Hi there@
Anyone can advise me in getting an insurance for my equipment..I would like to have a piece of mind due to the people stealing from photo equipment...especially in foreign countries.
I am not a professional photographer and I'd really appreciate your input.

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My camera equipment is insured under my homeowner's insurance and I have some extended coverage for the equipment away from home because I've added a specific rider (with some additional premium) identifying the equipment by acquisition price and serial numbers. I understand that coverage is much more limited under homeowners' policies without such a rider, and I've been lucky enough not to have filed a claim so far.

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As Jim says, your home owners policy is a great starting place. With an extra rider (and small extra fee) your camera equipment can be covered with no deductible.

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Joseph K
Seattle, WA, USA

D700, D200, D70S, 24-70mm f/2.8, VR 70-200mm f/2.8 II, 50mm f/1.4 D,
17-55mm f/2.8 DX, 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR, 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 DX

That sounds good...but they covered when you travel oversea??

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That will depend on your insurance policy; mine includes travel.

~ Stephanie

My rider costs $43 per year for about $3,200 in coverage. The coverage is in effect 24/7 and covers all perils, theft, lost, damaged etc. Well worth it.

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As already noted talk to you home owners insurance agent. The exact policy rider or method will depend upon the amount of equipment, the type of equipment, and the cost. You might also want to see how your automobile insurance also covers your equipment.

George
My Nikonian Galleries

Like anything in life, be sure that you have as many facts as possible and ensure that you understand them BEFORE you make a decision regarding insurance for your photography gear. Specifically, what will you be compensated for if some of your gear is stolen? If your 3 year old D700 body is stolen, will you get replacement value ($3000?) or fair market value ($1500?). What documentation is required to support any claim? Filing a police report in some countries for theft of a camera may be difficult. In the end you should evaluate the costs of the insurance against the PROBABILITY and not the possibility that you will need to file a claim and successfully being compensated on your claim. For me an insurance policy for theft or damage is not of much value if you never need to file a claim.

I found State Farm to have the most reasonable rates. My equipment is fully covered even when my other photographers have the equipment.

I have a rider on my State Farm policy include name and serial numbers of each piece. It is an inexpensive safeguard.


Hylos Barrett
"Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out." John Wooden

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If you've ever accepted ANY payment for your photography services and you think your gear is covered by your home owners insurance policy, guess again. Once you accept money, you’re considered a “business” by the insurer and they'll deny your claim. And they have investigators that will find out - it's their job. They even search forums like this one. I work with other contract photogs on sports gigs and have heard many horror stories about shooters using home owners floaters, etc., they pay for years, then file a claim/loss, and they're claim is denied because the gear was use business instead of personal use. They Googled one photog friend of mine and found her makeshift image website – that was their out. And no, they didn’t refund her premiums. It sounds far-fetched, but it's absolutely true.

I opted for an inland marine policy (through Liberty Mutual, but they're no longer writing new IMPs). It covers ALL my gear as long as photography is not primary source of income (I still make a tad more working for an airline - what can I say, free travel benefits are too sweet to give up just yet). Ideally, you'd get a commercial liability policy that not only covers your gear in the event of a loss, but covers your arse if someone is injured on your set - or even if a client sues you for breach of contract or failure to deliver.

Don't fall for the homeowner's floater trap if you've ever accepted payment or have your images posted anywhere.

www.kazeybunch.com

“You can miss a lot of moments with your head stuck in your LCD.” - Joe McNally

Silvio -
The caution about any hint of professional status is well taken. The Inland Marine Policy is the only way to cover your gear if you even only very occasionally accept - or have accepted money - for your photos. That can give the insurance company good cause NOT to pay a claim and then to cancel your coverage. It may also be viewed by them as insurance fraud. The fact that at this time I am making less than 10% of my income from photography is not relevant. My coverage for about $25,000 worth of gear is based on a detailed list of equipment and there is s substantial deduction included on a loss. As in the case of car and home insurance, this kind of insurance is basically to cover a catastrophic loss -- not just dropping a 50mm lens. So the advice to get ALL the facts up front is very important. If your agent doesn't seem to know the answers or is unfamiliar with Inland Marine Insurance, get another agent or ask for his or her senior. This absolutely is NOT an area for guesswork.

