companies:

http://photo.net/business-photography-forum/00QyEx