camera/gear insurance
 

don't fancy getting thousands of dollars of gear stolen, but am not a big insurance kinda guy.
anyone out there know of a killer deal for camera/photo/computer gear?

cheers big eers

Have looked into camera insurance for slr kit and it is always insanely expensive. Better just spend the money on somewhere secure to keep it.

Matt :)

Hi Todd & Christina,

in the UK the usual policies exclude theft from unnattended vehicles (irrespective if the vehicle's locked or not) and have a single item limit (when added to a household policy).

My own kit is insured as business equipment, including personal liability cover, which is expensive but a legitimate business expense.

No doubt I'm sure that some of our Canadian clan will offer comments about cover available over there.

Oh, by the way, I notice that you live in Whistler. A good mate of mine called Alan Jasper was flying into Whistler last year but his luggage didn't arrive with him. Yep you've guessed, it was directed to Jasper!

Good luck.

thanks cameraman & cartney
 

yeah, we're thinking of keeping it safe and sound at all times and avoiding the $1000+ bill for insurance. i hate paying for pieces of paper.

funny story about your buddy Mr. Jasper, i used to live there too!

happy new year!

Best bet for insurance is to contact the country-specific organisations, such as the BIPP or AOP in the UK, or FreeLens in Germany,... Don't have to dig too deep – most local photography magazines have contact details or adverts.

I'm from Germany and found an insurance broker through FreeLens (one of the German organisations for photo-journalists). I pay 3% of my gear's value each year. This includes rental equipment and my laptop. Everything is insured even inside a vehicle, during daytime.
If anything gets stolen from the vehicle at night, I would have to prove that I was doing a comissioned job (i.e. a concert or wedding,...) and get a statement from the comissioner. Then the gear would be insured any time of the evening/night.

Now: I don't know what the deal is for motorcycle travelling. But since I have been with them for 3 years and never had any claims, I will try to negotiate something with them for longer motorcycle trips.

I don't know if they do insurances for non-German residents. But, by all means, give it a go: "HTV Versicherungsmakler GmbH" in Hamburg; Telephone 0049 40 80806580

you'd be mad
 

not to cover your gear. It may well amount to a piece of paper but then so is a carnet, or driving licence (of old), or passport etc etc. If you go to the right insurers you'll get good cover. I've had 2 claims in the last 10 years and both times my insurers were polite, efficient and paid up promptly. Maybe it was because I had receipts, was honest and valued my gear.

Like anyone I'm not mad on spending unnecessary money but I like my cameras and lenses and tripods etc and would want to replace them if damaged/stolen.