Alan
Waterloo, IL, USA
www.proimagingmidamerica.com

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>If you've ever accepted ANY payment for your photography
>services and you think your gear is covered by your home
>owners insurance policy, guess again. Once you accept money,
>you’re considered a “business” by the insurer and they'll deny
>your claim. And they have investigators that will find out -
>it's their job. They even search forums like this one. I work
>with other contract photogs on sports gigs and have heard many
>horror stories about shooters using home owners floaters,
>etc., they pay for years, then file a claim/loss, and they're
>claim is denied because the gear was use business instead of
>personal use. They Googled one photog friend of mine and found
>her makeshift image website – that was their out. And no, they
>didn’t refund her premiums. It sounds far-fetched, but it's
>absolutely true.
>
>I opted for an inland marine policy (through Liberty Mutual,
>but they're no longer writing new IMPs). It covers ALL my gear
>as long as photography is not primary source of income (I
>still make a tad more working for an airline - what can I say,
>free travel benefits are too sweet to give up just yet).
>Ideally, you'd get a commercial liability policy that not only
>covers your gear in the event of a loss, but covers your arse
>if someone is injured on your set - or even if a client sues
>you for breach of contract or failure to deliver.
>
>Don't fall for the homeowner's floater trap if you've ever
>accepted payment or have your images posted anywhere.

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>>If you've ever accepted ANY payment for your photography
>>services and you think your gear is covered by your home
>>owners insurance policy, guess again. Once you accept
>money,
>>you’re considered a “business” by the insurer and they'll
>deny
>>your claim. And they have investigators that will find out
>-
>>it's their job. They even search forums like this one. I
>work
>>with other contract photogs on sports gigs and have heard
>many
>>horror stories about shooters using home owners floaters,
>>etc., they pay for years, then file a claim/loss, and
>they're
>>claim is denied because the gear was use business instead
>of
>>personal use. They Googled one photog friend of mine and
>found
>>her makeshift image website – that was their out. And no,
>they
>>didn’t refund her premiums. It sounds far-fetched, but
>it's
>>absolutely true.
>>
>>I opted for an inland marine policy (through Liberty
>Mutual,
>>but they're no longer writing new IMPs). It covers ALL my
>gear
>>as long as photography is not primary source of income (I
>>still make a tad more working for an airline - what can I
>say,
>>free travel benefits are too sweet to give up just yet).
>>Ideally, you'd get a commercial liability policy that not
>only
>>covers your gear in the event of a loss, but covers your
>arse
>>if someone is injured on your set - or even if a client
>sues
>>you for breach of contract or failure to deliver.
>>
>>Don't fall for the homeowner's floater trap if you've
>ever
>>accepted payment or have your images posted anywhere.

>
>>Don't fall for the homeowner's floater trap if you've
>ever
>>accepted payment or have your images posted anywhere.

Sorry for the misuse, above, of the "reply with quote" option.

I'm a bit concerned about the portion of the quote "...or have your images posted anywhere..."

Taken literally, that means that if one has posted, without payment, obviously, images on Nikonians, or Flicker, or DPR, or NikonGaer, etc., one's homeowner's floater becomes invalid. A clarification or confirmation would be very helpful: have all of us who've posted images, without payment therefor, on photography-related forums, now had our floater coverages invalidated? Should I, as a never-paid non-professional, now cancel my homeowner's floater (sometimes, I think, called and described as "scheduled coverage"), saving those premiums but causing me to replace this covergae with that meant for a professional and at possible substantial cost?

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The insurance company can also exclude your use of the homeowners policy based on the total dollar value or the type and number of photographic items you are insuring. This is just like insuring and valuable jewelry items or collectibles the insurance company is going to try to limit their losses or collect enough premium to cover your loss.

You need to provide detailed information about your cameras and other equipment to your insurance agent and discuss with him or her about your specific needs. This could include an inventory list of the make, model, and serial number of the items you want covered. You should also keep this list in a safe place like a safety deposit box in case of loss. You should also discuss with your insurance agent what you need to do as you continue to purchase camera equipment and what you need to report to him, her, or the insurance company.

The inland marine rider started out for transportation and storage of goods along the open ocean and inland waterways of the world. It has been expanded to other high value or high risk items. It is now used to describe a class of items for special risk analysis to detrmine the insurance premium charges.

George
My Nikonian Galleries

> I have a rider on my State Farm policy include name and serial numbers of each piece. It is an inexpensive safeguard. <

I second this and the previous comments. It's important to clarify the terms of your policy with your insurance agent because there's limitations as to what a homeowner's policy and/or a vehicle policy will cover.

