a few weeks back, my trusty D70s went for a rumble with some rocks and finished last
The body was cracked in a few places
. On the Monday I call Poraday in Bondi, one of the Authorised Nikon repairers. They tell me that it will probably not be repairable. I can send the camera in and they can write me a letter that says that the camera cannot be repaired. I can use that for my insurance.
I then call my insurance company, Allianz. They are very helpful. I get a claim number and once I get the report from Poraday, I can forward that to them and they will organise a replacement. I ask if I can do an upgrade and they say that is fine as long as I pay the difference between the D70s price and the D200, in my case.
So I patiently wait a few days and check with Poraday if they got my camera, yes, it should be attended to in a couple days. Two days later, I get a quote for repair, $540. I was a bit surprised, there were about four pieces of the body that needed to be replaced but it could be repaired. I give a ring to Poraday and ask how long it would actually take. They are not sure as Nikon can't tell them if the parts are actually available. It could take months!!
So I pass that quote on to my insurance company. I give them a ring two days later to see how they were going with this. I let them know that it could take months. They say that this would not be acceptable. If it would take a couple of weeks fine but a few months, they will replace it. They call Poraday and 1 hour later I get a call back from the insurance company, it's going to take too long to repair, they will replace it, yippeeee
The insurance company gets their cameras from Michaels in Melbourne. I should get a call from them to organise a replacement or upgrade.
I can't wait too long so after a couple more days, I give Michaels a call. They just got the paperwork from the insurance company. I can get the D200 and I just have to pay the difference. That's fine but the difference is over $1500!! Having read on these fine forums that Nikon Australia had just reduced the D200 RRP, I quote that to them and show them the ECS website. Hold on, they will call me back.
Sure enough, I get a call back and the price has come down, the accountant had just gotten the information from Nikon. So now for $1000, I get to upgrade to the D200. Of course I also have to pay my deductible, which is $100.
A week later, ie today, I'm a happy camper. Just got my new Australian stock D200 and my battery is charging.
I have to say that I was impressed all the way. It all started with Poraday, Allianz were outstanding I thought and finishing with Michaels was great. Every chain in the link performed. From the time that I broke my camera to getting my new D200 - 23 days, pretty good.
Losing my D70s caused me to not be able to enter the latest challenge but getting a D200 out of it was not a bad outcome
In terms of insurance, make sure you specify your camera as personal items. This meant that I was covered when outside the house, anywhere in Australia and NZ. I also get coverage for 35 days while overseas. If you don't specify your camera/lenses you will only be covered when in the house!
Allianz - Poraday - Michaels
André
) the pieces so they were covered outside the home.
