Business Insurance- I'm Lost

<p>I just became a member of the PPA and I see that they offer different types of insurance but how can I figure out which is right for me? I've put a question in through email to them but I was wondering if anyone here has gone through this before.</p>

<p>Are you referring to health insurance, which you can get through their affiliates, or liability and equipment replacement?</p>

<p>I have my liability and replacement insurance through Marsh (via PPA).</p>

<p>Also, if you haven't already, look into their credit card merchant provider, Midwest Transaction Group. I recently opened a new account at a bank and the bank wanted me to use them for my merchant account. When I told the person at the bank my current rate and agreement, he said to stick with them (MTG)</p>

<p>Marsh lost me a wedding shoot due to their inflexibility and unwillingness to follow through with a difficult city permit person in Queens, NY. I immediately switched to another vendor, Willis (willis.com) and got the same coverage for liability PLUS equipment insurance all for about the same as just liability with Marsh.</p>

<p>Basically you need: <br>

1) Personal health insurance - covers you in case you get injured. </p>

<p>2) Liability Insurance - Covers you in case you injure or cause injury to others through accidental actions (ex: Dropping a camera on them; A light falls and hits them, etc...) </p>

<p>3) Error and Ommissions - Covers you in case you mess up and delete all the images or lose images that the customer has paid for. </p>

<p>4) Equipment - Covers your equipment in case it gets lost or stolen. </p>

<p>Best advice is to do like you would for any other purchase - shop around. Make sure you get quotes from multiple sources and that the quotes are for the same coverages and deductibles. </p>

<p>Dave</p>

 

<p>I use State Farm for my liability insurance and I love my agent!!! I had no idea what I wanted or needed and he was beyond nice and helped me with EVERYTHING. I don't know if my guy does stuff out of Louisiana, but State Farm is nation wide. If you pm me I can give you his contact information. He's the best :D I have a million dollars in coverage for around $33 a month. I also have a few thousand dollars in equipment insurance and about the same amount in computer insurance. If you do a lot of stuff out of state make sure that you tell them that too as you have to add something else to your insurance package to cover you.</p>

<p>My health insurance is through Golden Rule. I got it through the freelancers union when I still lived in NYC. You get better rates through them than doing it on your own. I have a highish deductible insurance. I pay around $130 a month and my deductible is the lowest I could get (like $1500 or something). It's through Golden Rule. I don't have any nice or bad things to say about them I just filled out the form online and then I had coverage the next month.</p>

<p>i have allstate and it's been great with them.</p>

<p>I have Maine Mutual Group through Chittenden Insurance-$1M in liability, $30k in client property (I shoot antiques so I sometimes have property on site), $20k in equipment, $5k computer and some other assorted coverage for $40 a month. I am covered pretty much anywhere and have equipment breakdown coverage, so if one of my cameras dies they will expedite replacement, it covers data recovery if a hard drive fails, and loss of business income, so if my equipment is stolen and I miss a shoot, they will cover the income from that shoot. Pretty good deal.</p>

<p>Sit down with your local agent, sometimes there are discounts if you have your homeowners, life, car insurance with them. Have a list of what you own and what you want to do. Are you going to do weddings and worry about someone getting hurt? Theft?<br>

I prefer to know that I have someone I know filing my claim if little johnny bangs his head on a lightstand and mom has her attorney on speed dial.</p>