Insurance for photography equipment

Two neurons finally fired in sequence at State Farm Insurance and they

decided to ask what kind of photography I do. I reminded them that

when I first took out my policy, I wrote that I do freelance field

photography, specializing in landscape and (at that time, 1989)

wildlife. "Oh, well, er, ahem..." I sensed impending doom. Yes,

indeed, even though I've paid them many times more than I have

received in my two claims, they decided that I was not a good risk.

The company has elected to stop writing insurance for any commercial

photographers who work outside of a studio with the possible exception

of wedding photographers. But landscape! Why you might fall off a

trail on a mountain, or...

 

So I find myself in the market for a company that will insure my

equipment. I'm mainly concerned about theft or a catastrophic loss of

everything in a fire. In other words, I'd accept a moderate

deductable and self-insure for the equipment that I damage.

 

By the way, I'm not in ASMP and don't have a desire to join at this

time, so their group insurance is not an option.If the company that

writes that policy also writes policies for individuals, then that

would work.

 

Thanks for your suggestions,

Bruce

Just a few suggestions. Check to see what your home owners policy covers and also your car insurance. Theft, fire, accident, may be covered on your equipment under some circumstances. Their are several other lesser known, but still reputable companies that will write a "Floaters insurance" policy that will cover your equipment. A good independent agent, agency should have several companies to consider. Call around and see what they have to offer.

 

Insurance companies are getting very selective these days because of fraud, excessive claims. Be honest with what you own, costs, and what you use it for.

What realistic replacement value do you put on all your gear?

hi bruce -

 

i have professional liability and a floater policy to protect my

equipment and property i photograph.

it is a policy from utica national insurance company.

 

i don't think they deal directly with people, you will probably have

to get it through an independant agent.

 

best of luck!

I have an Inland Marine Policy thru State Farm that covers my professional photo equipment against any kind of loss. I haven't heard of any change in their policy toward non-studio photogs.

Have a talk with your local insurance agent. I have a policy with National Grange Mutual that covers full replacement value. You don't have to insure all (eg the entire value) of your equipment. I would do just what you feel would be at risk at one time, though if all your equipment is in one place and you fear a fire would wipe everything out then I guess you will have to insure for the entire replacement value. Also, since you are a business the insurer may want you to have liability coverage. This is not a bad thing and the extra cost is usually not prohibitive. I know, you only do nature and landscape photography, but you never know what can happen. Self insurance won't help you if someone trips over your camera bag or tripod leg and sues for $1,000,000. If you have any personal assets (like a house or bank accounts) that are of any value I would look to protect them.

I have the same problem with State Farm. I was told that if you use the equipment for work then you are SOL. They will not cover it at all. No Way, No How, period! They really stuck it to me since I use one body and one lens for freelance and the rest of my equipment {85% of value} is personal equipment normally covered under home owners or rental insurance. My wife has insurance through NPPA but the company insures members only no spouses. Alstate use to insure but their rates were way out of line. I use to have General Casualty before State Farm and they would cover equipment but in my case multiplied my auto insurance by 2. GC seems to want all of your business or none at all and their price quotes usually will reflect this. Finally you have the standard or sub-standard companies that either do not pay or drag their feet until you sue. Then they completely come to a stand still and you end up spending more on lawyers than the equipment you lost is worth. You might check the A & Best rating web site and call companies for quotes. I gave up with other things to worry about but in most cases companies do not cover "pros" or want all or nothing.

If you carry homeowners/renters and car insurance from State Farm, go back and talk to you agent (the person whose name is on the agency) and politely ask them if they want to loose all your business.

 

State Farm has two rates for personal property riders for things like cameras and computers, one if more than 80% of your income comes from work that doesn't involve the listed property and another if it is used in your primary employment.

 

If they still think your a bad risk, then go find an independent insurance agent and put new policies in place and cancel your existing State Farm policies.

 

The only way State Farm will wise up is when enough agents loose enough business and become independent agents to survive.

I had a recent experience of most of my LF gear being stolen from my garage, while I was at home on a Sat morning. After filing a police report I contacted my insurance company. The impression I got was they considered me to be hiding the gear somewhere and was trying to defraud the company. Yes the gear was covered minus the deductible, but because I had made a previous claim this year for hail damage to my roof and my wife's wedding ring got mangled in the garbage disposal(another story) I was now considered high risk and was threatened with being dropped.

 

Lo and behold my gear showed up in a pawn shop 3 days later (really does help to have ID on bags and gear). After contacting the company with this information, the adjuster seemed a little surprised, (gee, this guy isn't a crook) but informed me that even though no money was paid out, the claim stays on my record and that there is a good chance my insurance will be cancelled at my next policy renewal. If someone cancells you, you are pretty much blackballed for any kind of reasonable rates by any company.

 

The kicker is I had to pay the pawnshop the amount that they paid the thief to get my gear back.

 

The moral of the story is never allow your gear to be stolen. If it is stolen, you better check all the ramifications of filing a claim. If you have a seperate rider it doesn't mean everything is going to be a simple matter of mail me a check. Insurance companies consider anytime someone makes a claim as stealing from them. And finally always remember, no matter what company, policy or rider, insurance companies regardless of advertising do not exist to make you and your property whole again, they exist to make money for themselves and stockholders.

Bruce, I have a professional liability policy for my job and got a rider on it for my photography equipment through Zurich Insurance. I need to update my policy for new equipt., but my policy covers $7,000 of equipment (replacement value). My entire policy is around $350/year and I would guess then photo part is less than $100/year.

 

-Jen

Allstate still insures my photo equipment as part of my homeowner insurance. They never asked any questions about am I pro or not and what kind of photography do I do. Coverage includes theft and damage. Last year I dropped MF camera and Allstate paid $900 for repairs.

James Chinn: the part about being forced to pay pawn shop to get your own stolen gear back is like salt on the wounds. (But at least you got your stuff back) Did you show pawn shop the police report? They assumed a business risk by buying it from stranger, wound up taking in stolen equipment (in the course of conducting for them what was presumed to be a legal and potentially profitable transaction). Isn't the law in your favor there?

>>>> "Isn't the law in your favor there?"

 

I was surprised at this myself... certainly here in the UK it is simply not possible to "own" stolen goods - ownership *always* resides with the original owner.

 

If the goods are recovered the "buyer" has to bear any loss (and can consider themselves lucky not to be charged with receiving stolen goods if they made no attempt to verify ownership, or the identity of the seller).

 

Cheers,

According to the police, who called me about my stolen gear when the pawnshop contacted them, I have to reimburse the pawnshop for recovery. But after further explanation I will amend my previous comments. The pawnshop said they knew the equipment was stolen and paid the individual ,(probably a desperate crankhead according to the police), $75 for about $5000 worth of gear. The police explained that if the pawnshop refused the gear or said they knew it is stolen, the thief would have sold it somewhere else or thrown it in the garbage. So while it seems unfair to pay the pawnshop I do understand that they actually did me a favor by recovering the gear, especially because if my claim had to be processd, I would have been out $500 for the deductible.

Rand insurance offers a rate of 0.022 with a $250

deductible to NANPA members ($75/year). There is no

professional limitations.