Insurance? WPPI or PPA?

Looking to join a professional group with member camera insurance

program. Could anyone be of help describing WPPI and PPA programs?

TIA

I'm not a member of of the WPPI or PPA but I can say from what I see they are just out to get your money and not represent you as a profesional photographer in a serous manner. if your looking for insurance get a tax lic. from your city and then contact a insurance broker who deal with busines. I pay $25/month for $50,000 equipment coverage and $1,000,000 liability. my gear will be replaced even if a leave it somewhere or if it gets damaged. I pay a $250 deductable.

 

check out the this link for more opionens on the PPA & WPPI.

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=009XLM

I have no experience with WPPI. I am a past, but not current member of the PPA. I had disability insurance through them, but did not participate in their other programs.

 

I plan to rejoin PPA for two reasons: 1.) PPA has been extremely agressive in protecting the copyrights of photographers and for this reason alone would be worthy of our support; and 2.) their performance insurance, which reimburses a client if I screw up their wedding photos or am prevented by illness or injury from showing up.

Stephen...do you mind if I ask who you got your insurance is through?

<p>I'm with PPA's insurance and I had a theft situation where almost 10K of equipment has <br /> been stolen. I was insure with PPA for 15K for thef. They were very slow to process my claim. They didn't accept the original police report because it was hand written. After lots of headache and finally having the record section police supervisor signed and stamp it, they finally accept it and process my claim. Then once the settlement arrived they just settle half of the amount! BE AWARE! Read the fine prints. <br /> <br /> They didn't settle the replacement cost as I was expecting but gave me Actual Cast Value of time of loss. <br /> Due to all my receipts they determine the year of the equipment and calculated the depreciation. They basically devalued my gear and paid less that it was worth. <br /> There was two small prints in the policy that I didn't see.</p>

<p>1.) The Depreciation<br>

2.) Age per Year</p>

<p>They don't explain this to you. Once signing with them, you think you are coverd and have peace of mind. NOPE.</p>

<p>The Photo care plus policy come with two choices.<br /> <br /> 1) Scheduled Property where they pay the = Replacement Cost (but you need to list all your equipments and submit proof of purchase up front) OR<br>

<br /> 2) Unscheduled Property = Actual Cash Value Where they down value your equipments.</p>

<p>- Depreciation will apply as follows based on the age of lost or damaged property:<br /> <br /> Age means Model Year minus Current Year plus one.<br /> <br /> The calculation is based on model year minus current year plus one.<br /> For instance, the Ipad purchased March of 2014 would be calculated as such:<br /> <br /> Model Year – Current Year + 1<br /> <br /> 2014 – 2016 + 1 = 3 years of Deprecation means 75% of down-valuing. <br /> <br /> For my loss ipad that I paid $665, PPA settle it for just $166 Because they say it's 3 years old.<br /> <br /> For my loss Macbook pro I paid 2014 $2400 + tax. They deprecated 75% off. I GOT $305!!!!</p>

<p>BE AWARE! PPA isn't a good choice. Read the Fine prints and ask Insurance companies for the replacement value. PPA is going to rip you off. </p>

<p> </p>

<blockquote>

<p>BE AWARE! PPA isn't a good choice. Read the Fine prints and ask Insurance companies for the replacement value. PPA is going to rip you off.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>That's how the majority of insurance policies work, unless you tell them you want full replacement- but then you're going to see a higher premium for that kind of coverage. Always read through your policies.<br /></p>

<p>First on the gear coverage. There are basically 2 types of coverage. "Actual cash value" pays the value of the item at the time of loss. We are all aware how the value of some gear falls like a stone. That's what they pay. It's the coverage you bought. "Replacement cost coverage" pays to replace your stolen gear with a new item. Often, the company pays for the actual cash value and only reimburses the remainder of the cost of a new item when you have purchased a new one and provided a receipt. You have to front the difference. Some carriers will use a replacement service and just provide the replacement item. It should be obvious that replacement with a new item for one that has depreciated 70% has to cost more. You can make that election with your agent. But I would expect that for $25/month, you are getting liability coverage for bodily injury(dropping a light on a client) or property damage(damaging others property like knocking over the St Peter statue in a church). I don't expect you are getting errors and omissions coverage which is supplied by PPA. That covers your professional screw ups, loosing or a failing memory card for the entire ceremony, underexposing/blurry most of the shots if you are less skilled or don't have the gear needed to do the job of just a work product the court deems falls short of what was promised. How important is that, ask the photographers in CA that have gotten $40,000+ verdicts against them for screwing up a wedding. If you are not incorporated or insured, that is a judgement against you personally and your assets. And don't think you have to actually screw up the shoot. Welcome to the reality of a litigious America. There was a recent post here about Michael Fong coming to the legal rescue of an uninsured photographer whose client was a lawyer who threatened to bury him with legal costs then get a huge verdict. If a client smells blood in the water, like you don't have insurance, they can force you to expend large sums for legal costs. Could be 10-20k. That could let them shake you down offering to take 5 or 10 k as tribute. Can buy years of E&O for that. We have seen numerous posts here where the client gets nasty. You can purchase E&O coverage from your carrier but the additional cost may warrant a PPA membership that comes with other perks. Check with your agent for what type of gear coverage you have and if you have E&O and any annual premium that would be incurred. You can have a policy through your agent for replacement coverage, then additional coverage through PPA. You may want to check to see if coverage applies outside the country. Ever see the actual video of a traveling photographer walking around with his camera around his neck with a 70-200 2.8 when one guy bumps into him, a second simultaneously released the lens and takes it and hands it off to another guy who hands it off to another guy before the photographer even realizes it's missing and the thieves have blended into the crowd. It took less time than to say it. </p>

I had a loss with Hill and Usher. They went with current replacement cost for equivelant. It was incredible and way faster than expected.

 

The package choice isnt the cheapest... But they were very responsive and I would recommend them. They stood by me and did more than right by me.