insuring your gear

[Derek Weston]

Computers, cameras, camcorders, etc...

Anyone have insurance on their gear at an affordable price? What sort would you need?

I'd be nice to be able to cover for theft or acts of nature...
(probably a few other conditions as well)

 

[Steve Miller]

I have insurance on everything, even my iPhone!
I'm insured through State Farm and the policy is called a "Personal Articles Policy". These do not have a deductible. Thing is, you need to insure fairly close to the time of purchase, be able to present the item with serial number and a receipt/proof of purchase.
I highly recommend it. It's pretty much no questions asked when it comes time to make a claim. It's a helluva lot easier than trying to claim items on your homeowners insurance too as there will be a deductible for that and chances are, if you're like me, you didn't keep those receipts handy for proof you owned a lost, broken item. You also have to take depreciation on a homeowners claim. The Personal Articles Policy is a replacement policy.

Since we are on the subject, I mentioned my iPhone above as being on my personal articles policy. Everyone should consider this option over paying a cellular provider $5-6 a month extra to warranty your phone. For $42 per year I insured my phone for the replacement cost of $650 should I lose it, run over it, throw it at a tornado with the video feature recording...
Well anyway, give it some thought. Better coverage for less money is a no brainer.

Good luck with your insurance. Let us know how it turns out!

 

[Derek Weston]

I have insurance on everything, even my iPhone!
I'm insured through State Farm and the policy is called a "Personal Articles Policy". These do not have a deductible. Thing is, you need to insure fairly close to the time of purchase, be able to present the item with serial number and a receipt/proof of purchase.
I highly recommend it. It's pretty much no questions asked when it comes time to make a claim. It's a helluva lot easier than trying to claim items on your homeowners insurance too as there will be a deductible for that and chances are, if you're like me, you didn't keep those receipts handy for proof you owned a lost, broken item. You also have to take depreciation on a homeowners claim. The Personal Articles Policy is a replacement policy.

Since we are on the subject, I mentioned my iPhone above as being on my personal articles policy. Everyone should consider this option over paying a cellular provider $5-6 a month extra to warranty your phone. For $42 per year I insured my phone for the replacement cost of $650 should I lose it, run over it, throw it at a tornado with the video feature recording...
Well anyway, give it some thought. Better coverage for less money is a no brainer.

Good luck with your insurance. Let us know how it turns out!

I currently rent. Thought perhaps I could get it in under renter's insurance? Maybe not. Approx how much do you pay for x $$$ in gear with your policy? (if you don't mind me asking) I just keep thinking about a camera bag sitting there with a couple grand in it... too easy to lose/damage.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Check to see if you can get an 'inland marine' policy. That is what I have on my gear - covers everything that could possibly happen to it. My cost is about 8-10 dollars per $1,000 of equipment per year, that is with a $1,000 deductible. You can insure every little thing or only the big items.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

I currently rent. Thought perhaps I could get it in under renter's insurance? Maybe not. Approx how much do you pay for x $$$ in gear with your policy? (if you don't mind me asking) I just keep thinking about a camera bag sitting there with a couple grand in it... too easy to lose/damage.

It works with renters insurance, too, at least with State Farm.

 

[Steve Miller]

I currently rent. Thought perhaps I could get it in under renter's insurance? Maybe not. Approx how much do you pay for x $$$ in gear with your policy? (if you don't mind me asking) I just keep thinking about a camera bag sitting there with a couple grand in it... too easy to lose/damage.

Derek: yes, you can put it in your renters insurance as a notation but you will be at the mercy of the insurance company's depreciation schedule and will have the deductible, just like homeowners insurance. It's GREAT that you have renters insurance! Since you have that AND car insurance, you might qualify for a multi-line discount if you add a Personal Articles Policy. Be sure to ask.

My PAP runs about $900 per year. I'm insuring my 2 cameras (DSLR body & prosumer camcorder, lenses, laptop, phone (about $6k)). I'm also insuring my wife's wedding ring and my watch on the same policy so I would guess I pay about $250/ year on the chase equipment alone. I carry a lot of other policies with State Farm so my multi-line discounts might have me at a little lower in cost than some.

You might look into Dan's inland marine idea policy for a creative insurance option. I have a boat and it is ridiculously inexpensive to add contents of the boat onto that marine policy. If you can explain why you had $5k worth of stolen video equipment in a boat you do not own, well, you're in good shape. No disrespect to Dan as I have no idea how the inland marine policy works without owning a boat.

I tend to play by the rules when it comes to insurance because, like everything else in life, you get what you pay for. I pay a few more bucks for a specific policy and can tell my agent the items were stolen and I get a check cut for the cost of the insured items; no questions asked. An attachment to a policy might work well but I'm not a fan of jumping through hoops when I'm ticked off my stuff got stolen in the first place.

Call your agent. They love to sell more insurance and will be happy to assist you.

 

[Steve Polley]

Good info Steve, with all my gear, it would kill me if someone stole it, lost, etc. Since I have SF, I will be checking this out, thanks for the heads up.

 

[Dennis Sherrod]

I also have the State Farm Personal Articles Policy. I pay somewhere around $112 per year. Well worth it. Covered for almost anything that happens to it.

 

[Dustin Wilcox]

I have all my equipment insured through my Renters policy as well, and it’s what I consider extremely reasonable. No way I’d run around with that stuff without insurance, just last year (actually June 17th, the early stuff) I left my SLR and camera lens (over $1500) laying on a pure dirt road as I bailed from the approaching core; I didn’t realize my camera was missing until my next photo stop 4 miles later, not knowing where my camera was, rather or not I had ran over it or left it on the roof, rather or not it was drenched, or even if I’d be able to champ the mud to get it was not a fun 5 minutes, can’t imagine how frenetic I’d have been without the reassuring insurance. Luckily, a lead foot got me to the camera and off the mud JUST as things were getting precarious. IMO, it’s more than worth the risk of paying out a small amount of money and not seeing any return than it is having to come up with a substantial amount of money if/when life happens. From my experiences, it's best to establish a good relationship with your agent; despite moving, I still handle all my insurance business in my hometown...

 

[cdcollura]

Good day all,

The experience I had back in 2005 (see link below) - Taught me well!

http://www.sky-chaser.com/robbery.htm

Get coverage (whether renting or not) on ALL your stuff! Also, keep a documents list of what you have (registered with your coverage) and keep it in a safe place.

I currently have renter's insurance and it goes to $50,000.

 

[Ben Holcomb]

Like Steve, I have a State Farm personal articles policy. I have my guns, my cameras, laptop, aircards, ham radio gear, and my cell phone covered. It's running me somewhere around $130 right now. I haven't had to make a claim (and hope to never have to) but it's very good peace of mind to know that if something happens to my stuff I am covered for full replacement.