I'm with State Farm and I have a rider on my homeowners policy for an extra $100 or per year that covers all my camera equipment for replacement value especially if its stolen from the car. (My vehicle policy will cover my equipment only if it's in the car when the car is stolen.) My insurance agent requires me to email my equipment list with item, description, and serial number (if available) annually that is then kept on file.

Please regard the following as friendly advice: the best insurance policy will always be common sense, care, and an awareness of your surroundings. I remember a photographer in Yosemite who placed his backpack on a bush where it promptly rolled off, then downslope, and then over the edge falling about 2,000 feet. Sue and I were in downtown Reno for the balloon festival one block off the strip in a deserted area that didn't look good so we didn't stop.

Mp

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I think I can help here.

My insurance agent is also my dad and when I started my business he helped me extensively to set up correct coverage. I have two policies that cover me. First, is a liability insurance policy that covers me in the event that a person gets injured on a shoot from anything that could be deemed my fault. I believe there is a $1,000,000 limit on that. Second my equipment, as others have stated, is an inland marine policy that covers my gear anywhere I use it. It also includes rental reimbursement and loss of income should I miss a shoot do to stolen or damaged gear. My current policy covers me up $15,000 of gear. All together my premiums are $60/mo, but I feel very secure with that level of coverage and in the grand scheme of things is not that much for the piece of mind I have.

I had a big claim last fall (dropped my D700 and 300mm f/2.8). The repair cost $1,700 total and I had a check from the insurance company for the full amount minus deductible in 48 hours. It was well worth it.

On a side note, the policy states they will replace unrepairable damaged equipment with like kind and quality equipment. If my D700 had been totalled in the fall they may have not paid for a brand new one, but perhaps a refurb. I don't know for sure. That may have been kind of dicy.

I hope that helps.

Regards,
Chris

"Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter."
-Ansel Adams

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I asked my Farmers Insurance agent to give me a quote for $25,000 worth of photographic equipment. I told her that I am just a hobbyist and I do not use any of my equipment for business. The approximate quote was $500/yr added to my homeowners policy.

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I can offer one other scenario from the UK perspective.

To summarise it in advance - yes, I too was wary of being caught with my Insurance pants down for my beloved D700 plus my top-marque lenses - especially as I've got a few photos for sale in three very visible online galleries - so I have declared to my "Home" Insurance company that I "do some business here too ...".

Happily (and maybe strangely?) this did not add any extra cost to my Insurance cover!

My "Home" policy already covers my belongings anywhere in the world, up to specified maximum per-item value (so each of the 'big' items costing more than 1,500UKP to replace as-new are specifically listed). On the policy papers there's a tick-box where I can declare whether or not my "home (is) used for any business or trade in addition to use for domestic purposes", and this was where I "told" them about my hybrid domestic+business status. But just to be extra sure, I got additional confirmation of these points from their Customer Helpdesk -

a. Cover specifically includes ALL my camera gear, even though only bits of it might be used for 'trade'? "Yes".

b. That the "business" bits don't interfere with all of my 'normal domestic' cover? "Confirmed"

c. Specifically noted that I have sold and may sell one or more photos for (ho ho ho) 'gain'? "Yes, confirmed"

d. That - in response to the Helpdesk lass's question - I don't have a 'registered business address', and that my home is not a 'registered business address'? "Noted, OK".

e. In response to the Helpdesk lass's question - I confirmed that I don't "receive customers at this address".

Yes, admittedly these were verbal confirmations rather than written ones, but I do keep careful phone-call notes, and there's nothing in all of the policy small-print that conflicts with these Helpdesk replies. And it's a big-name Insurance company too ... AA Contents Insurance, underwritten by Legal & General. (With whom I have no connections otherwise.)

My gear was once covered separately by the excellent "Nikonians Insurance Support" (NikSecure) scheme before it had to close a few years ago, but after a bit of a search, I was happy to find this ostensibly 'domestic' but flexible "AA Home" policy.

I've probably over-done this post, sorry! But I hope it'll encourage a UK / European Nikonian (or two) to get their Insurance pants fully zipped-up. It's worth checking whether your "Home" insurance policies can in fact give "appropriate" cover for our hybrid pro / not-really-pro / maybe-advanced-amateur equipment!

(Sadly ... our UK tax-office remains totally befuddled by this not-really-pro versus lucky-advanced-amateur status!!)

Colin P.

--
Staying busy is easy. Setting priorities is harder!
A doorway to my other photo sites

I have an add on with State Farm that covers my equipment and has liability insurance in case I or my equipment should injure someone or a dog when shooting. Very reasonable and worth considering if you receive payments for your work.


Gary

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