Insurance

Having recently claimed off of my home and contents for the repairs to my K20D, I was wondering whether it would be better to have bespoke camera insurance to cover all the cameras in my household. Although my claim is being settled, I will have to pay the 1st £50 plus, I might take a hit on my premium when I have to renew the policy in a couple of months time. I would be grateful for anyone's opinion on taking out camera insurance regarding the cost, cover, providers and the benefits over home and contents insurance.

I know this has been discussed before but I too would be interested in any comments any members have. I will when we get the K7 have 3 bodies and a fair number of lens a few of which cost a deal more than the bodies so I think the time has come to spend some boring money on insurance rather than the much more exciting gear.

I too have just been "paid out" by my insurance (home insurance) for some gear that got stolen, whilst out taking some shots, yes I did have an excess of £50, but they paid out very quickly, and yes I suppose my premium will go up but it does seem to every year!
I am covered for up to £2500 away from home, for camera or any items that can be used that way.
Even if you take out separate insurance and make a claim you are supposed to inform any insurance company on renewal that you have made a claim.
So I will stick with “home insurance” and not take more than £2500 worth of kit out with me,I wish I had that much.

Home insurance may be the most cost effective route. All Risks sections to your policy might have a single article limit of say £500 or so, which means anything is covered. More expensive items may have to specified on the policy.

In other words John, check to see what is covered before you buy.

Yes, and extend the policy as required.

It is worth taking out photographic insurance when the conditions are more reasonable and suitable for your requirements than those of your home contents insurance. Read the small print!

Recommended: http://www.gloverhowe.com/

That is the problem I bet you have more than you think particularly if you would require a new for old pay out. Just two on my lens would not be far short of the £2.5 if I had to replace.

If I needed to replace the ist* would it be a K20 a K7 or whatever was deemed to be a new for old replacement. Can you insist on the replacement being the same make? Lets face it none of us wishes to be forced into a change of brand

My experience with a recent claim (not camera related) was a mixture; they replaced my Navman satnav with a Tom Tom one of slightly better spec and my mobile phone with a pre-loaded visa card I could use in almost any High St store with the exception of Comet so in theory I could have relaced it with a carpet or a washing machine. There was no choice. Replacing your *ist with a K7 would be 'betterment' and they dont do that.

When my iPod was destroyed they looked at the nearest equivilent model and sent me a Dixons Group voucher (for me to spend on whatever I wanted). If they did this with the Pentax you'd proabalby end up with a Km. Personally I think you could have a hard time proving that this was not the 'nearest equivilent'.

Thing is when I bought my ist* it was top of the range, now a new for old policy should give you something that is equivalent, if that is not available then it should be discussed with you or cash should be given.

Had a neighbour who worked for one of the main computer manufactures and he had three PCs stolen from his house, now despite the fact that he could replace them from his employers the insurance insisted that he had vouchers from PC world, that was until he told them the speck and apart from the fact that the store could not supply what was wanted if they could it would have been double the cost of his making them himself. He won in the end but it took weeks, ok for him as he could borrow from work most of us would be with out equipment whilst we argued the toss.

I wonder if specialised insurance would be worth the extra cost?

I would also be interested in specialised insurance... I live in a narrowboat, and unfortunately my boat insurance doesn't cover photography gear - as I discovered recently!

I'd be more worried about fungus! Do you take any precautions?

I have commented on this on a previous thread but will briefly touch on it again.

I use a professional insurance company and they are probably one of the best out there. Their name is TowerGatecamersure and I find them extremely good. link
What makes them stand out more is that they insure the total sum of equipment rather than each individual item.
So I have my equipment and my business partners insured for £10,000 This includes 3 cameras, multiple lenses, laptops, studio equipment, etc. They also deal with our professional indemnity and liability (£2,000,000) insurance. This all comes to around £500

Of course the majority of people on here aren't going to want that level of insurance but they do offer amateur and semi professional as well.

I chose this company as I had had enough of other companies saying that they were professional but turning out to be not as pro as they said. One of these was Photoguard. A solicitor, working for the British Institute of Professional Photographers (BIPP) read their T&C's and apperently they weren't worth the paper they were written on.
Some people may swear by them, but for the cover I required well I wasn't prepared to go with them.

Paul

Your equipment is also covered if it is left in the boot of your car, as long as it's covered, i.e. if you have a hatchback then the cover must be pulled over or there must be one in the 1st place.

If the equipment is stolen then they pay out very quickly but also if you need the equipment for a shoot or similar then they will send a replacement (like for like) out by courier so that you will not be out of pocket for missing the event or by renting out a piece of equipment.

Again, I'm not sure if this is just with the professional insurance but I am sure you will be able to discuss matters with your customer services or your assigned agent.


Paul